Geraldton (Ontario)

Geraldton is a community of a couple of thousand people on Highway 11 in northern Ontario.

Understand
It is part of the amalgamated Municipality of Greenstone, which covers about 3200 km², stretching along Highway 11 185 km from end to end. Greenstone, which was formed in 2001 by the amalgamation of a group of remote mining and forestry communities on the Canadian Shield. Greenstone (population about 4300 in 2021) includes the communities of Beardmore, Caramat, Geraldton, Jellicoe, Longlac, Macdiarmid, Nakina and Orient Bay.

History
The discovery of gold on the shores of Kenogamisis Lake in the early 1930s led to the founding of Geraldton. There is a historical marker on the west side of Main Street in the downtown area.

The name Geraldton is a compound of the surname of financiers of a nearby gold mine near Kenogamisis Lake in 1931 (Fitzgerald and Errington).

The discovery of the Little Long Lac mine in 1932 meant that the Canadian National Railway line (formerly the Canadian Northern Railway) was soon delivering carloads of supplies and equipment to Kenogamisiss Main Street developed between the mine and the tracks, crossing Barton Bay. A townsite sprang up on both sides of the road and railway because it rose so quickly from the swamp.

The Geraldton-Beardmore Gold Camp was home to eight gold mines from 1936 to 1976.

Geraldton was incorporated as a town in 1937. In 1939, a highway link was established with points west and south, including Thunder Bay.

By 1947, Geraldton had benefited from ten gold producers within a 10-mile radius.

As the mines closed down, Geraldton came to depend on the forest products industry as the main resource industry. Today, there are no operating mines, but mineral exploration activity continues.

Climate
Greenstone experiences a humid continental climate, with long, brutally cold winters and warm summers.

By car
Geraldton has Highway 11 (Trans-Canada Highway) passing through it.
 * From Thunder Bay, it's 280 km. Go east on the combined Highways 11 and 17 to Nipigon, and north on Highway 11.
 * From North Bay, it's 835 km north and west on Highway 11.

By bus

 * Operates a bus route between Thunder Bay and Longlac including stops in Nipigon and Geraldton. Travel time to Geraldton from Thunder Bay is 3.5 hours, from Nipigon is 2.25 hours, and from Longlac is 40 minutes.

By train

 * The nearest train station is in Longlac, about east on Highway 11.

By plane
The nearest airport with scheduled service is Thunder Bay International Airport.

Do
Annual events include a popular trade show, a fish derby, a music festival for local talent, and the Bergstrom golf tournament, played on an 18-hole course.
 * At the entry point to the town stands the Greenstone municipal administration building, which has a pleasant lakeside park with picnic tables and a playground for children.

Go next

 * Longlac — the next small town heading east on Highway 11, served by VIA Rail's transcontinental service between Vancouver and Toronto, The Canadian.
 * Nipigon — southwest, where Highway 11 joins Highway 17, en route to Thunder Bay on the Lake Superior North Shore. A smaller town than Geraldton, but a hub for fishing on Lake Superior.