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Monday, September 9, 2019

Cobalt visit 2019

An awesome time was had in Cobalt Ontario (population 1500) on Saturday the 7th of September. A big thank you to Megan and Andy for enduring the 6 hour drive to fill this old farts bucket list.
Also a big thank you to my wife fror taking care of Connor and Jenia so we could make the trek.
And a big thank you to daughter Tina and sons Brad and Jason for encouraging me to donate the historic photo records my great grandfather had taken of Cobalt between 1905 and 1910 as well as other pertinent memorabilia.
All my life I had head the stories, looked at the photos and felt a kinship with the people of Cobalt and this weekend I got to live it albeit short it fulfilled a dream.
The people, in and around the area, take great pride in their mining history as well as the contribution to WWI and WWII. We took the time to visit the Military Museum which celebrates all nations and has an amazing display of uniforms and militaria. Unfortunately the mining museum was closed on Saturday as it is end of season but then maybe another visit is in order
We also drove the Heritage Trail and saw several of the old mines that still stood more that 100 years later. Of particular interest was the book store that we dropped of the photos to Deborah Ranchuck, secretary for the Historic Society. The store is built over and around one of the headframe for the mine. The history of the store was fascinating in itself, prior to being a bookstore ith had been a grocery and because there was ice forming in the mine shaft the owner of the grocery store used it as a cooler to store meat and other items, in the 60's the government stepped and said "you can't do that" the store closed and became a flower shop and that owner did the same by store flowers in the shaft.


 Corner of Silver and Prospect streets "the bookstore where you can see the headframe protruding from the roof

 Deb and I

 The Military Museum and Mining Museum in the building opposite the bookstore

 Pan Silver headframe and Cobalt Heritage Society offices

 Train station


 Murals celebrating mining history are painted on the retaining wall facing the station





 Megan and Andy with Cobalt Lake in the background
 20" pipe and valve which were a part of my great grandfather air plant invention




 View of Right of Way mine across Cobalt Lake







 Cobalt from Right of Way mine



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