Gagnonville

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Although the mines of Lake Jeannine and Fire Lake are no longer operated and the town associated with these mines, Gagnon, has been destroyed, they still live on in the hearts of the people who lived and worked there. These pages are our way to give our blessings to the people who had their home town destroyed. A glimpse of what the area is now like will hopefully be associated with warm, happy memories for previous residents.

The 1,000 employees of Fire Lake mine and their families once lived in the town of Gagnon where their nearest neighboring town would now be a three hour drive in either direction; however, there were no roads connecting to the rest of the world at the time Gagnon was inhabited. When the mine closed, the company moved the people out and bulldozed all the buildings. All that is left to remind people of the once prosperous town is the highway that ran through the town's center and some perennial flowers which the residents had planted. All other roads, driveways, sidewalks, basements, etc. in this town were leveled. It gives a very eerie feeling to walk on this desolate ground where children once laughed and played. The Boreal forest is now slowly reclaiming the land.

Although the buildings associated with the mine have been destroyed, there is still abandoned equipment, machinery and the huge mine pits.

We wish to thank J. Charette for allowing us to use his photographs of this bygone era. We also wish to thank Yvette for giving us information about the photos.