The Gunflint and Lake Superior Railroad was a logging line operated by the Pigeon River Lumber Company from 1902 to 1909. It connected to the Canadian Northern Railway Duluth Extension/North Lake Subdivision (ex-Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway) at Milepost 79. It travelled six miles from the Ontario side of Gunflint Lake into Minnesota passing Crab and Whisker Lakes to near Topper Lake.
This video covers the site of the US Customs buildings at the narrows between Little Gunflint Lake and Gunflint Lake. The Customs agent was Richard Dowman. The land was owned by the Merritt Family of Marquette, MI and is often referred to as “Merritt’s Camp.”
The Gunflint and Lake Superior Railroad was a logging line operated by the Pigeon River Lumber Company from 1902 to 1909. It connected to the Canadian Northern Railway Duluth Extension/North Lake Subdivision (ex-Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway) at Milepost 79. It travelled six miles from the Ontario side of Gunflint Lake into Minnesota passing Crab and Whisker Lakes to near Topper Lake.
This video covers the crossing of the Canada-US border from Ontario to Minnesota at the narrows between Little Gunflint Lake and Gunflint Lake. Remains include spikes, rail connectors, rails, telegraph wire and rock cuts.
Extra Credit is video series that examines topics related to history in the Thunder Bay District and exploring that history.
Thirty years is a long time for anything, and in this case, it is the amount of time I have spent researching and exploring parts of local history. When I started, I was a young university student looking for something to fill the time and for a little adventure. Now I’m a middle-aged guy with a family who has taken on the goal of trying to preserve some of the past for future generations. I have seen and done a lot in these past three decades and this is a little of that story.
The Gunflint and Lake Superior Railroad was a logging line operated by the Pigeon River Lumber Company from 1902 to 1909. It connected to the Canadian Northern Railway Duluth Extension/North Lake Subdivision (ex-Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway) at Milepost 79. It travelled six miles from the Ontario side of Gunflint Lake into Minnesota passing Crab and Whisker Lakes to near Topper Lake.
This video covers the Ontario portion of the line, from the junction with the Duluth Extension to Gunflint Lake, featuring numerous spikes, boundary markers and possible remains of the Canadian customs house.
This is the story of one of the most unusual rail lines in North America.
In 1902, the Pigeon River Lumber Company, a Wisconsin company based in Port Arthur (now Thunder Bay), Ontario, acquired some timber limits in Minnesota near the International Boundary. The company had been logging along the boundary further to the east near Lake Superior since its incorporation in 1900.
To facilitate the logging, a small railroad was built in Minnesota, eventually reaching 6 miles in length. It connected to the Canadian Northern Railway Duluth Extension (formerly the Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway), a line completed in 1893 with the intention of reaching Duluth, Minnesota and accessing iron deposits in the area, both of which failed. For seven years, until 1909, hundreds of thousands of logs were hauled the 80+ miles to the company’s sawmill in Port Arthur and thus created one of the most unique rail operations in North American history. A logging railroad, with no US terminus and only accessible through Canada, hauling logs cut in Minnesota across the border to be processed in an Ontario sawmill.
Sadly, there are no known photos of the railroad or logging operations. The International Boundary Commission map below shows the first two miles of the railroad down the east side of Gunflint Lake while the photo, taken by photographer George Shiras III, shows the American customs facilities approximately 10 years after the logging ceased.
This map shows the the route of the G & LS from the branch with the Duluth Extension to Crab Lake.US Customs House, circa 1919-1920 (G. Shiras III).
Video of the former Canadian Northern Railway/CN-Kinghorn (Dorion) Subdivision (MP 185.5-190.6) at Shuniah, ON. Features the grade as it passes West Birch Beach Road to East Floral Road with culverts, signage, the siding at Wild Goose Station and great views of Lake Superior.
Video of the former Canadian Northern Railway/CN-Kinghorn (Dorion) Subdivision (MP 185.5-190.6) at Shuniah, ON. Features the grade from Wild Goose Bay Road past Pebbly Beach Road with culverts, rock cuts and the scene of a tragic 1913 accident.
Video of the former Canadian Northern Railway/CN-Kinghorn (Dorion) Subdivision (MP 185.5-190.6) at Shuniah, ON. Features the grade from Blind Creek Drive to Wild Goose Bay Road with signage, culverts, ties and phenomenal views of Lake Superior at Wild Goose Beach.
Video of the former Canadian Northern Railway/CN-Kinghorn (Dorion) Subdivision (MP 185.5-190.6) at Shuniah, ON. Features the grade near Cedar Bay Road to Blind Creek Drive with milepost markers, culverts, rock cuts and great views of Lake Superior.
Video of the former Canadian Northern Railway/CN-Kinghorn (Dorion) Subdivision (MP 185.5-190.6) at Shuniah, ON. Features the grade west of Grandview Beach Road as it passes close to residential properties with signage, rock cuts and great view of Lake Superior.
Poverty, Agony, Distress & Want! 