Fort Frances

Fort Frances
Town (single-tier)
Town of Fort Frances

Flag
Coat of arms
Nickname(s): The Fort
Motto: Industry and perseverance (?-2014)
Boundless (2014-present)
Fort Frances
Coordinates: 48°37′N 93°24′W / 48.617°N 93.400°W / 48.617; -93.400Coordinates: 48°37′N 93°24′W / 48.617°N 93.400°W / 48.617; -93.400
Country  Canada
Province  Ontario
District Rainy River
Incorporated 1903
Government
 • Mayor Roy Avis
 • Federal riding Thunder Bay—Rainy River
 • Prov. riding Kenora—Rainy River
Area[1]
 • Land 26.85 km2 (10.37 sq mi)
Population (2011)[1]
 • Total 7,952
 • Density 301.8/km2 (782/sq mi)
Demonym(s) Fort Francesian
Time zone CST (UTC−6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC−5)
Postal code P9A
Area code(s) 807
Website www.fort-frances.com

Fort Frances is a town in, and the seat of, Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The population as of the 2011 census was 7,952. Fort Frances is a popular fishing destination, it hosts the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship annually.

Located on the international border with the United States where Rainy Lake narrows to become Rainy River, it is connected to International Falls, Minnesota, by the Fort Frances–International Falls International Bridge. The town is the third largest community of Northwestern Ontario after Thunder Bay and Kenora. The Fort Frances Mill was formerly the main employer and industry in the town until its closure in January 2014.

History

Fort Frances courthouse

This was the first European settlement west of Lake Superior; it was established by French Canadian Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, first commander of the western district. In 1731 he built Fort Saint Pierre near this spot as support for the fur trade with native peoples. In 1732 his expedition built Fort Saint Charles on Magnuson Island on the west side of Lake of the Woods. After some time, Fort St. Pierre fell out of use.[2]

In 1817, following the War of 1812 and redefinition of borders between Canada and the United States, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) built a fort here. In 1830 HBC Chief Factor John Dugald Cameron[3] named the fur trading post after Frances Ramsay Simpson, the 18-year-old daughter of a London merchant,[4] who had married earlier that year in London, George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, who would visit the fort many times. In 1841 she became Lady Simpson after George Simpson was knighted, and she died in 1853 at Lachine, Quebec.[5]

Incorporated in 1903, the town held a big centennial celebration in 2003.

The main employer was a pulp and paper mill established in the early 1900s. It had numerous owners over the years, notably Edward Wellington Backus. Now owned by Resolute Forest Products, the mill employed about 700 persons until its closure in 2014.

New Gold, a mining company, is working on creating a mine around Fort Frances which will employ many people that used to work at the Fort Frances Mill.

On June 25, 1946, the town was struck by a tornado which caused major damage. This tornado struck a week after the deadly Windsor tornado.

On August 25, 2013, the town hosted the final pitstop in the Kraft Celebration Tour. They received the most votes out of all 20 communities

On January 14, 2014, Resolute Forest Products announced that it planned to stop operations of the final paper machine and close out its operations in Fort Frances by the end of the month.

On December 13, 2014, Tim Horton's filmed a commercial in Fort Frances. The commercial, which dubs Fort Frances "one of the coldest places in Canada", was shot at the local Tim Horton's. In the days leading up to the filming, yarn was seen covering trees, benches, etc. Workers had spent the night covering the interior of the restaurant with yarn and building a giant toque on the roof. For the day, the coffee was free.

In August 2015 the Seven Generations Education Institute hosted the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium's (WINHEC) Annual General Meeting at the Nanicost Grounds for members attending from all over the world.

Transportation

There are three airports in the area, one in the United States. The two local airports are for general aviation and other a privately owned floatplane base.

Fort Frances Municipal Airport is served by only one airline, Bearskin Airlines with flights to and from Kenora, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, and Dryden.

Ontario Highway 11 and Ontario Highway 71 are two major roads in Fort Frances. Both are part of the Trans-Canada Highway and the latter ends in Fort Frances. The town is connected to Kenora via Highway 71, while Highway 11 provides connections to Devlin, Emo, and Rainy River to the west, and Atikokan to the east.

Canadian National Railway travels into Fort Frances with freight traffic only and travels across the International Bridge into the US.

Train, truck and car traffic to and from the United States is via the Fort Frances-International Falls International Bridge over the Rainy River.

Fort Frances Transit operated until 1996 and Fort Frances Handi-Van Transit is a provincial funded service run by the Town of Fort Frances. Caribou Coach Transportation Company Incorporated runs a bus route to and from Thunder Bay. This route was once served by Greyhound Canada.

Climate

Fort Frances experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb), with bitterly cold winters and temperate summers. Temperatures beyond 34 °C have been measured in all five late spring and summer months. Summer highs are comparable to Paris and the Los Angeles Basin coastline in California, whereas winter lows on average resemble southern Siberia and polar subarctic inland Scandinavia.

Fort Frances, along with Atikokan hold the record for the highest temperature ever recorded in the province of Ontario. On 13 July 1936 the mercury climbed to 108 °F (42.2 °C).

Climate data for Fort Frances Municipal Airport, 1981−2010 normals, extremes 1892−present[lower-alpha 1]
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 10.0
(50)		 13.0
(55.4)		 26.4
(79.5)		 31.7
(89.1)		 35.0
(95)		 40.0
(104)		 42.2
(108)		 35.6
(96.1)		 35.6
(96.1)		 31.1
(88)		 22.8
(73)		 13.9
(57)		 42.2
(108)
Average high °C (°F) −9.5
(14.9)		 −5.3
(22.5)		 1.1
(34)		 10.5
(50.9)		 18.0
(64.4)		 22.6
(72.7)		 25.3
(77.5)		 24.0
(75.2)		 18.3
(64.9)		 10.2
(50.4)		 0.5
(32.9)		 −6.8
(19.8)		 9.1
(48.4)
Daily mean °C (°F) −15.3
(4.5)		 −11.4
(11.5)		 −4.8
(23.4)		 4.0
(39.2)		 11.2
(52.2)		 16.3
(61.3)		 18.9
(66)		 17.7
(63.9)		 12.5
(54.5)		 5.2
(41.4)		 −3.6
(25.5)		 −11.6
(11.1)		 3.3
(37.9)
Average low °C (°F) −21.0
(−5.8)		 −17.4
(0.7)		 −10.6
(12.9)		 −2.5
(27.5)		 4.4
(39.9)		 9.9
(49.8)		 12.5
(54.5)		 11.3
(52.3)		 6.7
(44.1)		 0.1
(32.2)		 −7.6
(18.3)		 −16.5
(2.3)		 −2.6
(27.3)
Record low °C (°F) −45.0
(−49)		 −45.5
(−49.9)		 −37.3
(−35.1)		 −28.5
(−19.3)		 −11.1
(12)		 −5.0
(23)		 0.6
(33.1)		 −4.0
(24.8)		 −7.8
(18)		 −16.7
(1.9)		 −38.0
(−36.4)		 −42.0
(−43.6)		 −45.5
(−49.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 34.7
(1.366)		 21.9
(0.862)		 26.3
(1.035)		 41.2
(1.622)		 77.7
(3.059)		 119.0
(4.685)		 96.7
(3.807)		 91.6
(3.606)		 82.9
(3.264)		 56.5
(2.224)		 46.0
(1.811)		 31.9
(1.256)		 726.3
(28.594)
Average rainfall mm (inches) 0.0
(0)		 2.1
(0.083)		 12.1
(0.476)		 30.9
(1.217)		 77.4
(3.047)		 119.0
(4.685)		 96.7
(3.807)		 91.6
(3.606)		 82.6
(3.252)		 53.3
(2.098)		 16.4
(0.646)		 2.7
(0.106)		 584.7
(23.02)
Average snowfall cm (inches) 34.7
(13.66)		 19.8
(7.8)		 14.2
(5.59)		 10.3
(4.06)		 0.25
(0.098)		 0.0
(0)		 0.0
(0)		 0.0
(0)		 0.31
(0.122)		 3.3
(1.3)		 29.7
(11.69)		 29.2
(11.5)		 141.6
(55.75)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) 8.1 6.4 6.1 7.3 13.4 13.3 12.9 11.7 12.6 11.6 8.1 8.0 119.4
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) 0.0 0.64 2.0 6.0 13.4 13.3 12.9 11.7 12.6 10.5 2.5 0.58 85.9
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) 8.1 6.0 4.2 2.0 0.12 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.08 1.5 6.2 7.5 35.6
Source: Environment Canada[6][7][8]

Demographics

Census Population
1901 697
1911 1,611
1921 3,109
1931 5,470
1941 5,849
1951 8,038
1961 9,481
1971 9,947
1981 8,906
1991 8,891
1996 8,790
2001 8,315
2006 8,103
2011 7,952

Fort Frances had a population of 7,952 people in 2011, which was a decrease of 1.9% from the 2006 census count. The median household income in 2005 for Fort Frances was $54,859, which is below the Ontario provincial average of $60,455.[1]

The town's ethnic makeup is 82% European Canadian, 17% Aboriginal Canadian and 1% Other (Including Black Canadian and South Asian Canadian)

Coat of arms

The city coat of arms features a bull moose; maple leaves; a "Magneto", representative of electricity (industry); two men in a canoe; a white pine tree; and the motto "Industry and Perseverance."

Media

Newspapers

Online media

Television stations

The only local television channel serving Fort Frances is the Shaw TV community channel on Shaw Cable channel 10.

There are no local broadcast outlets or repeaters serving Fort Frances; Shaw Cable carries CBWT-DT (CBC), CBWFT-DT (Radio-Canada) and CKY-DT (CTV) from Winnipeg, CJBN-TV (Global) from Kenora, CITV-DT (Global) from Edmonton, and TVO, plus CITY-DT (City), CHCH-DT (independent), CFTM-DT (TVA, live feed) and TFO.

United States network programming on Shaw TV comes from Detroit (WDIV-TV, WXYZ-TV, WWJ-TV, and WTVS) and Rochester (WUHF); stations from the Duluth television market are not available on cable, though they are available over-the-air from repeaters in International Falls.

Radio stations

Another radio station, CKWO FM 92.3, was licensed to the neighbouring Couchiching First Nation. The station closed and went silent in 2007.

Education

Elementary and secondary schools

Rainy River District School Board

Northwest Catholic District School Board

Post-secondary schools

Former elementary schools

Rainy River District School Board

Northwest Catholic District School Board

Notable Fort Francesians

Culture and attractions

Sport

Fort Frances is home to the following amateur sports teams:

Fort Frances was the home of the former amateur sports teams:

Sporting facilities include : * The Duke Arena * Memorial Sports Centea

Sources

  1. 1 2 3 "Fort Frances community profile". 2011 Census data. Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2011-05-03.
  2. ↑ "A Short History of Fort Frances". Town of Fort Frances. Retrieved 2011-05-03.
  3. ↑ Sylvia Van Kirk, “CAMERON, JOHN DUGALD,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 8, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed November 22, 2015, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/cameron_john_dugald_8E.html.
  4. ↑ Sylvia Van Kirk, “SIMPSON, FRANCES RAMSAY,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 8, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed November 22, 2015, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/simpson_frances_ramsay_8E.html.
  5. ↑ ohn S. Galbraith, “SIMPSON, Sir GEORGE,” in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, vol. 8, University of Toronto/Université Laval, 2003–, accessed November 22, 2015, http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/simpson_george_8E.html.
  6. ↑ "Fort Frances Airport". Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010. Environment Canada. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
  7. ↑ "Fort Frances". Canadian Climate Normals 1971–2000. Environment Canada. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
  8. ↑ "Fort Frances RCS". Canadian Climate Data. Environment Canada. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
  1. ↑ Temperature and precipitation normals were collected at Fort Frances Airport for the period 1981−2010. Extreme high and low temperatures were recorded in the town of Fort Frances from January 1892 to September 1995 and at Fort Frances Airport from August 1976 to present.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort Frances, Ontario.


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