Hey everyone!
As I mentioned in my last post, I just got back from a week-long trip to Ottawa. While I was there, my friend Max had the great idea to do some exploring in nearby ghost towns. We decided on exploring Renfrew County, which is just an hour out of Ottawa and has some amazing old pioneer settlements. Max, Stef and I packed up a car and headed out for an interesting Sunday adventure.
When researching locations to visit we used a website called Ontario Abandoned Places. It’s an interesting site where users can report ghost towns or abandoned buildings in an area, and also provide the GPS coordinates, photos and the history of a location. The first location we had decided on was the Biederman Lime Kiln, which is a beautiful stone kiln that hasn’t operated since 1930.
I honestly thought this location would be the easiest to get to compared to some other off-road locations. All we had to do was find the old quarry road and drive until the end. We found the road without any problems, but then encountered an unexpected roadblock.
A bridge had recently been removed, leaving us standing in front of a stream that was at least 6 feet deep. So we decided to try driving up a parallel dirt road to see where that would lead us. This lead to our second unexpected roadblock.
Cows, and lots of them. Just as I was driving up the dirt road the herd charged out from the forest. They seemed rather defensive of the car, so we opted to go on foot to see where the road lead. As we walked, the herd of spooked cattle ran ahead of us. We ended up coming to a similar bridge that had been removed. The whole area had recently been renovated, which was clear from piles of gravel and dirt.
Looking at satellite images now it might still be possible to reach the old kiln by continuing up the dirt road, but we decided to head to our next destination since we had a full day ahead of us. Besides, we had been thoroughly excited by our run-in with the herd of cattle.
Our next location was Old Killaloe, a ghost town near the current town of Killaloe, Ontario. As it turns out, Killaloe is the birthplace of my favorite Canadian pastry: a beavertail. Essentially it’s a deep-fried pastry that’s usually coated with cinnamon and sugar, chocolate or hazelnut spread. Naturally, we had to stop for a bite.
While there, we also took some time to explore Station Park. This was the site of the old train station, now a park for the town. It was very picturesque and quaint in the way that small towns always seem to be. There was even an admirable community library with books safely stored in tree trunks.
After taking in the town of Killaloe, we got back in the car and drove for a few minutes to old Killaloe. Old Killaloe was settled in the 1850s and was quite successful for several decades. In the 1890s a railway was to be built through the area, but had to be placed several kilometers away from the settlement. Over the years most settlers began moving closer to the railway. Today there are still several houses and farms in the area, but most are abandoned.
Our last stop in Old Killaloe was the general store, which is actually still open one day a week or by appointment. Unfortunately, the store was closed on Sundays, but the building itself presented a nice photo opportunity. There were also a few items out in front of the store, including a gorgeous hand-crafted canoe.
Thanks designed for sharing such a fastidious thought, piece of
writing is pleasant, thats why i have read it entirely
Excellent items from you, man. I’ve consider your stuff previous to
and you are just too great. I actually like what you have
obtained here, really like what you’re stating and the best
way by which you are saying it. You make it entertaining and
you continue to take care of to stay it sensible.
I cant wait to read much more from you. This is actually a great
web site.
hi!,I love your writing very much! share we communicate extra about your post on AOL?
I require a specialist on this area to solve my problem. May be that
is you! Having a look forward to peer you.
Link exchange is nothing else however it is just placing the other person’s
webpage link on your page at proper place and other
person will also do similar in favor of you.
I am curious to find out what blog system you’re
using? I’m experiencing some small security problems with my latest website and
I would like to find something more secure. Do you have any suggestions?
Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an very long comment but after I clicked submit my
comment didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all
that over again. Anyway, just wanted to say great blog!
Excellent article. I am going through many of
these issues as well..
Do you mind if I quote a couple of your articles as long as
I provide credit and sources back to your weblog? My blog is in the exact same area
of interest as yours and my visitors would really benefit
from a lot of the information you provide here. Please let me know if this okay with you.
Cheers!
What a material of un-ambiguity and preserveness of valuable familiarity on the topic of unpredicted emotions.
We stumbled over here coming from a different web address
and thought I might check things out. I like what I see so now i’m following you.
Look forward to going over your web page again.
I have read so many posts about the blogger lovers but this post is really a good post, keep it up.
I think that what you said made a bunch of sense. However, what about this?
what if you typed a catchier title? I am not saying your information isn’t solid, however what if you added a headline that makes people desire more?
I mean Abandoned Ontario Part 1: Old Killaloe – Nature
is Love is kinda vanilla. You ought to peek at Yahoo’s home page and see how they create article
titles to grab viewers to open the links. You might try adding a video or a related pic
or two to get readers excited about everything’ve got to say.
In my opinion, it would make your blog a little livelier.
Good day! I could have sworn I’ve visited this website before but after browsing through a few of the posts I
realized it’s new to me. Regardless, I’m certainly
pleased I discovered it and I’ll be book-marking it and checking back regularly!
Amazing blog! Do you have any recommendations for aspiring writers?
I’m planning to start my own blog soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
Would you advise starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option?
There are so many choices out there that I’m totally overwhelmed ..
Any suggestions? Thank you!
We stumbled over here from a different web page and thought
I should check things out. I like what I see so i am just following you.
Look forward to finding out about your web page again.
I’m not sure where you’re getting your info, but great topic.
I needs to spend some time learning more or understanding more.
Thanks for wonderful information I was looking
for this info for my mission.
Heya i’m for the first time here. I found this board and I to find It really useful & it helped me out a lot.
I hope to provide one thing back and help others such
as you aided me.
I feel that is one of the such a lot significant
information for me. And i’m happy reading your article.
But want to remark on few general things, The website taste is perfect,
the articles is actually excellent : D. Good activity, cheers
I was able to find good info from your articles.
Hi just wanted to give you a brief heads up and let you know
a few of the images aren’t loading properly. I’m not sure why but I think its a linking issue.
I’ve tried it in two different web browsers and
both show the same results.