According to the Geographic Names Unit of the Surveyor General’s Office, Tait was named after Joseph Tait, MPP for Toronto Centre. Shenston was given the name of F. Shenston from a prominent Brantford family. Roseberry got the name of a British Statesman, Lord Roseberry. Barwick got its name from J. […]

Between the Ripples...Stories of Chapple

During the reign of the great Queen Victoria, settlers, mostly from “Old Ontario”, steamed up the “Queen of Rivers” from Lake of the Woods to the Chapple area. In order to settle Western Canada, the Dominion of Canada passed The Dominion Lands Act in 1883. This Act stated that any […]

Between the Ripples...Stories of Chapple

The requirements for organization as a municipality are written in F. Yeigh’s report: As soon as a township has 100 resident freeholders, a township council, consisting of reeve, deputy reeve and councilors, may be chosen to administer the affairs of the organized settlement. The community which was to become Chapple […]

Between the Ripples...Stories of Chapple

In the 1840’s, Nicol Finlayson wrote of seeing the Indians fishing at Manitou Rapids and described the forest along the river: … the forest on both banks consists of birch and hard wood instead of the eternal pine forests, which have been hitherto passed through. The settlers had to accept […]

Our Thanks The Development Team at the Fort Frances Times would like to thank the following people for their efforts: The staff at the Fort Frances Museum for their help in finding information and for the use of History of Fort Frances. Margaret Thompson, author of Rainy River. Our Town. […]

Between the Ripples...Stories of Chapple

More efficient than any of today’s communication method was the five rings of the telephone that meant every receiver in the community would be lifted. Five rings by the operator or by anyone in trouble signalled and emergency. One long ring meant someone was calling “Central” to connect them with […]

Between the Ripples...Stories of Chapple

Road Construction The Colonization Road, first called the River Road was the first road in Chapple. It was constructed to encourage “colonization” and followed the river bank through Barwick and Roseberry townships. Initially it was probably a path used by natives during the spring and fall when the river was […]

Fort Frances Times and Rainy Lake Herald

Uncork the champagne bottles–the Fort Frances Times turns 100 today! One is awestruck, looking back over the past century, by how much has been dutifully recorder on these very newspaper pages. It was the promise of gold that spawned a city, and this newspaper, so many years ago. But long […]

Rainy River Record

Traffic on the Rainy River is recorded as early as 1688 or 1699 by Jacques de Noyon, a native of Trois Rivieres. He made the journey with a party of Indians who promised he would find a river emptying into the Western Sea (Lake Winnipeg). Later, voyager traffic along the […]

Open House Featuring Old Copies Of The Paper Planned For Next Thursday The Rainy River Record Officially turns 75 August 29, 1994. However, this special edition has been produced in part to recognize our 75th anniversary as a publication. Many changes have taken place over the past 75 years, including […]