Gertrude Mine

History

The Lake Superior Power Corporation, owned by Francis Hector Clergue, needed cheap sulphur for his paper mill in Sault Sainte Marie. After failed negotiations with the Canadian Copper Company (later renamed INCO) for a steady supply of sulfur, Clergue then settled for purchasing mining properties to the west of the Murray Mine.

As with the Helen Mine in northern Algoma, Clergue renamed both the Elsie and Gertrude mines to honour his sisters. The Gertrude had been a producing nickel mine since 1892 and its ores contained a large amount of sulfur.

To both ship sulfur to his paper mill and, later on, ore for the Sault’s blast furnaces, Clergue took over the charter for the Manitoulin & North Shore Railway and began construction as the Algoma Eastern Railway. The Elsie Mine lay near the Murray Mine site about 7 kilometres west of Sudbury. Approximately 18 kilometres west of the Elsie or alternately 2.8 kilometres west of Creighton lay the Gertrude Mine.

Superior Power fell upon hard times and the mine closed in 1903. After it reopened around 1909, the company added a smelter, however post war markets killed the mine once again in 1918. That same year the British American Nickel Company purchased the Gertrude along with the Elsie. However crippled by debts, the company limped to its demise in 1921. After that Inco purchased the site and it has seen only brief activity since then.

There was once a sizeable townsite containing nearly 200 residents. Even after the mine closed for the first time in 1903, the area continued solely as a townsite until about 1905 and possibly later. Residents lived in the townsite and merely commuted to their jobs in other areas. A station was also present and kept open to serve the profitable passenger stop. A post office opened by J.T. O’Connor in 1902 lasted until 1909 when it closed forever.