Where would we be today without our electricity?  As Algoma’s  industrial  activities began to thrive and evolve at the turn of the 20th century, the abundant rivers and  plentiful waterfalls of the ancient Ojibway and fur trade river routes became the focus of hydro power developers. While Sault Ste. Marie becomes a centre for alternate forms of renewable energy sources, it is worth noting Northern Algoma’s long history of hydro-electric generation for over 125 years.

Attempts to harness the power of the rushing rapids on the St. Mary’s River began in 1875.  It was not until 1894 when Francis Hector Clergue arrived on the scene with his background in hydro development in the U.S. that Sault Ste. Marie had a reliable
source of power for the newly incorporated city.  Always one to want to maximize profit, Clergue knew that lucrative industrial development needed to go hand in hand
with an efficient and cost-effective power generation venture.

The formation of Algoma Steel in 1901 included ownership of water power rights on the St. Mary’s River and the current power canal was constructed.  In 1916, organization at Algoma Steel led to the emergence of Great  Lakes Power Company which took over the rights to water power development on the St. Mary’s. Twenty-four power generation units were installed at the station, many of which were still being utilized prior to the plants replacement by the F.H.Clergue Generating Station
in 1981.  
 
The dramatic succession of cascades over the 90 foot Michipicoten High Falls on the Michipicoten River was once the home of the infamous  Long Portage (2.8 kms) for centuries.  It also became the site of the first hydro operation in Northern Algoma. 
D. B. Deitweiler of Berlin (Kitchener), Ontario completed the “run of the river dam” in 1907 to provide power to the Helen Iron Mine and gold mines in the area. In 1906, the birth the Magpie Mine north of Wawa led to the construction of a hydro dam at Steephill Falls on the Magpie River.  Steephill produced electricity for the 100’s of miners and their families at both the  Magpie and the Helen Mine until 1924.  The dam was abandoned and can still be viewed today as one of the only remaining sites of a flat buttress style dam in Canada.

In 1927 the Michipicoten High Falls hydro plant was purchased and upgraded by the
Algoma District Power Company Limited.  In 1929, a 112-mile transmission line was completed from High Falls to  Sault Ste. Marie so hydro could be purchased by Great Lakes Power to supply the growing needs of the Sault and area.  
 
The impressive scenery along the Montreal River depicted by the Group of Seven provided the backdrop for the construction MacKay and Andrews power generating stations in 1937 and 1938 respectively.  The MacKay station today has the largest generating capacity of all the Northern Algoma plants at  62 mega watts (mW) and has a reservoir upstream which extends approximately 40 kilometres.  
 
Below normal water levels and increased industrial growth and development throughout Algoma in the 1950’s heightened the need for expansion of  hydro generation abilities  throughout the district. The Scott Falls plant, located 1.5 miles downstream from High Falls on the Michipicoten was producing power by 1953. Two miles upstream from High Falls, the McPhail Falls hydro plant was completed in September of 1954.  Four years later, the last dam on the Michpicoten at Hollingsworth was constructed 9 miles upstream from the McPhail location. 
Downstream of the MacKay, the Gartshore (1958) and the Hogg (1965) completed the collection of hydro generating stations on the Montreal River.

Lucrative developments in the big business of power generation  led to the redevelopment of facilities at Steephill Falls as well as 2 brand new operations on the Magpie River at Scenic High Falls and the Mission Generating Station at Silver Falls.

In  2011 the flow of hydro power pulsing through our homes and communities seems to  have become as necessary to our everyday existence as the blood flowing through
our veins.  The history and health  of the water flowing through the St. Mary’s, Montreal, Michipcoten and Magpie Rivers is just as essential.

Northern Ontario and  wild blueberries go hand in hand.   Wawa’s own “secret” blueberry patch is one of Northern Algoma’s most popular picking grounds.  Both high and low bush blueberry plants  thrive in this unusual environment amongst abandoned railway beds, hydro dams,  open pit mines, unique geological features and a Hollywood movie backdrop. 
 
Blueberries thrive in the rugged Canadian Shield landscape where for centuries, forest fires were nature’s way  of clearing the land and welcoming the emergence of the coveted blueberry  bush.  Journals and diaries of  Canada’s first explorer’s record the  practice of the local first nation’s people setting fire to sections of forest  in order to encourage berry growth.  In 1855, a fire started by native’s burning a blueberry patch near Lady  Evelyn Lake, west of Lake Timiskaming, ignited a massive fire which burned over  2000 squares miles of forest and reached as far west as the Michipicoten River  Village area on Lake Superior.
 
In 1921 a forest fire swept through the  Magpie River Valley, WaWa  City and destroyed all of  the buildings at the abandoned Helen Mine.   Another forest fire in 1946 was successfully rerouted past the Wawa townsite but burned much of the same terrain along the MagpieRiver  north of Wawa  Lake.
  
While most northern forests thrive after a cleansing fire enriches the soil, the natural re-growth of plants was hindered in this region by the sulphur dioxide fumes that blew across the landscape from Algoma Ore Division in Wawa.  The sintering operations at Algoma Ore  began to process siderite ore in 1939.  During the early years high contents of sulphur fumes had a devastating effect on the vegetation growing downwind of the mill. As environmental concerns grew and government legislation became more stringent, sulphur fumes decreased and the boreal forest began to reclaim the  barren landscape.  Since the closure of operations at AOD in 1998, the re-vegetation process has been  noticeably dramatic.

Despite the blue fume clouds that once floated across the valley, avid blueberry pickers would hitch a ride on the ACR on Sunday’s when the plant was shut down, or when the wind was blowing in a more favourable direction.  The Algoma Central Railway line criss-crossed through the blueberry fields from 1912 until the early 2000’s when the rails and ties were removed.  The first section of track in this area was constructed from Michipicoten Harbourand the Wawa Station to Hawk  Junction.  This rail line was at  one time a vital link for Wawa residents to the outside world.  It carried everything from ore, pulpwood and fuel, to newborn babies, the
Eaton’s catalogue and the Christmas Turkey.  
 
Siderite Junction (or “Four Corners”) was the cross point of the main railway line to Hawk Junction with the sideline which ran into the Sir James Open Pit Mine. Constructed in 1958 this railway bed was  in operation until shortly after the mine shut down in 1967.  The abandoned railway beds now make for a reliable and scenic access road  for berry pickers, cyclists and snowmachines alike. 
  
Access to Wawa’s famous blueberry patch from the west carries berry pickers across the Steephill Falls Dam operated by Brookfield Renewable Power Inc.  For those who are observant, you can still see the remains of the first hydro-electric generating station built on the Magpie River in 1913 to supply power to the Magpie Mine 20 kms north.  This flat-slab  buttress dam was abandoned in 1927 but remains as one of the only examples  of early hydro dam construction of this design in Canada.  In 1978 it was used as a Hollywoodbackdrop for the movie Rituals starring Hal Holbrook.  
  
In 2002 the Magpie River Terraces Conservation  Reserve was created along the Magpie to recognize and protect a series of some  of the best preserved lake and river terraces found along the Lake Superiorshoreline.  These unique geological formations were created by the dropping lake levels in the Lake Superior Basinafter the recession of the Wisconsin Glacier 10,000 years ago. 
 
Whether you call it the blueberry patch, the fume kill, the treeless zone, or the Magpie River Terraces Conservation Reservation, everybody knows that Wawa’s “secret”blueberry picking grounds are a unique asset to the rich natural and cultural heritage of the Northern  Algoma region.