You won’t find any social distancing reminders in the Bonnechere Valley Township community of Balaclava- because pretty much nobody ever goes there anymore, although an article in Reader’s Digest.ca may be about to change that.
The ghost town is located on private property off Scott Bush Road (the former Ontario Highway 513) near Dacre, and is known for its picturesque run-down sawmill.
The dispersed community doesn’t take its moniker from the mask of the same name, but rather commemorates a battle in the Crimean War fought back in the 1850s.
In its heyday, Balaclava was a flourishing lumber town that produced up to one million board feet of lumber per week.
The sawmill at its heart was one of Ontario’s last water-powered mills, was built in 1855 and the enterprise was subject of one of Ontario’s first environmental lawsuits.
In 1911 a neighbouring grist mill was awarded 200 dollars (U.S.) in damages after the sawmill was caught releasing excessive sawdust into the shared waterway.
The mid-1950s saw the mill’s output decline to a few thousand board feet a year and it closed up forcing the dispersal of about 200 residents that had once called the community home.
Anyone attempting to visit should first seek permission- and while there may not be much to see, you may be treated to a few interesting stories from nearby neighbours.
