White River, Ontario

White River
Township (single-tier)
Township of White River
250px
White River
Coordinates:
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
District	Algoma
Established	1885
Government
• Type	Township
• Mayor	Angelo Bazzoni
• Federal riding	Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing
• Prov. riding	Algoma—Manitoulin
Area
• Land	96.94 km2 (37.43 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	607
• Density	6.3/km2 (16/sq mi)
Time zone	EST (UTC-5)
• Summer (DST)	EDT (UTC-4)
Postal Code	P0M
Area code(s)	807
Website	www.whiteriver.ca

White River is a township located in Ontario, Canada, on the intersection of Highway 17 and Highway 631. It was originally set up as a rail town on the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885. In 1961, it was finally made accessible by car via Highway 17 of the Trans-Canada Highway.

The forest industry was the largest employer until 2007, when the Domtar mill shut down.

The township is perhaps best known for being the home of Winnie the Pooh. In August 1914, a trapped black bear cub was sold to Captain Harry Colebourn in White River, and Colebourn named it Winnipeg, or Winnie, after his hometown of Winnipeg. Over the years, the animal became the basis for the popular literary character. The town celebrates "Winnie's Hometown Festival" every third week in August.

The White River railway station is the western terminus of the Sudbury – White River train.

Climate

File:The Coldest Spot in Canada 72 below Zero.jpg

A highway sign in 1973 promoting White River as the "coldest spot in Canada"

White River advertises itself as "The Coldest Spot in Canada" with recorded temperatures as low as −58 °C (−72 °F). However, this is a myth, as the coldest temperature in Canada has been recorded in Snag, Yukon, at −62.8 °C (−81.0 °F) on 3 February 1947. Even in Ontario, the coldest recorded temperature was in Iroquois Falls at −58.3 °C (−72.9 °F) (23 January 1935), which is the lowest temperature reported in Eastern Canada too. White River's reputation for coldest area is probably based on the fact that for many years its reported temperature was deemed "the coldest in the nation today" from the handful of stations reporting daily temperature extremes in newspapers and on radio, climatological stations data being only available monthly to Environment Canada.

Its official weather station (closed in 1976) was located in a frost hollow, but most residential areas have good air drainage and do not see temperatures much below −40 °C (−40 °F). Gardeners can keep their flowers alive into October and grow non-boreal species such as silver maple.

Popular culture

White River is referenced by the Canadian singer/songwriter Christine Fellows in her song "Migrations".

Demographics

File:White River ON.jpg

The train station in White River.

Population:

• Population in 2011: 607
• Population in 2006: 841
• Population in 2001: 993
• Population in 1996: 1022
• Population in 1991: 948

Mother tongue:

• English as first language: 78%
• French as first language: 16%
• English and French as first language: 1%
• Other as first language: 5%

In 2006, the township was 61% White, 26% Metis, and 13% First Nations.

See also

• List of townships in Ontario
• List of francophone communities in Ontario

External links

• White River website
• White River Community Website
• Ontario Highway 11 Homepage - White River