Basin Depot/Sligo Ghost Towns

Basin Depot was one of the largest "depots" in the Ottawa Valley region. Depots in that area meant "a settlement built for lumbermen". It formed around Basin Lake and its road, which lead to the manufacturing centre at Eganville to the SE.

Sligo was founded earlier just 3 kms south of Basin Depot. It was a squatter town that formed around a stopping place. It predated the railway when lumbering was its main source of existence. When Algonquin Park expanded to Sligo in 1914 its old buildings were removed for good.

Meanwhile, back at Basin Depot, the village was thriving. As of 1890 it had a blacksmith, post office and the Basin House bar and accomodations. There were 10 buildings in total. The logging enterprise was run by the McLachlin Company, then by the McRae Company and finaly by Shoosplin Woods Ltd. By the village's last years in 1960 there were 18 buildings and a population of 100 workers.

Only 2 buildings from the by-gone era survive. One of these, a cabin, is the oldest sructure in the whole park. 3 small cemeteries in the forest still exist too. The stories of the fates of these buried men date from an era in which dyptheria and drownings were commonplace.

Today the area is an archeological dig site.

Two of the photos below are courtesy the McElroys..http://www.mcelroy.ca/


From Hwy. 60 take the Basin Depot Rd north for 11 km. This is Sligo. Go 3 more kms and you are at Basin Depot.