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The History of Elliot Lake
Location: Elliot Lake- Ontario - Canada
1750 to 1900 During this period, the native population (Ojibway Nation) increased along the Great Lakes northern shores. This was due to the natives finding better ways to hunt, fish, building shelters and making it through the winters. There is solid evidence (artifacts) of these people having camps on the shores of Elliot Lake back around 1870. However, I believe they had a presence in that area as far back as the 1750s. Native pictographs have been found ten miles north of Elliot Lake on Quirke Lake. During the latter part of this period, the natives would been trading beaver pelts with the English and French explorers for various goods which would have made life easier for them and their families. In the late 1800s there would have been logging in the general area of Elliot Lake. 1901 to 1948 During this period, the area around Elliot Lake was still subject to logging. There were also trappers and prospectors combing the bush along with wilderness outfitters.. This period in time saw the birth of the modern day recreation hunter and fisherman travelling through the area. The Discovery of Uranium at Elliot Lake Creates an Instant City Uranium was first discovered in Canada in 1931, on the shores of Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories. That discovery resulted in a mine, which began production in 1932. During WW2, the demand for Uranium took center stage as nuclear weapons were being developed. After the war, the demand continued not only in the area of weapons but it was going to be used to produce electricity. In the early 1950s Denison Mines had prospectors combing the bush near the future city of Elliot Lake. Then in 1954, a drill intersected Uranium and three year later a mine was in production. The ore body was huge, but the grade of ore was extremely low. Men moved to the mine site and soon their families followed. The Town of Elliot Lake was born taking its name from the larger of two lakes at the site. Elliot Lake grew at a rapid pace and soon gained the title of, “The Uranium Capital of the World.” Two major companies, Denison Mines and Rio Algom Ltd. operated 12 mines in the area. The low grade ore was mined from a depth of 550 to 3100 feet. The mines at Elliot Lake grew rapidly until 1959, when they reached their highest production. For the next three decades the mines continued to produce, but over time the demand for the product fell. The population of Elliot Lake hit 30,000 but as the demand for Uranium fell, so did the population as mines closed and people moved away. After three decades of being the “Uranium Capital of the World,” Elliot Lake bowed to the inevitable. There were higher grade uranium mines in Saskatchewan, which Elliot lake could not compete against. In the early and mid 1990s the last mines was decommissioned. By the mid 1980s the population of Elliot Lake had fallen to 6000. The end was coming and for a while it looked like Elliot Lake would become a ghost town. The Rebirth of Elliot Lake However, two important events took place. The fist one happened in the 1950s, when the Ontario government realized it needed to step in to plan how this new town would be developed. They created a special agency to make sure the town would be viable and not just a bunch of shacks built at random by the miners. The second event took place in the second half of the 1980s, when the city fathers pondered what they were going to do to save their city. Their answer was to turn the town into a retirement city and a tourist attraction. It was a big order, but they had an extremely well laid out city, which now contained a lot of modern empty homes. In addition to that, the region was nothing short of paradise. Within a fifty mile radius, there were 4000 pristine lakes full of fish, dense forests which contained all kinds of animals and fresh air with no pollution. The city was located only 20 miles north of the Trans Canada Highway, which ran along the north shore of Lake Huron. One hundred miles to the east was the City of Greater Sudbury with a population of about 175,000 and it was the finance, medical and retail centre of Northern Ontario. In addition to that, the Ontario government's Ministry of Natural Resources in conjunction with Elliot Lake, started to make available waterfront lots on some of the lakes surrounding Elliot Lake. Elliot Lake already had a modern hospital, a high school, public schools, a library, plus several other key establishments, which made the city a very attractive place. If that wasn't enough, the icing on the cake was the low cost of purchasing a house. With so much real estate available, the cost of purchasing a modern home was ridiculously low. How Elliot Lake got Its Name The name Elliot Lake appears on Dominion of Canada maps as far back as 1910. That name would have been for the lake, as the town did not exist at that time. There are two legends of how the lake got its name. The first legend states a cook for a team of loggers in the area in the late 1800s, fell into the lake, while washing dishes and drowned. The loggers buried him on the shore of the lake and named the lake, Elliot Lake in remembrance of him. Well, that is a nice tale, but it is the second legend which fires the imagination. The second legend states, a team of loggers in the late 1800s, came face to face with a giant moose. The animal came out of the bush, while they were having their supper on the shore of a lake. The moose had them cornered and they all dove into the water, except Elliot their cook who could not swim. He stood there frozen in time, as the moose came to within eight feet of him. The men in the water estimated the moose was twice Elliot's height. They stared each other down, until the moose finally turned and wandered off. The next day, the men joked about the incident and declared the animal was Elliot's pet and named him "Elliot the Moose." The men knew this territory belonged to the moose and in recognition, named the lake, "Elliot's Lake."
The legend may be a tall tale, but over the early years it was reported there was a family of very large moose living in the area. If the story is true, then the moose who scarred the loggers passed his seed on and the cycle has continued over the years. Even today, there is talk of a large moose in the area. | 
