Collections and Research »
|6000 BC||First human activity. The Paleo Indians live in small bands and hunt mammoth and other giant species on the shore of glacial Lake Agassiz.|
|3000 BC||Archaic people live in small bands, hunting and fishing.|
|1-1000 Middle Woodland||Woodland people move into this area, live in villages, hunt, fish and gather.|
|1000 Late Woodland||Woodland people, the Selkirk and Blackduck, live in villages and well-organized societies. They are here when the first Europeans arrive.|
|1688||Jacques De Noyon sights Lake of the Woods, the first European to do so.|
|1732||Pierre La Verendrye establishes Fort St. Charles.|
|1736||Jean Baptiste La Verendrye, Father Aulneau and 19 others are massacred by Sioux.|
|1763||Fort St. Charles is abandoned.|
|1783||Britain and United States sign the Treaty of Paris following the War of Independence. The Treaty describes the boundary between Canada and the US.|
|1821||Merger of the Hudson’s Bay Comany and the North West Company.|
|1823||International Boundary Commission surveys Lake of the Woods for the US/Canada Boundary – David Thompson, Surveyor, and John Bigsby, Secretary, for the British; Joseph Delafield, Agent, and James Ferguson, Surveyor, for the US. Map is rejected by the Hudson’s Bay Company.|
|1824||David Thompson and his son Samuel repeat survey of Lake of the Woods finding North West Angle. Map results in final definition of boundary.|
|1825||Ludwig Tiarks, surveyor for the British, confirms that the North West Angle is more north-westerly than Rat Portage.|
|1836||Hudson’s Bay Company establishes a post on Old Fort Island, replacing the post at the Dalles.|
|1842||Webster-Ashburton Treaty ratified North West Angle as the most northerly place on the US/Canada boundary and the connection due south to the 49th parallel.|
|1846||Area is visited by Paul Kane, artist and explorer.|
|1850||Gold is first discovered in the area.|
|1857||Henry Youle Hind Expedition, sponsored by the Canadian government, passes through Lake of the Woods, searching out an emigrant route from Lake Superior to the Red River.
Samuel J. Dawson is with this expedition.
Palliser Expedition, sponsored by the British government, passes through Lake of the Woods, on a three-year expedition to survey the resources of western Canada to establish the suitability of the general area for settlement.
|1861||Hudson’s Bay Company post opens on the mainland on the present site of Kenora.|
|1870||Wolseley Expedition arrives at northern end of Lake of the Woods.
The boundary dispute between Ontario and Manitoba begins.
|1871||Dawson Trail opens.
The Ontario government builds a jail in Rat Portage (now Kenora). The Manitoba jail is situated across the street.
|1872||First steamboat on Lake of the Woods.|
|1873||Treaty #3 is signed at the North West Angle.|
|1876||Frank Gardner arrives in Keewatin and is generally acknowledged as the first permanent white settler in the area.|
|1877||Construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway begins in this area.|
|1878||Rat Portage lots are surveyed by the Hudson’s Bay Company.|
|1879||First hotel in Rat Portage, the Rideout House, is built.
John Mather, who applied for post office seals, switches seals and keeps Keewatin Mills for the western railway stop and sends Rat Portage to the eastern stop.
The first doctor in Rat Portage, Dr. Thomas Hanson, arrives.
A cut is made between Portage Bay to Darlington Bay for sawmill.
|1880||The first newspaper in Rat Portage is printed. It’s called The North Star.
The first sawmill operation begins at Keewatin Mills, owned by John Mather.
Visit by the Marquis of Lorne and Princess Louise.
Rat Portage is considered the roughest town in Canada.
|1881||First library is established in Rat Portage.
Discovery of Sultana vein of gold.
First roundhouse with a turntable is built by the CPR.
|1882||Western line of the CPR between Rat Portage and Winnipeg is completed.
First railway station is built in Rat Portage.
First Roman Catholic Church is built in Rat Portage.
Town of Rat Portage is legally incorporated by Manitoba.
|1883||Eastern line of CPR from Thunder Bay is completed.
Polling takes place in Rat Portage to elect members to the Provincial Legislatures of both Manitoba and Ontario.
First municipal government is formed in Rat Portage and W.L. Baker is the first mayor.
First school in Rat Portage is built on Hennepin Lake.
The first tourists come to Rat Portage and stay in the Rideout House.
|1884||Boundary dispute between Ontario and Manitoba is settled in favour of Ontario.|
|1885||Rat Portage’s first firehall burns down.
The first circus arrives in town.
Population is 750.
|1886||First ocean to ocean train comes through Rat Portage.|
|1887||Norman threatens to withdraw from the municipality of Rat Portage, citing taxation without adequate return as the reason.
Rollerway Dam is built at the western outlet to the Winnipeg River.
Norman’s first school is built.
|1888||Lake of the Woods Milling Company begins production of flour.
Keewatin lots are surveyed by the Keewatin Lumber and Manufacturing Company.
|1889||Rat Portage Curling Club forms.|
|1890||Rat Portage Rowing Club forms.|
|1891||First Rat Portage Regatta is held.
Thistles hockey team is organized.
|1892||Rat Portage dam and powerhouse is built on eastern outlet to Winnipeg River.
The first telephone system is operated in Rat Portage by the Citizen’s Telephone and Electric Light Company.
Town of Rat Portage is legally incorporated by Ontario.
|1893||Western Algoma Brick Company is established.
Local Humane Society organizes.
Norman Dam is built by Keewatin Lumbering and Manufacturing Company.
Twenty gold mines are operating within 15 miles of Rat Portage.
1.65 million pounds of fish and 123,750 pounds of caviar are harvested from Lake of the Woods.
|1894||Visit by Sir Wilfred Laurier.|
|1895||Salvation Army is organized in Rat Portage.|
|1896||J.W. Stone Boat Manufacturing Company, the lake’s first boat building company, opens.|
|1897||$25,000.00 of gold bullion is shipped out of Rat Portage from the area mines.
Victoria Rink is built.
Rat Portage Baptist Church is built.
Royal Jubilee Hospital is completed.
Zion Methodist Church is built.
|1898||St. Mary’s Residential School opens.|
|1899||Official opening of the second Central School.|
|1900||New CPR Station and roundhouse is built.
Post Office building opens.
Gun Club is founded.
The ferry boat Argyle begins operation on the lake.
Population is almost 3,500.
|1901||World sculling championship is held in Rat Portage between Rat Portage resident Jake Gaudaur and Australian George Towns. Towns wins.|
|1903||St. Joseph’s Hospital is opened by the Sisters of Providence of Montreal.
Lake of the Woods Yacht Club is organized.
|1904||Navigation buoys installed along the Winnipeg River to aid marine traffic anticipated to support the coming construction of the new National Transcontinental Railway.|
|1905||Name of Rat Portage changes to Kenora.
Double tracking of the CPR begins. Completed in 1910.
Population is 5,000.
|1906||Eastern outlet power plant is enlarged.|
|1907||Kenora Thistles win the Stanley Cup.|
|1908||The sister townships are joined to form Jaffray and Melick.
Road from Melick Township to Redditt is laid out.
First time women can vote in the municipal election.
Rediscovery of Fort St. Charles.
Keewatin is incorporated as a town.
|1909||By-law is passed to use numbers on streets instead of names. Houses are also numbered at this time.|
|1910||Tourist Hotel (Kenricia) opens.
Court House is completed.
|1911||The Winnipeg River Crossing of the National Transcontinental Railway becomes known as Minaki and welcomes the first passenger train service from Winnipeg.|
|1912||Present Kenora Fire Hall is built after the first 3 had burned down.|
|1913||Kenora Highschool is built.|
|1914||The Kenora Fish Market is opened by Frank Gustafson.
Visit by the Duke of Connaught, Governor General of Canada, and his wife, the Duchess of Connaught, and his daughter, Princess Patricia.The 350 guest Minaki Inn, built by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, opens for business.
|1915||One-room log cabin school is built in Black Sturgeon district.
The Ukrainian Literary Society forms.
Clock is installed in Post Office tower.
|1916||Kenora Public Library is built.|
|1917||Present St. Alban’s Cathedral is constructed.
The first paid fire chief is hired by the Town of Kenora.
Zion Methodist Church burns down and joins Knox Presbyterian to become Knox United.
|1918||Hudson’s Bay Company store closes.|
|1920||The first seaplane to fly over central Canada stops in Kenora.
The Thistle Rink is built.
Construction of pulp and paper mill starts. Owned by Backus and Brooks.
|1922||Golf Club is founded.|
|1924||Kenora cenotaph is unveiled in Memorial Park.
Production of paper begins at paper mill.
Golf Clubhouse built.
|1925||Population is 7,500.
Minaki Inn burns down the day before it is to open for the season; new 9 hole Stanley Thompson Golf Course opens.
|1926||Lakeside toboggan slides and ski jump opens.|
|1927||The CNR opens new 200 guest Minaki Lodge.|
|1928||Jail built on Laurenson Lake.|
|1929||Cecelia Jeffrey Residential School built on Round Lake.|
|1930||The Kenora Rowing Club wins the Lipton Cup, marking them as the champions of the Northwestern International Rowing Association. They win it again in 1936.|
|1932||Completion of the Ontario-Manitoba section of the Trans Canada Highway.
New highschool is officially opened – later renamed Lakewood Secondary School.
|1935||The first woman, Elizabeth Courtney, is elected to the Municipal Council of the Town of Kenora.
New curling rink built at corner of First Street South and Eighth Avenue South.
|1936||Argyle II replaces the original.|
|1937||Salvation Army Citadel is built.|
|1938||Maple Leaf Flour Mill burns down and is not rebuilt.
Kenora District Camp Owners’ Assocation forms.
|1939||Brief Royal visit in Kenora as King and Queen travelled west on the CPR; thousands of people flocked to Redditt to see the Royals on their trip East on the CNR.|
|1940||Ontario and Minnesota Paper Co. takes over the paper mill.
Population is 8,200.
|1946||Ice palace built on Main Street for Winter Carnival.|
|1949||The bridge over the western outlet of the Winnipeg River is completed.|
|1954||Rabbit Lake School constructed.
Kenora Thistles hockey team play exhibition games in Japan.
B’nai Brith Camp established on Town Island.
Hurricane Hazel hits the region.
|1955||Flour mill in Keewatin is bought by Ogilvie’s.|
|1957||Kenora’s 75th Anniversary.|
|1958||Ontario Hydro generating stations at White Dog and Caribou Falls begin operation.|
|1961||Minaki Highway opens.|
|1963||Beaver Brae Secondary School opens.|
|1964||Lake of the Woods Museum is established.|
|1965||Lake of the Woods International Sailing Association (LOWISA) holds first regatta.
Population is 11,200.
|1967||Husky the Muskie constructed for McLeod Park.
Keewatin flour mill is destroyed by fire and is not rebuilt.
|1968||Kenora Recreation Centre opens.
Kenora General Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital merge to form the Lake of the Woods District Hospital.
|1969||The school boards of Jaffray and Melick, Norman, Keewatin, and Kenora amalgamate.|
|1970||Post Office and other government offices move to new federal building on Railway Street.|
|1973||The Human Bomb bank robbery at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Canada.|
|1974||Marguerite Canfield was the first woman elected to the Jaffray and Melick council.
Kenora Shoppers Mall opens.
|1975||Indoor Pool at Kenora Recreation Centre opens.
New curling rink replaces older one.
|1978||Old Post Office is designated a heritage building.|
|1979||Governor-General Ed Schreyer and family visit Kenora.|
|1982||Kenora celebrates its centennial year.|
|1985||The last log boom is towed into town.|
|1986||Kenora Harbourfront development is completed.
New Lake of the Woods Museum opens.
|1988||Jaffray and Melick becomes a town.|
|1990||Jaffray and Melick’s name shortened to Jaffray-Melick.|
|2000||Amalgamation of Kenora, Keewatin, and Jaffray- Melick to form the city of Kenora.|
|2003||Trus Joist starts production of Timberstrand.
Royal Lake of the Woods Yacht Club celebrates its 100th Anniversary with a royal visit by Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.
Minaki Lodge burns down, after the season, on the Thanksgiving weekend.
|2005||Newly expanded Kenora Recreation Centre opens.|