December 8, 2000 Area books make wonderfull heritage gifts

With the holiday season approaching, the following are a few suggestions for heritage books and other items that may interest you. Most of the books are available at local bookstores, especially Gulliver's, which has a large local history collection and will order books in if they do not have them in stock.

The North Bay Area Museum has many heritage books and gifts (705 476-2323). Some of the following are specific to an area or group, and others are of a more general nature. Several have been mentioned in previous articles. Some phone numbers have been included for further information.

Starting with Mattawa, in the east end of the Community Voices area, there are several books of interest. Leo Morel's book Mattawa: The Meeting of the Waters (1982) is available at the Mattawa Museum (call Peter Cianfarani at 705 744-1287). You can also get the new Mattawa: Our Timeless Town there or at several other Mattawa locations. Gordon Dufoe's book Canadian Animals I Have Known and Peter Handley's book on Mike Rodden are available at the Highway Book Shop in Cobalt (1-800-461-2002). They may be able to tell you the nearest location where they are available. 

Temiscaming produced a 430 page 75th anniversary book in 1996, which presents a thorough look at their past and includes hundreds of photos. It is available at their Municipal Office at (814) 627-3273.

Another excellent coffee table book about lakes Temiscaming, Nipissing and Abitibi is Richard Tatley's Northern Steamboats (1996). The north side of lake Nipissing is featured in two books by Wayne Lebelle of Field (705) 758-9669. Sturgeon Falls is featured in Sturgeon Falls (1895-1995) and thirteen communities in West Nipissing are featured in West Nipissing (1998).

There are several township history books that are worth purchasing.

South Himsworth Township has a good centennial book, which, because of amalgamation, has been reduced in price from $30 to $10 to clear (705) 724-2206. Chisholm has a remarkable three history books: 1880-1960, 1880-1974, and the brand new 1975-2000 book that has just come out (705) 724-2836.

Powassan has two new items of interest. The Agricultural Society has produced a Commemorative Album with photos, history, etc., available at The Shoe Inn on Main St. in Powassan. The other book is a 25-page keepsake of the Powassan and District High School Reunion-1930-1969. (705) 724-2206.

Further down highway 11, Machar Towship has a new history book available at the township office (705) 386-7741). Audrey (Michel) Hicks has single-handedly produced a fine publication about the unincorporated township of Lount (705 384-5831). Both of these books talk about the Old Nipissing Road, as does Helen Spencer's book In Celebration of the Old Nipissing Road. (705) 387-3947. The Discovery Route Trail Organization recently received a grant to complete the connection of the Trans-Canada Trail in North Bay with the Old Nipissing Road.

June Hampel's book Reflections on Restoule (1990) provides interesting insight into the settlement of Restoule and area (705 757-5243).

Before leaving the Parry Sound district, I want to recommend Astrid Taim's Almaguin: A Highland Story (1998). It features fresh research and insights on various communities in the Almaguin area.

This review is primarily on the area outside of North Bay, but it should be mentioned, for those specifically interested in North Bay, that there are forty or fifty books that touch directly on the city.

The local history section of the North Bay Public Library and the Canadore-Nipissing Education Centre Library both have excellent local history collections. Cup Gunning's weekly series on North Bay history in the Nugget mentions one book a week in the column, besides providing information on past history.

Another well-received book on logging history is The Fossmill Story (1999), written by my son and I. The companion video, "Logging By Rail in Algonquin Park" provides a fascinating visual perspective on the story, featuring old film footage of the horse logging days.

One of my favourite books, A Pioneer Story by Barbara Greenwood, makes interesting reading for adults and children alike.

Claire Smerdon of the Temagami Train Station Restoration Project has produced several precision laser model kits of pioneer buildings such as those seen in the Greenwood book. She also has one on the Quint house available only at the Quint Museum. Claire will be giving a demonstration of her work at Gulliver's Books on Saturday December 9, from 9-11 a.m.

The most popular history book of the season is Canada: A People's History, Volume 1, the first of a two-part publication. It is a companion to the CBC's ambitious 15-part, 30-hour series that looks at Canadian history through the eyes of those who experienced it. The first ten hours have been aired and the series will resume on January 7, 2001.

I have undoubtedly not touched upon some important items, but space does not allow for a longer list. Hopefully there will be more publications like the ones above in 2001, and we can learn more about our past. Please let me know about any new local history books published in the area, so I can bring them to the attention of the readers of Community Voices.