Fort Frances, Ontario
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Fort Frances is a town in, and the seat of,
Rainy River District Rainy River District is a district and census division in Northwestern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was created in 1885. It is the only division in Ontario that lies completely in the Central Time Zone, except for the township ...
in
Northwestern Ontario Northwestern Ontario is a secondary region of Northern Ontario in the Canadian province of Ontario which lies north and west of Lake Superior and west of Hudson Bay and James Bay. It includes most of subarctic Ontario. Its western boundary is the ...
, Canada. The population as of the 2016 census was 7,739. Fort Frances is a popular
fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment, but may also be caught from fish stocking, stocked bodies of water such as fish pond, ponds, canals, park wetlands and reservoirs. ...
destination. It hosts the annual
Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship The Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship is a catch and release smallmouth bass fishing tournament held on Rainy Lake and hosted in Fort Frances, Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is ...
. Located on the international border with the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
where Rainy Lake narrows to become Rainy River, it is connected to
International Falls, Minnesota International Falls (sometimes referred to as I-Falls) is a city in and the county seat of Koochiching County, Minnesota. The population was 5,802 at the time of the 2020 census. International Falls is located on the Rainy River directly acr ...
by the Fort Frances–International Falls International Bridge. The town is the fourth-largest community in Northwestern Ontario after
Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its populati ...
,
Kenora Kenora (), previously named Rat Portage (french: Portage-aux-Rats), is a city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about east of Winnipeg by road. It is the seat of Kenora District. The his ...
and Dryden. The Fort Frances Paper Mill was formerly the main employer and industry in the town until its closure in January 2014. New Gold, a Canadian mining company, acquired mineral rights to the area in 2013. The Rainy River mine commenced processing ore on September 14, 2017 and completed its first gold pour on October 5, 2017.


History

Fort Frances was the first
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an settlement west of Lake Superior and was established by
French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fre ...
Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, first commander of the western district. In 1731, he built Fort Saint Pierre near that spot as support for the
fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...
with native peoples. In 1732, his expedition built
Fort Saint Charles Fort Saint Charles (1732) on Lake of the Woods was the second post built by La Vérendrye during his expansion of trade and exploration west of Lake Superior. It was located on Magnuson's Island on the Northwest Angle of Minnesota, 3.5 miles eas ...
on Magnuson's Island on the west side of
Lake of the Woods Lake of the Woods (french: Lac des Bois, oj, Pikwedina Sagainan) is a lake occupying parts of the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the U.S. state of Minnesota. Lake of the Woods is over long and wide, containing more than 14,5 ...
. After some time, Fort Saint Pierre fell out of use. In 1817, following the
War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It be ...
and the redefinition of borders between Canada and the United States, the
Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...
(HBC) built a fort here. In 1830 HBC Chief Factor John Dugald Cameron named the fur trading post after
Frances Ramsay Simpson Frances Ramsay Simpson (ca 1812 – March 21, 1853) was an English diarist. The daughter of Geddes Mackenzie Simpson, a London merchant, and Frances Hume Hawkins, she was born in London. She married her cousin George Simpson of the Hudso ...
, the 18-year-old daughter of a London merchant, who had married earlier that year in London, George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, who would visit the fort many times. In 1841 she became Lady Simpson after George Simpson was knighted, and she died in 1853 at
Lachine, Quebec Lachine () is a borough (''arrondissement'') within the city of Montreal on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It was an autonomous city until the municipal mergers in 2002. History Lachine, apparently from the French term ' ...
. Incorporated in 1903, the town held a big
centennial {{other uses, Centennial (disambiguation), Centenary (disambiguation) A centennial, or centenary in British English, is a 100th anniversary or otherwise relates to a century, a period of 100 years. Notable events Notable centennial events at a ...
celebration in 2003. The main employer was a
pulp and paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless b ...
established in the early 1900s. It had numerous owners over the years, notably
Edward Wellington Backus Edward Wellington Backus (December 1, 1861 – October 29, 1934) was a timber baron, dam builder, mill owner, financier, developer of the northern reaches of Minnesota, and president of the Ontario & Minnesota Power Company and Minnesota and Ontario ...
. Most recently owned by
Resolute Forest Products Resolute Forest Products (French: ''Produits forestiers Résolu''), formerly known as AbitibiBowater Inc., is a Canada-headquartered pulp and paper company. Headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, Resolute was formed in 2007 by the merger of Bowater a ...
, the mill employed about 700 persons until its closure in 2014. On June 25, 1946, the town was struck by a
tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, alt ...
, which caused major damage and struck a week after the deadly Windsor tornado. On August 25, 2013, the town hosted the final pitstop in the Kraft Celebration Tour by receiving the most votes out of all 20 communities On January 14, 2014, Resolute Forest Products announced that it planned to stop operations of the final paper machine and close out its operations in Fort Frances by the end of the month. On December 13, 2014,
Tim Hortons Tim Hortons Inc., commonly nicknamed Tim's, or Timmie's is a Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain. Based in Toronto, Tim Hortons serves coffee, doughnuts, and other fast-food items. It is Canada's largest quick-service res ...
filmed a commercial in Fort Frances. The commercial, which dubs Fort Frances "one of the coldest places in Canada", was shot at the local Tim Hortons. In the days leading up to the filming, yarn was seen covering trees, benches, etc. Workers had spent the night covering the interior of the restaurant with yarn and building a giant toque on the roof. For the day, the coffee was free. In August 2015 the Seven Generations Education Institute hosted the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium's (WINHEC) Annual General Meeting at the Nanicost Grounds for members attending from all over the world.


Transportation

There are three airports in the area, one of which is in the United States. The two local airports are for general aviation and other is a privately owned
floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, m ...
base. * Fort Frances Municipal Airport * Fort Frances Water Aerodrome * Falls International Airport Fort Frances Municipal Airport is served by only one company,
Bearskin Airlines Bearskin Lake Air Service LP, operating as Bearskin Airlines, is a regional airline based in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. It is a division of Perimeter Aviation and operates services in northern Ontario and Manitoba. Its main base is at Thun ...
, with flights to and from Kenora,
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...
, Thunder Bay, and Dryden. Falls International Airport has flights to
Minneapolis–Saint Paul Minneapolis–Saint Paul is a metropolitan area in the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States centered around the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi, Minnesota River, Minnesota and St. Croix River (Wisconsin–Minnesota) ...
by
Delta Connection Delta Connection is a regional airline brand name for Delta Air Lines, under which a number of individually owned regional airlines primarily operate short- and medium-haul routes. Mainline major air carriers often use regional airlines to ope ...
.
Ontario Highway 11 King's Highway 11, commonly referred to as Highway 11, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. At , it is the second longest highway in the province, following Highway 17. Highway11 begins at Highway&nbs ...
and Ontario Highway 71, the latter of which ends in Fort Frances, are the two major highways in the community. Both are part of the
Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the A ...
. The town is connected to
Kenora Kenora (), previously named Rat Portage (french: Portage-aux-Rats), is a city situated on the Lake of the Woods in Ontario, Canada, close to the Manitoba boundary, and about east of Winnipeg by road. It is the seat of Kenora District. The his ...
via Highway 71, while Highway 11 provides connections to Devlin,
Emo Emo is a rock music genre characterized by emotional, often confessional lyrics. It emerged as a style of and hardcore punk from the Washington D.C. hardcore punk scene, where it was known as emotional hardcore or emocore and pioneered b ...
, and Rainy River to the west, and
Atikokan Atikokan (, Ojibwe for 'caribou bones') is a town in the Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The population was 2,642 as of the 2021 census. The town is one of the main entry points into Quetico Provincial Park and promotes i ...
and
Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its populati ...
to the east.
Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...
travels into Fort Frances with freight traffic only and travels across the
Fort Frances-International Falls International Bridge A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''face ...
, over the Rainy River, into the US. Train, truck and car traffic to and from the United States traverses the International Bridge. Fort Frances Transit operated until 1996, and Fort Frances Handi-Van Transit is a provincially-funded service run by the Town of Fort Frances. Caribou Coach Transportation Company Incorporated cancelled its bus route to and from
Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its populati ...
in October 2017. The route was once served by
Greyhound Canada Greyhound Canada Transportation ULC began as a local British Columbia bus line in the early 1920s, expanded across most of Canada, and became a subsidiary of the US Greyhound in 1940. In 2018, Greyhound pulled out of Western Canada, preserving ...
. North Air operates a taxi service from Fort Frances whose service area includes the International Falls, Minnesota area and airport.


Climate

Fort Frances experiences a
humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...
(
Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
''
Dfb DFB may refer to: * Deerfield Beach, Florida, a city * Decafluorobutane, a fluorocarbon gas * Dem Franchize Boyz, former hip hop group, Atlanta, Georgia * Dfb, Köppen climate classification for Humid continental climate * Distributed-feedback ...
''), with cold winters and warm summers. Temperatures beyond have been measured in all five late-spring and summer months. Summer highs are comparable to
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
and the
Los Angeles Basin The Los Angeles Basin is a sedimentary basin located in Southern California, in a region known as the Peninsular Ranges. The basin is also connected to an anomalous group of east-west trending chains of mountains collectively known as the ...
coastline in
California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, whereas winter lows on average resemble southern
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part ...
and polar subarctic inland
Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...
. Fort Frances, along with
Atikokan Atikokan (, Ojibwe for 'caribou bones') is a town in the Rainy River District in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. The population was 2,642 as of the 2021 census. The town is one of the main entry points into Quetico Provincial Park and promotes i ...
hold the record for the highest temperature ever recorded in the province of Ontario. On 13 July 1936 the mercury climbed to .


Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by
Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultu ...
, Fort Frances had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Fort Frances had a population of 7,739 people in 2016, which represents a decrease of 2.7% from the 2011 census count. The median household income in 2015 for Fort Frances was $62,928, which was below the Ontario provincial average of $74,287.


Coat of arms

The city
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
features a bull
moose The moose (in North America) or elk (in Eurasia) (''Alces alces'') is a member of the New World deer subfamily and is the only species in the genus ''Alces''. It is the largest and heaviest extant species in the deer family. Most adult ma ...
;
maple ''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since h ...
leaves; a "Magneto", representative of
electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describe ...
(industry); two men in a
canoe A canoe is a lightweight narrow water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using a single-bladed paddle. In British English, the ter ...
; a white pine tree; and the motto "Industry and Perseverance."


Media


Newspapers

* ''
Fort Frances Times The ''Fort Frances Times'' is an independently-owned weekly publication based in Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada, published each Wednesday. A supplemental issue called the Bulletin of the Fort Frances Times ("The Daily Bulletin") is released on Tue ...
'' - Weekly * '' Fort Frances Today'' - Weekly * Fort Frances Living - Weekly *''West End Weekly'' - Weekly


Online media

* NWO Update * ''Fort Frances Times'' Online * Downtown Fort Frances on the Great Canadian Main Street Facebook page


Television stations

The only local television channel serving Fort Frances is the
Shaw TV Shaw Spotlight (formerly Shaw TV) is the name of locally based community channel services operated by cable TV provider Shaw Communications. The channels are available only to Shaw Cable subscribers and are produced in communities throughout w ...
community channel on Shaw Cable channel 10. There are no local broadcast outlets or repeaters serving Fort Frances; Shaw Cable carries CBWT-DT ( CBC),
CBWFT-DT CBWFT-DT (channel 3) is an Ici Radio-Canada Télé station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, serving the province's Franco-Manitoban population. It has common ownership with CBC Television station CBWT-DT (channel 6). Both stations share studios o ...
(
Ici Radio-Canada Télé Ici Radio-Canada Télé (formerly known as Télévision de Radio-Canada) is a Canadian French-language free-to-air television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known in French as Société Radio-Canada), the national pu ...
) and
CKY-DT CKY-DT (channel 7) is a television station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. The station is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media, and maintains studios on Graham Avenue (adjacent to the Canada Life Cen ...
(
CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...
) from
Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749 ...
, CITV-DT (
Global Global means of or referring to a globe and may also refer to: Entertainment * ''Global'' (Paul van Dyk album), 2003 * ''Global'' (Bunji Garlin album), 2007 * ''Global'' (Humanoid album), 1989 * ''Global'' (Todd Rundgren album), 2015 * Bruno ...
) from
Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city an ...
, and TVO, plus
CITY-DT CITY-DT (channel 57) is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the Citytv network. It is owned and operated by network parent Rogers Sports & Media alongside Omni Television outlets CFMT-DT (cha ...
(
Citytv Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television ...
), CHCH-DT (independent),
CFTM-DT CFTM-DT (channel 10) is a television station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, serving as the flagship of the French-language TVA network. Owned by Groupe TVA, the station has studios on Boulevard de Maisonneuve East and Rue Alexandre de Sève in th ...
( TVA, live feed) and TFO.
CJBN-TV CJBN-TV, VHF analogue channel 13, was a Global- affiliated television station licensed to Kenora, Ontario, Canada. The station was owned by Shaw Communications under its cable systems unit, and was not part of the Shaw Media unit which was so ...
from Kenora used to be available on cable until it permanently signed off on January 27, 2017. United States network programming on Shaw TV comes from
Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...
( WDIV-TV,
WXYZ-TV WXYZ-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside independent station WMYD (channel 20). Both stations share studios at Broadcast House on ...
,
WWJ-TV WWJ-TV (channel 62) is a television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, owned and operated by the CBS television network. Under common ownership with CW affiliate WKBD-TV under the network's CBS News and Stations group, both station ...
, and
WTVS WTVS (channel 56) is a PBS member television station in Detroit, Michigan, United States, owned by the Detroit Educational Television Foundation. Its main studios are located at the Riley Broadcast Center and HD Studios in Wixom, with an addit ...
) and
Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...
( WUHF); stations from the Duluth television market are not available on cable, though they are available over-the-air from repeaters in International Falls.


Radio stations

* FM 89.1 - CKSB-9-FM (
Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) is a Canadian French-language radio network, the news and information service of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (known as Société Radio-Canada in French), the public broadcaster of ...
, repeats
CKSB-10-FM CKSB-10-FM (88.1 MHz) is a Canadian public radio station serving the Winnipeg Metropolitan Region in Manitoba. It is owned by the Société Radio-Canada (CBC) and airs the Ici Radio-Canada Première network, concentrating on news and talk in Fren ...
,
Saint Boniface, Manitoba St-Boniface (or Saint-Boniface) is a city ward and neighbourhood in Winnipeg. Along with being the centre of the Franco-Manitoban community, it ranks as the largest francophone community in Western Canada. It features such landmarks as the St. B ...
) * FM 90.5 - CBQQ-FM (
CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of C ...
, repeats
CBQT-FM CBQT-FM is a Canadian radio station. It is the CBC Radio One station in Thunder Bay, Ontario, broadcasting at 88.3 FM, and serves all of Northwestern Ontario through a network of relay transmitters. History The station was launched in 1973 a ...
,
Thunder Bay Thunder Bay is a city in and the seat of Thunder Bay District, Ontario, Canada. It is the most populous municipality in Northwestern Ontario and the second most populous (after Greater Sudbury) municipality in Northern Ontario; its populati ...
) * FM 93.1 - CFOB-FM, ''93.1 The Border FM''
hot adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...
Another radio station, CKWO FM 92.3 The Wolf, was licensed to the neighbouring
Couchiching First Nation The Couchiching First Nation ( oj, Gojijiing Anishinaabeg) is a Saulteaux First Nation band government in the Canadian province of Ontario, who live on the Couchiching 16A and Agency 1 reserves in the Rainy River District near Fort Frances. H ...
. The station closed and went silent in 2007.


Education


Elementary and secondary schools

Rainy River District School Board The Rainy River District School Board (known as English-language Public District School Board No. 5B prior to 1999) is a school board in the Canadian province of Ontario. The school board is the school district administrator for English langu ...
* Fort Frances High School *Robert Moore School *J.W. Walker School
Northwest Catholic District School Board The Northwest Catholic District School Board (TNCDSB, known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 33A prior to 1999) is a separate school board in Ontario serving the Rainy River District and portions of the Kenora District. S ...
*St Mary's School


Post-secondary schools

* Confederation College *Seven Generations Education Institute


Former elementary schools

Rainy River District School Board The Rainy River District School Board (known as English-language Public District School Board No. 5B prior to 1999) is a school board in the Canadian province of Ontario. The school board is the school district administrator for English langu ...
*Fort Kinhaven School *F.H. Huffman School *Alexander Mackenzie School *Sixth Street School *Alberton Central School (Alberton, Ontario) *McIrvine School *Old Fort Frances High School *Westfort High School
Northwest Catholic District School Board The Northwest Catholic District School Board (TNCDSB, known as English-language Separate District School Board No. 33A prior to 1999) is a separate school board in Ontario serving the Rainy River District and portions of the Kenora District. S ...
*St. Michael's Catholic School *St Francis School


Notable Fort Francesians

* Dave Allison, former coach of the NHL's
Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member ...
*
Mike Allison Michael Earnest Allison (born 28 March 1961) is a Canadian former ice hockey forward, and the brother of former player and coach Dave Allison. Playing career After playing hockey at the junior level for the Kenora Thistles, Allison caught the a ...
, former player for the
Los Angeles Kings The Los Angeles Kings are a professional ice hockey team based in Los Angeles. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and was founded on June 5, 1967, after Jack Kent ...
,
Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
, and
New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its ho ...
of the NHL *
Steve Arpin Stephen Arpin (born December 16, 1983) is a Canadian race car driver competing in Nitro Rallycross. He previously raced stock cars in the ARCA Racing Series, the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and the Nationwide Series. His first season with A ...
, ARCA Re/Max Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series race car driver *
Murray Bannerman Murray Bannerman (born April 27, 1957) is a Canadian former ice hockey goaltender. He spent the majority of his career with the Chicago Blackhawks, though also briefly played for the Vancouver Canucks, who selected him in the 1977 NHL amateur d ...
, former player for the
Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Divisio ...
. *
Molly Carlson Molly Carlson (born September 22, 1998) is a Canadian high diver. She is a member of Canada's senior national high diving team and placed second at the 2022 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. Carlson uploads videos of herself diving on TikTok. ...
, high diver *
Keith Christiansen Keith Raymond "Huffer" Christiansen (July 14, 1944 – November 5, 2018) was a professional ice hockey player who appeared in 138 World Hockey Association (WHA) regular season games with the Minnesota Fighting Saints between 1972 and 1974. Before ...
, former player for the WHA Minnesota Fighting Saints. * Todd Dufresne, social and cultural theorist best known for his work on
Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...
and
psychoanalysis PsychoanalysisFrom Greek: + . is a set of theories and therapeutic techniques"What is psychoanalysis? Of course, one is supposed to answer that it is many things — a theory, a research method, a therapy, a body of knowledge. In what might ...
* Gene Eugene, actor, musician and recording producer * Howard Hampton,
Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario) A Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) is an elected member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, Legislative Assembly of the Canadian province of Ontario. Elsewhere in Canada, the titular designation "Member of Provincial Parliament" has also b ...
of Kenora—Rainy River (provincial electoral district) and former leader of the
Ontario New Democratic Party The Ontario New Democratic Party (french: link=no, Nouveau Parti démocratique de l'Ontario; abbr. ONDP or NDP) is a social-democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. The party currently forms the Official Opposition in Ontario following th ...
. * Duncan Keith, NHL hockey player of the
Chicago Blackhawks The Chicago Blackhawks (spelled Black Hawks until 1986, and known colloquially as the Hawks) are a professional ice hockey team based in Chicago. The Blackhawks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Divisio ...
, named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players *
Chris Lindberg Christopher Lawrence Lindberg (born April 16, 1967) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player. Lindberg was a member of the Canadian 1992 Winter Olympics ice hockey team, winning a silver medal. He would also play professionally in th ...
, silver medalist with the Canadian Ice Hockey Team at the
1992 Winter Olympics ) , nations = 64 , athletes = 1,801 (1313 men, 488 women) , events = 57 in 6 sports (12 disciplines) , opening = 8 February 1992 , closing = 23 February 1992 , opened_by = President François Mitterrand , cauldron ...
*
Neil Sheehy Neil Kane Sheehy (born February 9, 1960) is a Canadian-born American professional ice hockey player with dual citizenship. He grew up in International Falls, Minnesota. A defenceman and Harvard University graduate, Sheehy signed as a free agent ...
, former player for the
Calgary Flames The Calgary Flames are a professional ice hockey team based in Calgary. The Flames compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference, and are the third major professional ice hockey te ...
,
Hartford Whalers The Hartford Whalers were a professional ice hockey team based for most of its existence in Hartford, Connecticut. The club played in the World Hockey Association (WHA) from 1972 until 1979, and in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1979 to ...
and
Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...
of the NHL. * Timothy Sheehy, former NHL player. *
Gene Stoltzfus Mervin Eugene "Gene" Stoltzfus (February 1, 1940 – March 10, 2010) was an American peace activist, international development worker, founding director of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), and pioneer in the international peace team movement. ...
, founding director of Christian Peacemaker Teams


Culture and attractions

*The Fort Frances Museum *Fort Frances Library and Technology Centre *The Border Land Arts Alliance *Tour de Fort *Point Park *LaVerendrye Parkway- The Sorting Gap Marina *The Lookout Tower, open to tour during summer *The Tugboat Hallet, open to tour during summer *
Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship The Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship is a catch and release smallmouth bass fishing tournament held on Rainy Lake and hosted in Fort Frances, Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is ...
, held annually in late July *Scott Street Shopping District *Kitchen Creek Golf Club *Heron Landing Golf Course *8th Street Walking & Ski Trails *Little Beaver Snow Park *Rainy Lake Square *Town Hall *Rendezvous Yacht Club *The Noden Causeway *The Rainy Lake Nordic Ski Club


Sport

Fort Frances is home to the following amateur sports teams: *
Fort Frances Lakers The Fort Frances Lakers are a junior A ice hockey team based in Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada. They play in the Superior International Junior Hockey League. History Jr. Sabres Founded in 2007, the Fort Frances Jr. Sabres were the first junior A ...
(
Junior ice hockey Junior hockey is a level of competitive ice hockey generally for players between 16 and 21 years of age. Junior hockey leagues in the United States and Canada are considered amateur (with some exceptions) and operate within regions of each cou ...
) *
Fort Frances Thunderhawks The Fort Frances Thunderhawks were a Canada, Canadian Senior ice hockey club from Fort Frances, Ontario. They were eligible to compete for the Allan Cup. History The Thunderhawks were founded in 2009 and are the namesake of the Fort Frances Borde ...
(
Senior ice hockey Senior hockey refers to amateur or semi-professional ice hockey competition. There are no age restrictions for Senior players, who typically consist of those whose Junior eligibility has expired. Senior hockey leagues operate under the jurisd ...
) Fort Frances was the home of the former amateur sports teams: *
Fort Frances Borderland Thunder The Borderland Thunder are a defunct Junior "A" ice hockey team from Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada. They were a part of the Superior International Junior Hockey League. History Despite four successful season in the SIJHL and a league title, the ...
(Junior ice hockey) *
Fort Frances Canadians The Fort Frances Canadians were a Canadian senior ice hockey team in the Northern Amateur League, from Fort Frances, Ontario. The team was organized following World War II, and led by player-coach Pat Wilson. Local radio station CKFI-AM broadc ...
(Senior ice hockey) *
Fort Frances Royals The Fort Frances Royals were a Junior ice hockey club from Fort Frances, Ontario, Canada. The Royals were members of the Memorial Cup-eligible Thunder Bay Junior A Hockey League. History The Fort Frances Royals were founded in 1963 as members of ...
(Junior ice hockey) Sporting facilities include : * Memorial Sports Centre * Couchiching First Nations Arena also known as "The Duke" - located in neighboring
Couchiching First Nation The Couchiching First Nation ( oj, Gojijiing Anishinaabeg) is a Saulteaux First Nation band government in the Canadian province of Ontario, who live on the Couchiching 16A and Agency 1 reserves in the Rainy River District near Fort Frances. H ...


Sources


External links

* {{Authority control 1903 establishments in Ontario Hudson's Bay Company forts Single-tier municipalities in Ontario Towns in Ontario