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.
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