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Renfrew Ghost Town


derekmac

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So lately I've been trying to find information on the old town that used to be back in Renfrew. I haven't found too much, other than that it was a town of around 700 people, had a post office and a hotel. I can't seem to find any drawings or photos of it, or a map, which I would love to find!

I'm interested in trying to explore the area and finding remnants of the old town. The thing is though, without some sort of map, and with all the overgrowth, it won't be easy.

I searched the area of the rally hill climb while we were out yesterday, and I found an old foundation, and what looks like an old mine shaft, but didn't see too much else around.

If anyone here has more info on the area, or would care to explore it, please post up here.

Here's a blurb I found on it:

Renfrew Ghost Town is the location of the remains of a gold mining town in Nova Scotia, Canada.

In 1860 Renfrew, Hants County, Nova Scotia was an unnamed district of Nine Mile River where a few families thought that they could make a living on farming and logging. Little did they know in the coming years they would become millionaires. At the height of the Renfrew Gold Rush over 700 citizens lived and worked in Renfrew and the value of the gold extracted from the quartz would be over $20,000,000.00 in today's dollars.

On April 29, 1862 Renfrew was proclaimed a Gold District. The early prospectors worked near the brook, digging surface gold or cutting deep trenches, often using explosives to blast the shale and quartz. (It was not until 1867 that Alfred Nobel invented dynamite, which was used later at Renfrew in blasting.)

The common method was to find a vein containing gold, frequently near the surface, then follow it by trenching or by blasting down as far as possible.

Processing methods in the early years was very wasteful. An estimated 30% of the gold was frequently left behind in the tailings. Often when the gold was brought to the surface, water was splashed on it and only if gold showed was the rock sent to the crushers! There are thousands of ounces of gold still hidden in the hundreds of mounds of minestone scattered throughout Renfrew. I found a large chuck of quartz with some gold in it when I was scouting the area. It is easy to find pieces of quartz with gold in them!

When visiting Renfrew, be careful particularly with children and pets - there are open pits in the area.

And as hard as it is to believe today, at its height Renfrew was complete with homes, hotel, supply store, and post office!

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You sure found some interesting history!

I've only found three items. 1) A foundation for a mill or something at the bottom of the little hill climb we did at the Rally. To the left as you look uphill.

2) There is a sink hole / mineshaft near the main intersection. Off of the side trail that leads to the narrow bridge. 3) The chimney on the Renfrew Road.

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I remember one time I was back there last year, I had seen a TON of tailings, but I can't remember for the life of me where it was at. I was just out driving around going down different trails off of the main road.

There are lots for sale back there. Look up PID# 45189636 on viewpoint.ca

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I just watched the first episode last night, but I can tell there are going to be many :facepalm: moments!

I've seen the odd truck, car and SUV back there, but most have had kayaks strapped to the roof. I know there are also cabins back there as well, but I've never seen them. Last year, when I was near the tailings, there was a real hillbilly lookin fella walking around. He was pretty curious as to why I was back there. I had my camera, so I just told him I was doing some photography (which I was). From what I could understand coming from him (I mean REAL hillbilly here), he said there were some neat spots around.

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