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Island and the youngest ones at
Willisville. Ernest was a Forest Ranger and he and Ada used to portage canoes through the back lakes as far as Killarney checking the area for fires. Before Cameron’s opened a store in Whitefish Falls, Ernest would canoe and portage to Espanola to purchase supplies for his family. When the Algoma Eastern Railway was opened from Sudbury to Little Current, Ernest opened a store at Willisville and stocked supplies for sale to the residents and cottagers and for their own use. Later they rented the cabins to tourists who came to enjoy the fishing and scenery.
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was decided that there was a need for a school in the
Mission area. Chief Keshigobiness, known as Big John and Mr. Ernest Willis who assisted him greatly, worked under great difficulty in procuring a school. They were guided by Bishop Thornloe and finally were able to open a school for those who wished to attend.
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The first school was in the home of Big John and opened on
October 13, 1916, by Rev S. H. Ferris of Garden River. Mr. Duncan Bell was the first teacher. The school continued until a fire burned down the log house, but a new building was soon found and some 20 children were gathered and taught until
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The tower was run by John Burke in the early years. One day, while he was looking out to spot forest fires from the tower's cupola, he saw a herd of elephants at the bottom of the mountain trail. He called back to headquarters on his bushphone and relayed his sighting. Nobody believed him at first,
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The Willis, Golden & other children from
Willisville would walk along a path to the horseshoe curve and down the track to Whitefish Falls to attend school. In 1931, Kathleen Willis and Dewey Golden were the first two students to pass their Entrance exams at the school. Both went on to further
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Ernest was originally from the Isle of Wight in
England and came to Canada with his Willis family in 1875 aboard the Vicksburg. They settled in Howland Township on Manitoulin Island. Ernest married Ada Humphrey from the Manitouwaning area of the island. Some of their nine children were born on the
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In the early days of St. Augustine’s
Mission in Whitefish Falls, The community around the Mission consisted of mostly native people and two white families, namely the John Cameron and the Ernest Willis families. At the beginning of World War I, more white families were moving into the area and it
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The small church that was called St. Augustine's (Anglican) is now closed, was built by a company by the name of Mc Dermid. George Smyth of Ice Lake on the
Manitoulin island, who worked for McDermid, made all the cement blocks by hand. He married Ernest Willis's (Willisville) youngest daughter
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announced a major service expansion west of
Sudbury, which included Whitefish Falls as a flag stop. Westbound buses travel onto Manitoulin Island, while eastbound buses travel to Sudbury via Espanola and Nairn. This service ended in 2019.
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Kathleen in the Church after it was completed in 1937. The carpenter on the job was Albert
Shepherd of the Manitoulin Island. The minister in 1937 was the Rev. Worden Stump.
546:, Willisville and Whitefish Falls had a combined population of 297, while McGregor Bay Part A had a population of 10, and McGregor Bay Part B had a population of 0.
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are known to have visited the tower and signed its guestbook. The tower can also be seen in the 1960s
Canadian television series
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An 80-foot fire tower was built on Willisville Mountain in the 1920s by the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests.
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was held here in August 2006. Cast, locals and fans were present. The show was shot in the region in 1969.
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The tower was dismantled in 1986, but the mountain still remains a popular place for tourists to climb.
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until locals learned that a circus truck had broken down nearby and the elephants inside had escaped.
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461:. It is named for Ernest Willis, the community's first postmaster who settled the community in 1910.
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to another and begged for lumber or money and the new building was erected in 1917.
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McGregor Bay is located on the LaCloche Peninsula within the Manitoulin District.
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Willisville is on the Charlton-Cranberry-Frood Lake system in the heart of the
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S.D. Hicks-Willis Archives- “Condensed from an article by Mrs. R. W. Stump”
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According to a community website, the entire community operates as a
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a proper school was built. Big John and Ernest walked from one
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644:"Ontario Northland Introduces Bus Service to Manitoulin Island"
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The board's jurisdictional area is counted as three separate
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558:– (Whitefish Falls) Educator and sports executive with the
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704:"Ontario Northland ends Manitoulin bus service Friday"
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Whitefish Falls is situated around the mouth of the
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46:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
761:"Willisville & Whitefish Falls Census Profile"
710:. Manitoulin Publishing Company. November 13, 2019
397:, and is approximately 20 kilometres south of
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333:It is the administrative headquarters of the
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597:Local Services Boards, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 737
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326:and Birch Island and McGregor Bay in the
106:Learn how and when to remove this message
599:. Canadian Legal Information Institute.
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118:Local Services Board in Ontario, Canada
822:John Howard Crocker LL. D., 1870–1959
769:. Statistics Canada. 8 February 2017.
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820:Keyes, Mary Eleanor (October 1964).
801:"McGregor Bay Part B Census Profile"
781:"McGregor Bay Part A Census Profile"
44:adding citations to reliable sources
879:Photo of the Willisville Firetower
501:World heavyweight boxing champion
419:A reunion of the popular Canadian
324:Unorganized North Sudbury District
14:
144:Whitefish Falls, Ontario, with a
1204:Local services boards in Ontario
961:
571:– Whitefish River First Nation (
564:Amateur Athletic Union of Canada
138:
20:
1178:Communities in Sudbury District
31:needs additional citations for
610:"Whitefish River First Nation"
1:
869:Willisville Community Website
826:University of Western Ontario
512:Adventures in Rainbow Country
426:Adventures in Rainbow Country
1183:Census divisions of Ontario
824:(Thesis). London, Ontario:
401:and 25 kilometres north of
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741:. McGregor Bay Association
633:S.D. Hicks-Willis Archives
579:environmentalist, educator
393:. Whitefish Falls lies on
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1009:Atikameksheng Anishnawbek
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1131:Unorganized North Part
1085:Chapleau Cree Fox Lake
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1141:Local services boards
993:Sables-Spanish Rivers
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274: • Summer (
809:. Statistics Canada.
789:. Statistics Canada.
708:Manitoulin Expositor
542:census data. In the
389:of Mongowin, in the
385:) is located in the
312:local services board
202:Local services board
132:Local Services Board
40:improve this article
874:La Cloche Mountains
648:Ontarionorthland.ca
459:La Cloche Mountains
387:geographic township
369: /
328:Manitoulin District
848:"Deborah McGregor"
684:on 1 February 2016
544:Canada 2016 Census
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248: • Total
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1115:Whitefish River 4
614:Whitefishriver.ca
556:J. Howard Crocker
550:Notable residents
540:Statistics Canada
536:designated places
438:Ontario Northland
373:46.100°N 81.717°W
354:Whitefish Falls (
316:Canadian province
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199: • Type
148:in the foreground
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55:"Rainbow Country"
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1124:Unorganized area
1110:Whitefish Lake 6
1105:Point Grondine 3
1024:Chapleau Ojibway
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51:Find sources:
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29:This article
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1095:Mattagami 71
1075:Chapleau 74A
1065:Chapleau 61A
1044:Wiikwemkoong
1034:Michipicoten
938:French River
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743:. Retrieved
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712:. Retrieved
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686:. Retrieved
682:the original
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656:. Retrieved
652:the original
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619:February 16,
617:. Retrieved
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573:Birch Island
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530:Demographics
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522:McGregor Bay
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214:Carol Hughes
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38:Please help
33:verification
30:
1080:Chapleau 75
1070:Chapleau 74
1060:Chapleau 61
953:St. Charles
806:2016 Census
786:2016 Census
766:2016 Census
745:17 February
658:17 February
507:Bing Crosby
505:and singer
489:condominium
475:lumber camp
453:Willisville
445:Willisville
376: /
1176:See also:
739:"About Us"
584:References
414:Lake Huron
243:Population
194:Government
188:Manitoulin
66:newspapers
1029:Mattagami
971:Townships
943:Killarney
503:Joe Louis
481:studies.
436:In 2018,
395:Highway 6
295:Area code
257:Time zone
1198:Category
983:Chapleau
933:Espanola
834:61578234
486:de facto
423:TV show
399:Espanola
179:District
167:Province
1154:Foleyet
1149:Cartier
978:Baldwin
919:Ontario
688:30 June
364:81°43′W
361:46°06′N
320:Ontario
314:in the
184:Sudbury
172:Ontario
155:Country
80:scholar
1159:Gogama
832:
577:Ojibwe
338:Ojibwe
160:Canada
82:
75:
68:
61:
53:
926:Towns
310:is a
283:UTC-4
262:UTC-5
87:JSTOR
73:books
830:OCLC
747:2022
716:2022
690:2022
660:2022
621:2022
562:and
560:YMCA
59:news
538:in
421:CBC
412:at
318:of
300:705
287:EDT
276:DST
266:EST
251:307
236:NDP
227:MPP
218:NDP
42:by
1200::
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209:MP
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