MP-0000.800.5 | Wright's Silver Mine, Lake Temiscaming, ON, about 1900
Wright's Silver Mine, Lake Temiscaming, ON, about 1900
About 1900, 19th century or 20th century
Ink on paper - Halftone
10.8 x 17.1 cm
Gift of Stanley G. Triggs
MP-0000.800.5
© McCord Museum
Description
Keywords: Architecture (8646) , industrial (826) , Print (10661)
Keys to History
Not all the mining entrepreneurs were as successful as the Timmins brothers or Sir Henry Pellatt. The vast majority of companies shut down after a few years and were not very profitable. Of the 200-odd incorporated mining companies in and around Cobalt, just over 40 managed to produce regularly. The big companies, always on the lookout for good business opportunities, were constantly exploring and buying unproven new claims in the hopes that they would be money-makers. At the same time, small companies were always trying their luck and occasionally managed to go into production.
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What
The Wright Silver and Lead Mine, on the shores of Lake Temiskaming, was unsuccessful and remained in business only a dozen years or so.
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Where
Located on the Quebec side, a few dozen kilometres north of the village of Ville Marie, the mine was easy to get to by boat. In a way, its opening heralded the forthcoming discovery of deposits at Cobalt, on the other side of the lake.
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When
As the photo shows, construction has not been completed, so the picture probably dates from the late 1880s. According to resource material, production seems to have stopped by 1902.
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Who
Lumber baron E. V. Wright left his name on this mine, discovered in the mid-19th century. At the end of the century, the claim was bought up by a group of American investors headed by Robert Chapin, president of Ingersoll Rock Drill.
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