Top 3 Abandoned Places In Greater Sudbury

There are so many abandoned places in Greater Sudbury! This is a list of the top three abandoned places in Greater Sudbury. Browse through all abandoned places in Greater Sudbury

1. Benny (ghost town)

Benny began as a small railway town along the Canadian Pacific Railway just west of Cartier. The town's name originated from the name of W.W. Benny who was a divisional engineer.

The Strong Lumber Company took over milling operations in the area and soon a small town consisting of approximately a dozen homes was former. There was also a bunkhouse, cookery, store and of course the railway station,

Benny obtained its own post office in 1909. By now the population of Benny was close to 60 people.

The town continued to experience growth and by the 1920's had 150 people. A school was built and a larger store with its own diner was built. In 1923 a Catholic church was built.

The mill was taken over by the Hope Lumber Company in 1926. As the milling operations slowed down, much of Benny's population left. In 1935 a road was finally constructed which lead to the town. Zinc mining offered some work for the residents that remained but by 1944 the mining ceased.

The school closed down in the 1950's and the children bused to the nearby town of Cartier. By 1956 the school and store had also ceased operations.

Today you'll find a few seasonal residents in Benny but aside from a few homes there is little else to see.

2. CFS Falconbridge

Pearl Harbour clearly demonstrated the ability of enemy bombers to cross enemy lines and drop bombs on crucial targets. To shoot down such enemy planes, ground based guns and aircraft were used. The problem with aircraft interception was that the enemy planes had to be detected in time to launch intercepting aircraft before the enemy planes dropped their bombs.

On May 29, 1951 the Pinetree Planning Office (PPO) was established to establish long range aircraft warning. It was estimated that by 1954, the USSR would have the capability to send long range bombers. One such radar base which would provide enemy aircraft warning was built in Falconbridge. For more information, visit WWW.Pinetreeline.Org and Larry Wilson(a)s Page. The bases were constructed on what was called the pinetree line, presumably named for the terrain.

On August 15, 1952 the Falconbridge base began operations. It contained a chapel, mess hall, operations center, headquarters building, fire hall and even had a ski hill. It is interesting to note that not much has changed between my pictures and the 1999 pictures that Bob Agar took.

Location: Along Radar Road (appropriately named). Take the highway (# 85) from Sudbury out to Garson/Falconbridge and turn left at the sign to Skead/Coniston/Hanmer. This is Radar Road. Radar Rd. can also be reached by heading from the opposite direction, coming in from Val Caron. Do not turn into Skead/Airport Rd. but continue on down the highway. You will see a Pinegrove Trailer Sales on the left, this is the way in. Note: The only way in is through the gate at Pinegrove.

The station(a)s operational call sign was ""Tomboy"".

There is an entire host of pictures and information about CFS Falconbridge and her sister ""Treeline"" radar stations.

Link.

NOTE: The operations building, and towers, once located on the top of the hill have been torn down as of June 2007.

3. Happy Valley (ghost town)

Happy Valley was never really considered a town, but more of a settlement which belonged to Falconbridge. Happy Valley consisted of residents who wanted to be seperate and independant from the residents of Falconbridge.

It began in 1906 when George Ruff settled and made his home in the area. By 1911, Ruff was joined by two neighbours, Bill Chasty and Edgar Moore, who also purchased property in the area and began to build homes. The three families brought the population to approximately 15 residents.

The residents were mainly farmers and mill-workers who worked at the sawmills by the lake. The children would have to endure a three-mile walk every morning to the nearest school (established in 1907) located in Garson. It was a nasty walk during winter with temperatures as low as -40 degrees or waist-deep snow. Sometimes the children were fortunate enough to be able to take a horse-drawn cutter to school.

The area was originally given the name of Spruce Valley for the trees which lined the streets. The trees created an almost branch-entwined tunnel along the roadway (as sometimes seen in today(a)s car commercials).

The people of Spruce Valley built quite simple homes on narrow streets, compared to larger homes found on the paved streets in Falconbridge.

In 1912 the Ruff family suffered the loss of their child. The family buried their child in a plot of land which would become the community cemetery. The Pioneer Ruff Cemetery still bears the Ruff name and remains in fair condition.

Other than the mills and homes, there were no stores or a post office to be found. Residents had to travel to Falconbridge Township for amenities.

In 1915 the E.J. Longyear company had discovered large ore samples during test drilling in the Falconbridge Township area. The area would not be further developed until 1928 but would play a vital role in Spruce Valley(a)s future.

By the mid 1920(a)s the population of Spruce Valley had risen to approximately 50 residents.

In 1928, businessman Thayer Lindsley purchased the rights to the land previously drilled for ore during 1915. Lindsley(a)s purchase would be the basis for founding Falconbridge Nickel Mines Limited. The mine then set about building a town to house the workers and named the town Falconbridge after the township in which it resided.

When Falconbridge Mine opened, mine management and supervisors lived in Falconbridge homes in case they were called to the mine for an emergency. Approximately a dozen mine workers settled for homes in Spruce Valley.

By 1930, Falconbridge Nickel Mines was removing 250 tonnes of ore a day. To process the ore, a smeltering plant was constructed which began operating in 1932. It was also during 1932 that a school opened in Falconbridge which would make the children(a)s daily walk much shorter.

The name of the town was eventually changed to Happy Valley after a gentleman
named Happy Day (or Hap Day as he was referred to) who bought a large portion of the land in the valley. People would say that it was Hap(a)s Valley, and eventually the name of Spruce Valley was lost.

After smeltering operations began, Happy Valley farmers noticed that pollution from the nearby smelter would fall into the valley and cloud the town in a fog of poison. The lush trees which filled the valley, died.

When residents complained, Falconbridge stopped smelter operations on days where the wind would carry the toxic fumes into the valley. This arrangement worked well until the war began. With the war, the mine was in demand to produce precious metal. This meant they had to smelter no matter what wind conditions were.

The workers eventually took Falconbridge to court over the sulphuric fumes. Residents argued that Happy Valley was present before Falconbridge mine. The court however, sided with Falconbridge Mine as claims had been made to the area long before Happy Valley existed.

With this settlement, the farmers threw in the towel and began the process of moving out. The miners on the other hand chose to remain in the town. By the late 1940(a)s the town had been reduced to two-dozen homes situated along the two main streets.

Falconbridge eventually bought the citizens out so that they could continue smelter operations. Some people traded their homes for a home in Falconbridge, others took cash.

By 1970, the town was abandoned... almost. The last resident, "Gizzy", left the town in the late 80(a)s.

Happy Valley sits behind a large steel fence with a warning sign to frighten off your average explorer. It is off limits to the public.

Location: From Sudbury, take Falconbridge Road into Garson and continue on through Garson into Falconbridge on the road named after it. Take McDonnell Street to the fence and there it stands.