Ontario

It was a beautiful day while camping on the shores of Lake Superior when we hit the open road to do some exploring.  There were several targets on our list this fine day, but this was a chance find on Google Maps.

I was initially thrown off.  From the satellite photos, it seemed obvious that it was a race track.  Street View, however, showed a Young Drivers of Canada sign over the gate.  Apparently it was a driver training facility.  But there were grandstands…  Clearly this place had had at least two lives.

I cannot count the number of years, let alone the number of individual times, that I’ve passed this location and thought to myself, “I really should stop there at some point and have a look around”.  Finally, I took the opportunity to do so on the long weekend of September.

As is often the case with these things, I wasn’t completely sure as to the exact location of this town when I arrived.  In fact, I wasn’t completely sure there was even anything left to see.  However, we were on vacation, we were in the area, give or take a few hundred kilometres, why not go take a look.

When we were close to the spot, I decided to park the truck and consider two possible directions we could begin hiking.  One seemed most likely, so I chose to eliminate the other first.  As it turns out, both were right.

History: 

Completed in 1954 by the US Air Force, this radar station was part of the Pinetree Line, a group of radar sites across Canada used as part of the defense against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was manned by the 914th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron.

We arrived on a bright and sunny May morning, parked and proceeded to the front entrance to begin our tour.  My attention was initially distracted by the person positioned there to check me in and give me instructions before I noticed the sheer magnitude and domination of this entrance.  Of course, that was its design…  Instant intimidation of anyone entering through the massive doors.

When I first found this house a week ago, I was actually hunting for the remains of a power dam.  I made note of the house and decided that on the next opportunity, I would come back and take a closer look.

You can see the place has been completely cleaned out.  Not a single belonging left behind.  I know nothing of the history of the place, but it’s obvious that the people who moved from here had ample time and planned to leave.