History of Spanish

Historical Background

The Town of Spanish is situated at the mouth of the Spanish River where it empties into the
North Channel of Lake Huron. The Spanish River and its ecologically rich delta have had a positive impact on the development of the community of Spanish. The river has played
an important and continuous role in the local economy from the days of the fur trade,
through the timbering era, and now contributes to the tourism industry.

According to legend, the Spanish name was derived around the year 1750.  As the story goes, Ojibway warriors penetrated the South-West to Spanish occupied territories, and on their
return to the North Channel, they brought with them a ravishing senorita that married a
local chief and bore him a large family. It was then that the senorita named the village,
the town and a river after her homeland.

Early settlement of the area gained momentum in the latter part of the 1800’s with the
completion of the Canadian Pacific Railroad in February 1884, between Lake Nipissing
and Algoma, now known as Algoma Mills. According to an article in the Ontario Gazetteer,
by 1903-1904, the Spanish River Station (the railway designation for Spanish) had
a population of approximately 200 with two timber companies operating in the vicinity:
Huron Lumber Co. and Spanish River Co. W. H. Graham operated a general store, William Coget ran the hotel and the local blacksmith as well as the Postmaster was Gustavo Hamilton.

During the same year (1903-1904), the community of Spanish Mills, located on Aird Island
in the North Channel just south of the Town of Spanish, also had a thriving timber industry complete with a sawmill, schoolhouse, and general store. The Sable and Spanish River Boom
and Dam Co. and the Spanish River Lumber Company.

Garnier School Boarded Up In 1996

Residential Schools

The Garnier School was a log cabin in Wikwemikong, Manitoulin Island from 1850-1911.
It was a day school for Native boys. Father Proulx was the first priest. 1860 the Jesuit Priests managed the school. The old school burned down and a new site was chosen, 1000 acres were purchased at the mouth of the Spanish River. Reverend Joseph Sauve and Father Paquin undertook to build, design and supervise construction. In the fall of 1913 the school commenced.

A shoe-maker shop and a pump house were built. Self sufficient dormitories, classrooms, several lavatories, kitchen, a scullery, pantry, refrigerated area, corridors, offices, cloistered area, laundry room, infirmary, bakery and tailor shop were housed in the school. In 1981 a chapel was added.

Near the school stood a wind mill powerhouse and shoe shop, a mill and a storage for milled products, a huge barn which held cows, several horse teams, a bull, a dairy operation and a
black smith shop, a piggery and sheepery, a chicken coop and a garden.

At the wharf was a 30 foot cruiser named the Garnier and a vessel called Red Bug were tied up.

Boys from as far as Manitoba and as close as Cutler attended the school.

St. Joseph's School 2005

Likewise in Wikwemikong a Native School for girls was located. It was run by the Daughters
of the Heart of Mary from 1862-1914. The log cabin burned down in 1916 and was relocated opposite the boy’s school in Spanish. Both schools were funded by the Federal Government.
The Indian Act stated that “Indians can attend a residential school if an Indian Day School is not available to them within a three mile radius.” Children from broken homes and where home conditions were not the best were also sent to be enrolled into the schools.

The Daughters of the Heart of Saint Mary was an organization formed by and idea from a young French woman who hoped for a life of religion to a woman whose responsibilities kept them in the world. This idea occurred to a Jesuit priest when the woman approached him during the French revolution. The Society was founded in 1790 and was forced to go underground.
The society came to Canada 100 years ago to work among the natives in Ontario. These Nuns dress like anyone else and work in different jobs but they take vows like any other Nun.
They have dedicated themselves to serve God in a world that needs them.

Until 1951 the school had only elementary grade classes. The entire school consisted
of classrooms, dining rooms, chapel, dormitory, play rooms and other necessary accommodations. Their education consisted of all the elementary schooling as well
as home economics, cooking, sewing and personal hygiene.

Enrollment for the school started to decrease due to the government legislation which
encouraged the natives to integrate with the town’s children by attending their co-existing schools. The residential schools also allowed the children from town to attend the school,
as the area around Spanish was expanding.

In 1981 the building which was the former “Girls School” burned down and the “Boys School” was demolished in 2004. The shell of the “Girls School” still remains as a witness to history.

Timeline

1902
Railway station was built, the village’s focus shifted to becoming a small service centre for the Canadian Pacific Railway instead of a lumber village

February 1911
Wikwemikong’s missionary school on Manitoulin Island was destroyed by fire

The church wanted to rebuild a new school in Spanish near the rail line away
from the Wikwemikong village and so the Jesuits purchased an acre of land at the
mouth of the Spanish River

They erected St. Peter’s Clavier’s School later Garnier College for 180 boys and
St. Joseph’s School for 150 girls

The goal of the school was to prepare boys for vocations such as tailoring,
blacksmithing, shoemaking etc.

1913
First day at the Garnier School

1916
The St. Joseph Residential School was built (Girl’s School)

1917
A voter's list was created

1919
Flu epidemic took many lives

1922
A telephone exchange was installed in the Post Office

1926
Spanish Mills was closed down.

1951
Spanish receives electricity

1956
Noranda Inc. opened a Sulphuric Acid Plant on the Cutler Indian Reserve.
           Since only chief officials were allowed to live on the reserve Noranda purchased
           Land at the east end of Spanish for a residential town site where the employees
           Could live and therefore boosted the Spanish population to 12,000

           Since Spanish at the time was the nearest community to the mines in Elliot Lake,
           the town became the transportation centre for mail and freight

1957
The North Theatre opened

1957
42 Homes were constructed

1957
The telephone exchange office is built

1957
Bank is established

1958
Garnier College is closed

1962
St. Joseph’s School closed

1973
The Township of Shedden experienced its first form of municipal government by
            joining the Improvement District of the North Shore    

1975
Direct distance dialing

1978
The elected council changed the name to The Township of the North Shore

1978
First Library established (Where D&D now exists)

1980
Library moved to a pre-fab beside the fire hall

1981
Improvement District of the North Shore and the Township of Shedden separate

1981
The former St. Joseph Residential School building burns down

1985
The Township of Shedden separated from The North Shore and became the
            Improvement District of Shedden with an appointed Board of Trustees

1989
The Township of Shedden was created, electing its own independent council

1992
Official opening of the Township of Shedden and Public Library building

1992
Medical Clinic

1992
Farmers Market

1995
Dental clinic

1997
Municipal Marina

1998
Gignac Square

1999
Four Season Waterfront Complex

2004
Former Garnier residential School is demolished

2004
Lake Huron North Channel Historic Trail was completed

2004
Council gave Third reading to By-Law 2004-39 changing the name of this         
           Community from the Township of Shedden to the Corporation of the Town of Spanish