Nipigon

This article is about the township. For other uses, see Nipigon (disambiguation).

Nipigon
Township (single-tier)
Township of Nipigon
Nipigon
Coordinates:
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
District	Thunder Bay
Government
• Mayor	Richard Harvey
• Federal riding	Thunder Bay—Superior North
• Prov. riding	Thunder Bay—Superior North
Area
• Land	109.14 km2 (42.14 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	1,631
• Density	14.9/km2 (39/sq mi)
Time zone	EST (UTC−5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC−4)
Postal Code	P0T 2J0
Area code(s)	807
Website	www.nipigon.net

Nipigon (/ˈnɪpᵻɡən/, unlike the lake) is a township in Thunder Bay District, Northwestern Ontario, Canada, located along the west side of the Nipigon River and south of the small Lake Helen running between Lake Nipigon and Lake Superior. Lake Nipigon is located approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) north of Nipigon.

Nipigon is served by several transportation corridors:

• Highway 11
• Highway 17, both part of the Trans-Canada Highway
• Canadian Pacific Railway

Geography

The Nipigon River Bridge, originally opened in 1937, forms the narrowest transportation bottleneck between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans in Canada.

For about 15 km, Highway 11 runs within Nipigon River and a lake. Nipigon is located northeast of Thunder Bay, southwest of Geraldton and Beardmore, west of Marathon and northwest of Sault Ste. Marie. The crater on Mars named Nipigon Crater or Crater Nipigon is named after this town.

Nipigon is surrounded with pine and other varieties of forests. The power line connecting from Lake Nipigon supplies electricity to Thunder Bay and area. The other power line runs between Thunder Bay and the rest of Ontario. Timbering has been common sporadically to the north, the northwest and further north within Lake Nipigon along with parts of the southwest which formed old forest roads to the northeast and north. The municipality of Greenstone lies to the north. A manufacturing plant lies to the south. Several other unincorporated municipalities were around Nipigon. A communications tower near Nipigon broadcasts a local radio station and television channels from Thunder Bay including CKPR (TBT) and CBQT.

There are two bridges at the east end of town spanning the Nipigon River, one a single-line railway bridge, and the other a two-lane road bridge. With the exception of the Canadian National Railway transcontinental rail line (Closed 2004, removed 2011), they comprise the narrowest east-west land link in Canada's transportation system. Both Highways 11 and 17, and the Canadian Pacific Railway, route all their traffic across the bridges.

The Nipigon River Bridge is being replaced by a pair of two-lane cable-stayed bridges, the first of their kind in Ontario, with the future eastbound bridge having been finished in November 2015 and the second, westbound bridge, to be completed by 2017. On January 10, 2016, the first bridge heaved apart but did not collapse, resulting in traffic having to reroute through the United States. However one lane has been opened to traffic.

Demographics

Population trend:

• Population in 2011: 1631
• Population in 2006: 1752
• Population in 2001: 1964
• Population in 1996: 2210
• Population in 1991: 2338

Economy

Nipigon Public Library

The chief industries in Nipigon are forest products, fishing, and tourism.

Nipigon is a setting off point for fishing excursions onto Lake Superior and the Nipigon River system leading up to Lake Nipigon. Fish varieties common to this area include Atlantic salmon, lake trout, speckled trout (the world's largest speckled trout was caught in the Nipigon River in 1915, weighing in at 14.5 pounds (6.6 kg)), rainbow trout, walleye, northern pike, bass, and perch.

Mill fire

Nipigon Historical Museum

On February 6, 2007, a devastating fire ripped through Multiply Forest Products, burning the mill to the ground. The mill was the main employer in the town. Less than a month earlier workers at the mill had purchased it from Columbia Forest Products of Portland, Oregon. At the time of the sale, a $4-million modernization plan for the mill was also announced. More than 100 people were employed at the plant, which produced hardwood underlayment for vinyl, plywood and laminate flooring.

Notable people from Nipigon

Nipigon was the birthplace of two time world curling champion Allan A. "Al" (the Iceman) Hackner. Hackner won The Brier in 1982 and 1985. Nipigon is also the hometown of season 7 winner of The Next Star, Jory Zechner.

See also

• List of townships in Ontario

External links

• Township of Nipigon