Historic Images of Cobalt, Ontario

For thousands of years the vast mineral wealth of Northern Ontario lay underground undiscovered.

Mother Nature gave up some of those riches with the discovery of silver in Cobalt by two railway tie contractors - James McKinley and Ernest Darragh. They followed their dreams of gold all the way to the California gold fields only to come back empty-handed. Their luck was about to change.

In August of 1903, while under contract during the construction of the newly formed Temiskaming & Northern Ontario (T. & N.O.) Railway at Long Lake, they found the "glittering rocks" of men's dreams.

"They had learned to test nuggets by biting them with their teeth. When they tested the 'glittering rocks' they knew they had found native silver." - Yankee Takeover of Cobalt, John Murphy

The Silver Rush was on! Prospectors, miners, speculators, and financiers came from all over the world to search for silver, stake claims, form mining companies, and extract riches of silver at unprecedented levels to create a boom town like no other: Cobalt - "the best old town I know."

"As a source of silver riches, the Cobalt area led the world in yielding a phenomenal 460 million ounces. That is about US$2 billion worth of silver at today's prices. In Cobalt's peak year, 1911, 34 mines produced some 30 million ounces."- Canadian Mining Hall of Fame

Remarkably, the silver fortunes extracted far exceeded those made from Klondike gold. Cobalt silver helped drive the economy of Ontario - just out of a deep 1890's North American economic depression. It helped increase the wealth of Canadian Banks and attracted the financing for mining exploration and development. It produced a large number of Canadian millionaires and allowed for great investment in the Toronto Stock Exchange. Some would say, "Cobalt built Bay Street."

Cobalt silver funded the expansion of the T. & N. O. Railway that opened up Northern Ontario. It led to a new awareness of the rich natural resources of Canada. Cobalt mines were on the leading edge of mining technology. Great innovations in silver ore extraction took place. Power was generated for the entire mining site by compressed air systems at Ragged Chutes. The Haileybury School of Mines was established to train generations of mining engineers whose alumni would go on to develop mines all over Canada and throughout the world.

However, by the 1980's, most of the region's silver had been rendered from the earth and mining activity slowed. Cobalt's population dwindled to a fraction of its former self. The mines of former glory closed and lay dormant, and began to rust back into nature. It goes without saying that the people of Cobalt have tremendous pride in their town "the cradle of Canadian mining."