Rainy River, Ontario

Rainy River
Town (single-tier)
Town of Rainy River
250px
Rainy River
Coordinates:
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
District	Rainy River
Settled	1895
Incorporated	1901 (township)
Incorporated	1902 (town)
Government
• Type	Town
• Mayor	Deborah Ewald
• Federal riding	Thunder Bay—Rainy River
• Prov. riding	Kenora—Rainy River
Area
• Land	2.99 km2 (1.15 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	842
• Density	281.5/km2 (729/sq mi)
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Postal code	P0W 1L0
Area code(s)	807
Website	www.rainyriver.ca

Rainy River is a Canadian town situated on the Ontario-Minnesota border, along the eponymous Rainy River opposite Baudette, Minnesota, USA, and southeast of the Lake of the Woods. It is at the western terminus of Ontario Highway 11.

Rainy River and Baudette are connected by the Baudette – Rainy River International Bridge.

History

Incorporated as the town of Rainy River in 1904, the actual community was first formed around 1895 along the East shore of the Rainy River about 2 km from the current town center by a group of lumbermen whose mill was purchased by the Beaver Mills Lumber Company in 1898. The small village took the name Beaver Mills until it was incorporated as a town. In 1901 the Ontario and Rainy River Railway completed a bridge connecting Minnesota to Ontario, but Beaver Mills town site was in the way of the Eastern end and so they created a new town further up river and in between the two large Mills. The only method of transport at the time was by Steam ship so parts of the bridge arrived addressed to "Rainy River". The town eventually accepted this as their name.

File:Rainy River ON 1.JPG

Rainy River Town Hall, formerly the railroad station.

The town grew rapidly because of the thriving lumber industry and its two large Mills and bolstered by the Railway. In 1910, a forest fire known as The Great Fire of 1910 originating in northern Minnesota swept north and destroyed the Mills. Across the South side of the River the two villages of Baudette and Spooner were completely burned out with much of the population being saved at the very last moment by a group of brave citizens from Rainy River who backed a Train of box cars across the bridge and pulled them out. The mill industry relocated as a result, contributing to a drop in population from more than 4500 people to its current 1000.

However, due to the railroad, (absorbed by the Canadian Northern Railway in 1915) since taken over by Canadian National Railways, the growing hunting/fishing tourism industry, the town remained firmly established. The town has had many industries in the past, a Rail Round House, in the 1960s the Rainy River Boat company, in the 1970s Arctic Cat Apparel among some of the major ones, all have now closed and the current town faces an uncertain future although remains firmly fixed with a hard working population who are always ready to leap on new industry.

Demographics

Population trend:

• Population in 2011: 842
• Population in 2006: 909
• Population in 2001: 981
• Population in 1996: 1008
• Population in 1991: 968

Notable people

• Bronko Nagurski, Hall of fame NFL player
• James Arthur Mathieu, businessman and politician
• Angela Bulloch, sound and installation artist

See also

• The Great Fire of 1910
• SS Keenora (River Ship)
• Ontario and Rainy River Railway

External links

• Town of Rainy River
• The Rainy River Record
• Canada Census 1901