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Caption: Burwash. Another 'infamous' place, I guess one could say.
This was the home of the Burwash Industrial Farm; opened in 1914 when 9 German inmates got off the train at Burwash station (Estaire)as the first residents. The station was a mile and a half from the 'farm'.
This "farm" was probably better known as the Burwash Correctional Facility, and its purpose was to give skills and education to inmates by means of having them work an actual "village". They made bread, raised cattle, had vegetable gardens and so on. A sawmill was located there; inmates learned trade, and all the Ontario provincial parks gained their picnic benches from the workers at Burwash. The "farm" covered thousands of acres, and was remote enough that very few tried to escape. Not only were they a long way from anywhere, escaping thru the bush resulted meeting millions of hungry mosquitoes, overly voracious black flies and other menacing wildlife.:o)
Despite all the activity and the place being considered self-sufficient, the province decided to close Burwash in 1975; and the little community nearby, Burwash (Estaire area) became a ghost town, as there was no longer a need for a local village to house guards and other support staff.
When I stopped for this picture in the fall of 1976, it was obvious the old station was for many years unused; and I was somewhat surprised at the lack of broken windows. Maybe someone hoped to save the old place? I don't know what happened to it, but a few years later I was unable to find a trace of it.
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In early summer of 1967, I was a brakeman for CN and got assigned (read forced) to a work train unloading new rail at CN Burwash. The CN station and siding were in the middle of what we knew then as the Burwash Industrial Farm. After a week or so of unloading rail, we put the train together and waited in the siding to head north. In the tall grass next to the track we saw a couple of “residents” making their way toward our train. Every few minutes heads would appear, checking us out. As they got closer, one last look before making their move to board our train when they saw two guard vehicles watching the grass closely. They snuck back to where they were supposed to be. We got our green and headed north, rider free.
CN Burwash was in Burwash, but CP’s Burwash was in Estaire. Thanks for the memories. Great photo of a station I never did get to see.
Thanks for the interesting note. I did not ever get to see CN Burwash, for obvious reasons. Not sure where the “ghost town” of Burwash is either. I knew the station location but not the ‘Burwash’ town (for guards and staff). Do you know if it was part of Estaire as well?
I don’t think there ever was a town called Burwash. On CN it was just a station with passing track. Estaire would have been the closest village about a mile or so north of the access road.
Wonderful image and narrative, Arnold!
Thanks, Peter. I guess you never spent any time there. (chortle, guffaw)
Arnold… Many years ago I used to regularly pass by this beautiful little station but I actually never thought to stop (ummm, we were on approach to Sudbury International Airport). Not sure if that counts.
Excellent slice of history Mr Mooney and the ad on @First954 for the potential ‘jail break’. Great stuff!
I found Burwash by chance as I scrolled up the CP Parry Sound sub, which I thought was called the Mactier sub until Chapleau, on Google maps. It’s just West of Hwy 69 via a road paralleling 69 off Hwy 637. Wikipedia details the location: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burwash,_Ontario. Sad the stations and the town aren’t still there. But apparently some of acreage was sold off to a Country Music Festival! Progress.