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 […]

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 […]

“Now know ye that having taken the premises into our Royal Consideration, We, by and with the advise of the Executive Council of Our Province of Ontario and in the exercise of the power vested in this behalf, by the said in part recited Act, or otherwise howsoever, Do, by […]

Alberton Centennial Times

The Rainy River District offers numerous lakes, rivers and wilderness to create a sportsman’s paradise. Tourism has become a secondary industry in the area, with the development of facilities to serve the vacationer who arrives to experience North Western Ontario at its finest. Tourism in fact began before the turn […]

For most people living in Alberton, and the Rainy River District in general, it would be difficult to imagine going through what their ancestors, the first settlers of the region, had to endure. Settlement here started in earnest in the late 1890’s, although several groups visited before then. Gunhilda Scott, […]

Alberton Centennial Times

If ever there was one man who set the example of how to live life to its fullest in the great white north, it was Captain Billy Wilson. Although he passed away several years ago, he is still fondly remembered by many area residents. Born in Pennsylvania, eight days after […]

Fort Frances Times and Rainy Lake Herald

When LaJemeraye beached his canoes at “the Point” in the fall of 1731, he was accompanied by LaVerendrye’s eldest son, Jean Baptiste, 25 voyageurs and a guide. When the Town of Fort Frances was incorporated in 1903, the resident population was only “approximately 650 souls”. The town’s expansion paralleled its […]

Fort Frances Times and Rainy Lake Herald

On April 11, 1903, the Corporation of the Town of Fort Frances came into being. It consisted, according to early records, of approximately 720 acres and “approximately 650 souls in number.” Oliver Mowat, who as premier and attorney-general of Ontario had battled both the Dominion and Manitoba Governments to keep […]

Fort Frances Times and Rainy Lake Herald

And the economic influence its development had not only on Northwestern Ontario, but in hastening Highway Eleven. It required but a single day to complete the entire task. It was back in 1935, just 30 years ago. The Fort Frances Times required more subscribers and one of the ways to […]