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Ghost Towns of Ontario : A Field Guide
Book by Brown, Ron
2 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
About the author
Ron Brown
45 books28 followersRon Brown is a geographer and travel author of more than twenty books, including Rails to the Atlantic, The Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore, and Back Roads of Ontario. He is past chair of the Writers' Union of Canada and leads tours of Ontario's unusual sights. He lives in Toronto.
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
January 5, 2024
Ghost Towns of Ontario : A Field Guide by Ron Brown
Ron Brown
Brown is a naturalist and conservationist at heart and his introduction could be endorsed by any Ontario Naturalist. The forests that once ensured creeks ran year round were slashed to feed the mills whose mill ponds then ran dry. The towns they once supported ceased to thrive and became the ghost towns here described. Conservation Authorities now struggle to prevent greedy developers building subdivisions on flood plains and dams and levees attempt to protect from flooding houses already built beside streams that carry runoff in spring and during cloudbursts and conservationists struggle to protect farmland and the green belt from the depredations of Fat Ford and his cronies.
There’s a nostalgia and sadness inherent in these tales.
To date I’ve detected three inaccuracies.
The Grand River’s source is not in the hills north of Brantford but over 100 miles north of there as the river winds in Luther Marsh.
Since I’ve been to Peterbell I’m aware that its brick buildings were dynamited into oblivion by the CPR.
In the intro to Northern Ontario mention is made of HWY 72 but the map below shows 71. Since I just checked, 71 is correct.
Poor exposures on many of the pictures in this book make them a frustrating proposition.
Ron Brown
Brown is a naturalist and conservationist at heart and his introduction could be endorsed by any Ontario Naturalist. The forests that once ensured creeks ran year round were slashed to feed the mills whose mill ponds then ran dry. The towns they once supported ceased to thrive and became the ghost towns here described. Conservation Authorities now struggle to prevent greedy developers building subdivisions on flood plains and dams and levees attempt to protect from flooding houses already built beside streams that carry runoff in spring and during cloudbursts and conservationists struggle to protect farmland and the green belt from the depredations of Fat Ford and his cronies.
There’s a nostalgia and sadness inherent in these tales.
To date I’ve detected three inaccuracies.
The Grand River’s source is not in the hills north of Brantford but over 100 miles north of there as the river winds in Luther Marsh.
Since I’ve been to Peterbell I’m aware that its brick buildings were dynamited into oblivion by the CPR.
In the intro to Northern Ontario mention is made of HWY 72 but the map below shows 71. Since I just checked, 71 is correct.
Poor exposures on many of the pictures in this book make them a frustrating proposition.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review