Creighton Mine

History

Creighton Mine was a company town created by INCO in the early 1900s. It was a full-service community with stores, churches, a school and bank. At its height, it was home to a permanent population of 2,200 to 2,300. Today it stands as Ontario’s largest ghost town.

It began in the 1850s and 60s when surveyors haphazardly discovered minerals. Staked around 1883, the Canadian Copper Company (later INCO) pursued the Metcalf and McAllister claims and patented the claim on January 24^th 1887. Development began around 1898 followed by the start of mining about two years later.

Activity began around 1900. The company spent a total of $30,500 on developing the site, first as an open pit mine and then moving underground. They sunk Number 1 shaft in 1903 followed by Number 2 in 1905. The shafts were 350 feet apart.

By 1913, the pit stood at 400 feet wide and 190 feet deep, engulfing the first shaft. After demand for nickel grew substantially within the first year of World War 1, they added an additional shaft, Number 3. The number of employees swelled from 540 to roughly 1,200-1,300.  As the war ended and the boom and bust cycles passed, production continued steadily at the mine. By 1924 Number 3 shaft reached a depth of 1,900 feet. They then sank Number 4, the first underground shaft, from 1,200 feet to the 2,600 level. 

The first post office opened in 1902. A boarding house, which lasted until 1975, also opened the same year. Early businesses included Kelly’s store, which opened in 1908 and lasted until 1962, Gimpoli’s butcher shop, a tailor that lasted over 50 years (under different owners) and a furniture store, which survived until 1931. There was also a Chinese laundry that operated from 1916-46. Numerous other stores popped up from time to time. Many of them didn’t last. Some businesses lasted many years, changing hands regularly. A large fire in 1913 leveled much of the business district. It was quickly rebuilt and by 1918 numerous businesses were flourishing again.

The Fraternity Presbyterian Church (later United Church) was built in 1916, although services began as early as 1899. The church joined with the United Church in 1925.  

By the end of the First World War, Creighton Mine’s population was estimated at around 1,700. INCO suffered during the economic slump from 1919-21. In 1921, the company shut down workings for a year. The population dropped to several hundred and a number of businesses closed. As demand picked up later in the decade, the population bounced back to about 1,800.

Entertainment venues began springing up during the teens. These included a movie house in 1915, a pool hall (1917), shooting gallery and an ice cream parlour, located in the drug store. There were clearly live theatrical performances around 1910, but little information was avilable. Its entirely possible they were transitory. Later offerings included a bank, in 1924 and a gas station in 1938.

On three occasions during the first quarter century, workings began winding down.  Each time, however, further exploration and underground work revealed more ore. 

From 1934 to 36 they built an underground shaft to a depth of 4,075 feet. In the meantime they sunk Number 6 from 3,800 feet to a level of 4,000. Following another slump during the depression, military demands began to pick up and by 1938, the population had grown to 2200, where it remained for the next 25 years.

Besides the entertainment venues, Creighton Mine’s residents were huge sports enthusiasts. It began with a baseball diamond in 1906. A baseball team, the Creighton Cubs, formed in 1911 went on to play in the Nickel Belt League. This team was highly successful and won the coveted Monel Cup 15 times between 1914 and 59. One member, Phil “Babe” Marchildon turned professional and went on to play in the American Baseball League. A hockey team, the Creighton Squad, played in the Sudbury District League.

In later years, Creighton Mine was particularly successful in the Nickel Belt Badminton League. They won the Ontario title in singles from 1968-71 and again in 1969 and 72. In 1976, Lucio Fabri, who won the national doubles in 1974 followed by three more titles, qualified for the Olympics. Sidelined by an injury in 1975, he unfortunately went no further. One Creighton Mine resident, Gordon Wallace, was inducted into the Canadian Boxing Hall of Fame after knocking out Ron Barton to take the British Empire Light-Heavy Weight title 

Recreational sports included bowling, athletics and gymnastics. Hunters, anglers and wildlife enthusiasts joined with the residents of nearby Lively to form the Creighton-Lively Conservation Group. This went on to become a wildlife refuge which later won the Mary Pickford award for the best conservation initiative in Ontario.

Production in the mines continued to increase unabated. Later workings were Number 7 shaft, sunk in 1951, which reached 1,700 feet and Number 8 shaft in 1956. They sunk Number 8 shaft from an internal level of 4,800 feet and pushed deeper down to 6,600 feet.

By 1969, they drove Number 9 shaft down to 7,137 feet. It became the deepest continuous mining shaft in the western hemisphere. Later they built Numbers 10 and 11, the latter used strictly for aeration purposes.

Since 1930, there have been few doubts as to the mine’s reliability. Some forecasts suggest mining could continue until at least 2025-30.

Creighton and Snider Townships were the main locations of the ore bodies. Geologists had a rather hard time mapping the ore body.

By the 1950s, the community of Creighton Mine, was beginning to show its age. People began relocating to nearby Lively, a new company town built by INCO in the 1950s. Creighton Mine’s businesses began following them. By the 1970s, the population had slipped from 2,000, a decade earlier, to 1,000. The church closed in 1972. Fires and demolitions took their toll and by the early 80s, the population had dropped to around 600.

The final blow came when the government notified INCO that the sewage and water facilities were no longer adequate and needed to be replaced. INCO had a rough year in 1986 and was in no mood to throw $10 million to update that much infrastructure in the aging townsite. Instead, INCO announced it would be shutting down the community and gave residents two years to vacate. Over the next two years, the 400 remaining residents gradually moved away. Once the last resident had left, INCO shut down the townsite and demolished the remaining structures. Nothing remains today except for cellar holes and ruins. The mine, now under the ownership of Vale, continues to produce.