Cobalt

 

                                  

                                 

 Cobalt is an old mining town in northern Ontario.  Silver was discovered  in 1903 and this lead to a frenzy of fortune hunters.  The story of silver's discovery is a classic tale of gold rush lore.  Fred Larose, a blacksmith employed by the railway, was working at his forge when disturbed by a fox.  He threw his pick at it and when he went to retrieve the pick realised that it had broken off a piece of rock which glittered.  In reality Fred was an amateur prospector who found silver, he did not know what it was, but it looked valuable.

The mine above is what we saw when we first drove into town....the Glory Hole mine.  Here is a sketch from the other end.

Since the first boom, the mines have opened, closed and reopened many times.  The glory years were between 1904 and 1920.  Unfortunately two fires over the years destroyed many of the original buildings from Cobalt's hayday.  It is still interesting with streets that curve around many corners reflecting the unplanned nature of the town's development.

Another sketch of Glory Hole

We walked along a trail to see Devil's Rock.  It is a 300 foot high cliff on Lake Temiskaming with views over to Quebec.

It would be great to end more time in Cobalt and sketch the other mines and buildings.  Next time...