Welcome
The Schumacher Historical Society would like to welcome you to our online heritage community. We hope our website and social media activities will allow visitors to explore the rich cultural history of Schumacher Ontario, Canada.
In the Beginning
(Note: The following is abbreviated text from the book, SCHUMACHER – Voices in the Gold Fields, written by Louise Nightingale Smith, and images from the Timmins Museum & National Exhibition Centre and Vail Family collection)
Frederick W. Schumacher, a wealthy American from Columbus, Ohio, had already invested in silver mining in Cobalt when word of the gold strikes reached him, and urged his team of geologists immediately to push on to the Porcupine. Haste was paramount, as money and properties were changing hands fast.
Schumacher’s first sight of the small cluster of prospector’s cabins in the wilds created a vivid impression on him and he made his move. On the advice of Shirley Cragg, a geologist, he purchased an interest in the “Kirkland” and “Athawes” Vet properties. By 1915, with transactions completed he became the sole owner of both parcels of land.
Schumacher’s plan for the Kirkwood Vet was to subdivide the surface rights into lots to be sold for a planned townsite. He discussed these plans and the establishment of a railway station at Aura Lake with J.L. Englehart, Chairman of the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway Commission, and agreed to convey a right-of-way to the commission. But in making the concession, he requested that the station be called “Schumacher.”
Englehart agreed, but the decision was not popular with postal authorities. When Englehart was informed that the postal inspector had called on S.B. Clement at the railway office in North Bay to oppose the change of names, he immediately replied to Clement’s Letter with a clear message:
Dated Dec. 1, 1911
“Trust you pointed out to Post Office Inspector necessity of having name changed from Aura Lake to Schumacher. Mr. Schumacher has been considerate and thoughtful, and if we cannot have the name changed from Aura Lake to Schumacher, then we certainly must, notwithstanding, call the station Schumacher.
We must bear one thing in mind – that we have got to do unto others as we desire they should do unto us. We must be diplomatic. Mr. Schumacher has not alone been considerate, but he has been more than that. Very few men would have done what Mr. Schumacher has, in connection with lands for stations and grounds, and you will put up temporary sign as soon as you start to lay sidings, even if only upon a board two feet long and one foot wide and mark it Schumacher, so that from inception to close , everyone will recognize name of proposed station, and it will gradually come into use, and Aura Lake in time will disappear.“
The development of the townsite continued unhindered. On March 1, 1912, “Schumacher” was officially adopted as the name of the townsite.