The abandoned town of Ocean Falls came into view as we motored up Cousins Inlet. We looked forward to practicing the "Industrial Archeology" as we did in Namu. Once a flourishing mill town, since 1909, the closure of the mill in 1980 left the town of Ocean Falls virtually abandoned, with only a small community of residents continuing to live in Martin Valley, a mile down the inlet from the old town site.
It was a thriving community of 5,000 people at its peak. The Crown Zellerbach Pulp Mill supplied newsprint for major newspapers in Canada and the U.S. They closed their operations in 1973 but the mill reopened shortly after under the name of Ocean Falls Corp. Approximately 400 employees worked until the final closure in May of 1980. In 1986, three hundred people arrived in Ocean Falls to attend an auction of the towns assets. Over 3 million dollars were collected.
We were fortunate to meet "Betty" a former resident and she was kind enough to walk us through the town telling stories of her life there. She was a school teacher, met her husband, married at St. Margarets Church and had her reception at the Martin Inn. It was delightful seeing through her eyes. It was truely a memorable experience.
2 comments:
It truly was a beautiful town. My family lived there in the '60's for 7 years. Heartbreaking to see how it is now.
Lived there with my family in the 1960's for 7 years. A beautiful town and a great place for children to grow up. Sad what has happened to it though, but it is still beautiful and to me, it will always be my home town.
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