Fort Frances

Fort Frances courthouse

Fort Frances was the first European settlement west of Lake Superior and was established by French Canadian Pierre Gaultier de Varennes, sieur de La Vérendrye, first commander of the western district. In 1731, he built Fort Saint Pierre near that spot as support for the fur trade with native peoples. In 1732, his expedition built Fort Saint Charles on Magnuson's Island on the west side of Lake of the Woods. After some time, Fort Saint Pierre fell out of use.[6]

In 1817, following the War of 1812 and the redefinition of borders between Canada and the United States, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) built a fort here. In 1830 HBC Chief Factor John Dugald Cameron[7] named the fur trading post after Frances Ramsay Simpson, the 18-year-old daughter of a London merchant,[8] who had married earlier that year in London, George Simpson, Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, who would visit the fort many times. In 1841 she became Lady Simpson after George Simpson was knighted, and she died in 1853 at Lachine, Quebec.[9]

July 1st parade, Fort Frances, ca. 1905

Incorporated in 1903, the town held a big centennial celebration in 2003.

The main employer was a pulp and paper mill established in the early 1900s. It had numerous owners over the years, notably Edward Wellington Backus. Most recently owned by Resolute Forest Products, the mill employed about 700 persons until its closure in 2014.

On June 25, 1946, the town was struck by a tornado, which caused major damage and struck a week after the deadly Windsor tornado.

On August 25, 2013, the town hosted the final pitstop in the Kraft Celebration Tour by receiving the most votes out of all 20 communities

On January 14, 2014, Resolute Forest Products announced that it planned to stop operations of the final paper machine and close out its operations in Fort Frances by the end of the month.

On December 13, 2014, Tim Hortons filmed a commercial in Fort Frances. The commercial, which dubs Fort Frances "one of the coldest places in Canada", was shot at the local Tim Hortons. In the days leading up to the filming, yarn was seen covering trees, benches, etc. Workers had spent the night covering the interior of the restaurant with yarn and building a giant toque on the roof. For the day, the coffee was free.

In August 2015 the Seven Generations Education Institute hosted the World Indigenous Nations Higher Education Consortium's (WINHEC) Annual General Meeting at the Nanicost Grounds for members attending from all over the world.

There are three airports in the area, one of which is in the United States. The two local airports are for general aviation and other is a privately owned floatplane base.

• Fort Frances Municipal Airport
• Fort Frances Water Aerodrome
• Falls International Airport

Fort Frances Municipal Airport is served by only one company, Bearskin Airlines, with flights to and from Kenora, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, and Dryden. Falls International Airport has flights to Minneapolis–Saint Paul by Delta Connection.

Ontario Highway 11 and Ontario Highway 71, the latter of which ends in Fort Frances, are the two major highways in the community. Both are part of the Trans-Canada Highway. The town is connected to Kenora via Highway 71, while Highway 11 provides connections to Devlin, Emo, and Rainy River to the west, and Atikokan and Thunder Bay to the east.

Canadian National Railway travels into Fort Frances with freight traffic only and travels across the Fort Frances-International Falls International Bridge, over the Rainy River, into the US.

Train, truck and car traffic to and from the United States traverses the International Bridge.

Fort Frances Transit operated until 1996, and Fort Frances Handi-Van Transit is a provincially-funded service run by the Town of Fort Frances. Caribou Coach Transportation Company Incorporated cancelled its bus route to and from Thunder Bay in October 2017. The route was once served by Greyhound Canada. North Air operates a taxi service from Fort Frances whose service area includes the International Falls, Minnesota area and airport.

Fort Frances experiences a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb), with cold winters and warm summers. Temperatures beyond 34 °C (93.2 °F) have been measured in all five late-spring and summer months. Summer highs are comparable to Paris and the Los Angeles Basin coastline in California, whereas winter lows on average resemble southern Siberia and polar subarctic inland Scandinavia.

Fort Frances, along with Atikokan hold the record for the highest temperature ever recorded in the province of Ontario. On 13 July 1936 the mercury climbed to 42.2 °C (108.0 °F).

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Fort Frances had a population of 7,466 living in 3,451 of its 3,779 total private dwellings, a change of -3.5% from its 2016 population of 7,739. With a land area of 25.55 km² (9.86 sq mi), it had a population density of 292.2/km² (756.8/sq mi) in 2021.[13]

Fort Frances had a population of 7,739 people in 2016, which represents a decrease of 2.7% from the 2011 census count. The median household income in 2015 for Fort Frances was $62,928, which was below the Ontario provincial average of $74,287.[14]

The city coat of arms features a bull moose; maple leaves; a "Magneto", representative of electricity (industry); two men in a canoe; a white pine tree; and the motto "Industry and Perseverance."

• Dave Allison, former coach of the NHL's Ottawa Senators
• Mike Allison, former player for the Los Angeles Kings, Toronto Maple Leafs, and New York Rangers of the NHL
• Steve Arpin, ARCA Re/Max Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series race car driver
• Murray Bannerman, former player for the Chicago Blackhawks.
• Molly Carlson, high diver
• Keith Christiansen, former player for the WHA Minnesota Fighting Saints.
• Todd Dufresne, social and cultural theorist best known for his work on Freud and psychoanalysis
• Gene Eugene, actor, musician and recording producer
• Howard Hampton, Member of Provincial Parliament (Ontario) of Kenora—Rainy River (provincial electoral district) and former leader of the Ontario New Democratic Party.
• Duncan Keith, NHL hockey player of the Chicago Blackhawks, named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players [15]
• Chris Lindberg, silver medalist with the Canadian Ice Hockey Team at the 1992 Winter Olympics
• Neil Sheehy, former player for the Calgary Flames, Hartford Whalers and Washington Capitals of the NHL.
• Timothy Sheehy, former NHL player.
• Gene Stoltzfus, founding director of Christian Peacemaker Teams

• The Fort Frances Museum
• Fort Frances Library and Technology Centre
• The Border Land Arts Alliance
• Tour de Fort
• Point Park
• LaVerendrye Parkway- The Sorting Gap Marina
• The Lookout Tower, open to tour during summer
• The Tugboat Hallet, open to tour during summer
• Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship, held annually in late July [16]
• Scott Street Shopping District
• Kitchen Creek Golf Club
• Heron Landing Golf Course
• 8th Street Walking & Ski Trails
• Little Beaver Snow Park
• Rainy Lake Square
• Town Hall
• Rendezvous Yacht Club [17]
• The Noden Causeway
• The Rainy Lake Nordic Ski Club

Fort Frances is home to the following amateur sports teams:

• Fort Frances Lakers (Junior ice hockey)
• Fort Frances Thunderhawks (Senior ice hockey)

Fort Frances was the home of the former amateur sports teams:

• Fort Frances Borderland Thunder (Junior ice hockey)
• Fort Frances Canadians (Senior ice hockey)
• Fort Frances Royals (Junior ice hockey)

Sporting facilities include :

• Memorial Sports Centre
• Couchiching First Nations Arena also known as "The Duke" - located in neighboring Couchiching First Nation

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fort Frances, Ontario.

• Official website