Moosonee facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Moosonee
Town (single-tier)
Town of Moosonee
Moosonee Location in Ontario Show map of Ontario Moosonee Location in Canada Show map of Canada
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Region	Northeastern Ontario
District	Cochrane
Settled	1903
Incorporated	2001
Area
• Land	546.72 km2 (211.09 sq mi)
Population  (2016)
• Total	1,481
• Density	2.7/km2 (7/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC−05:00 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−04:00 (EDT)
Postal code	P0L 1Y0
Area code(s)	705
Website	www.moosonee.ca

Moosonee (say "moo-suh-NEE") is a town in northern Ontario, Canada. It sits on the Moose River, about 19 kilometers south of James Bay. It's often called "the Gateway to the Arctic" because it has Ontario's only port on saltwater.

Close by is Moose Factory Island, home to the community of Moose Factory. You can get there by water taxi in summer or by ice road in winter. There are no regular roads connecting Moosonee to the rest of Ontario. Instead, people travel by plane or by train on the Ontario Northland Railway. Goods are also moved by barges and aircraft to communities further north.

Even though Moosonee is at a similar latitude to cities like Saskatoon and Calgary, it's colder. This is because it's so close to Hudson Bay. The town started in 1903 as a fur trading post by a company called Revillon Frères. This company was a rival to the famous Hudson's Bay Company, which later bought them out. Moosonee became an official town on January 1, 2001, and has an elected mayor and council.

History of Moosonee

The original Révillon Frères store in Moosonee.

The first settlers arrived in the Moosonee area around 1900. Annie Hardisty and her two daughters were among the very first. On June 6, 1903, the Révillon Frères company started a new fur trading post called Moose River Post. They wanted to compete with the Hudson's Bay Company. Their first supply ship sank, but they kept going. Today, you can visit the Revillon Frères Museum on First Street.

Moose River Post quickly became very important for Révillon Frères. They built many buildings, like a staff house, a workshop, a warehouse, and a sawmill. The buildings were spread out to help stop fires from spreading. By 1912, the settlement had many strong buildings along the river.

Life at Moose River Post was good, but it was very isolated. Supplies came only once a year by ship from Montreal. Mail arrived only four times a year, either by canoe or toboggan. During World War I, their supply ship was needed for the war. So, until 1932, supplies came by scows (flat-bottomed boats) from Pagwa, traveling down several rivers.

In 1932, the Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway reached Moose River Post. The post was then renamed Moosonee. This name comes from the Cree language word môsonihk, which means "at the Moose [River]". In 1936, Révillon Frères sold its business to the Hudson's Bay Company, and the Moosonee post closed. The Hudson's Bay Company then opened a retail store in Moosonee. After the fur trade ended, Moosonee's main focus became transportation.

From 1962 to 1975, Moosonee was home to RCAF Station Moosonee. This was a radar station that helped protect North America. After it closed, some of its buildings, like the swimming pool, were used by the town. In November 2000, Moosonee officially became a town.

Moosonee Population and People

Moosonee is a small town with a close-knit community. In the 2021 Census, about 1,512 people lived there. The town covers a land area of about 547.83 square kilometers.

Many people in Moosonee speak English, but a large number also speak Cree. In 2011, about 79.3% of people spoke English as their first language, and 17.7% spoke Cree.

Community Services in Moosonee

Moosonee has schools for different age groups. There are two elementary schools, Moosonee Public School and Bishop Belleau Separate School. Bishop Belleau School also offers French language classes. For older students, there is Northern Lights Secondary School for grades nine to twelve. Northern College also has a campus in Moosonee, offering some college programs.

For health care, the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority runs the Moosonee Health Clinic. This clinic provides important medical services to the community.

Payukotayno Family Services helps children and families in Moosonee and nearby communities like Moose Factory, Attawapiskat First Nation, Fort Albany, Kashechewan, and Peawanuck. Payukotayno means 'one family' in Cree.

Moosonee Climate and Weather

Moosonee has a humid continental climate with some subarctic features. This means it has warm summers and cold, sometimes very cold, winters. James Bay helps to make spring and fall temperatures milder.

The Moose River usually freezes over between late November and mid-December. In January, the average low temperature is around -27 degrees Celsius. The river usually thaws in April. Moosonee gets about 682 millimeters of rain and snow each year. About 213 centimeters of that is snow. More rain falls in the summer than at other times of the year. Sometimes, there can be severe thunderstorms.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Moosonee was 37.8 degrees Celsius on July 31, 1975. The coldest temperature ever recorded was -48.9 degrees Celsius on January 24, 1935.

Getting Around Moosonee

Moosonee is a very important place for transportation in northern Ontario.

Train Travel

The Polar Bear Express train at Moosonee Station.

The main way to reach Moosonee is by train. The Ontario Northland Railway arrived in 1932. Their Polar Bear Express train carries passengers and freight to Cochrane. This train runs almost every day.

The Moosonee Station is at the end of First Street. It has a small building, a freight shed, and a place to store trains. You can buy tickets by phone or at offices in Cochrane, Moosonee, Moose Factory, and Timmins. The train can even stop in some places if you ask, which is called a "flag stop" service. There is no food service on the train.

There are also two freight trains each week. In summer and early fall, goods can be moved from Moosonee by barge. The Polar Bear Express can also carry cars, canoes, ATVs, and snowmobiles if you book ahead. It's one of only two services in North America that carries both people and their vehicles on the same train.

Air Travel

Moosonee also has an airport, the Moosonee Airport. You can take scheduled flights with Air Creebec and cargo flights with North Star Air. There's also a Moosonee Water Aerodrome for floatplanes.

Roads and Winter Roads

Moosonee cannot be reached by regular roads. The closest road ends at Otter Rapids, about 148.9 kilometers south of Moosonee. Sometimes, a special winter road opens between Moosonee and Otter Rapids. This road was built to help with power line work. Local people say it takes five or six hours to drive from Moosonee to Timmins using this winter road.

In winter, ice roads are plowed across the Moose River to Moose Factory. There are also winter roads to other coastal communities like Fort Albany, Kashechewan, and Attawapiskat. These roads are very important for bringing supplies to these northern towns.

In 2021, the 311-kilometer James Bay Winter Ice Road was built. It connects Attawapiskat, Kashechewan, Fort Albany, and Moosonee. This road can carry very heavy loads. There are also plans to build a permanent all-season road to connect these communities to the main highway system.

Communication in Moosonee

Moosonee has a local radio station, CHMO 1450 AM, run mostly by volunteers. You can also listen to CBC Radio One from Sudbury on 1340 AM. Most homes get TV from cable or satellite services.

Ontera, now owned by Bell, provides phone and internet services in Moosonee.

Fun Things to Do in Moosonee

Many people enjoy taking the Polar Bear Express train in summer. It's a great trip to see the hydroelectric dams, isolated homes, and maybe even some wildlife.

You can take a special canoe ferry across the Moose River to Moose Factory. There, you can visit Centennial Park, which has old buildings from the fur-trading days.

Other cool places to visit in Moosonee include:

• Railway Car Museum – This museum shows the history of the area inside an old train car.
• MNR Interpretive Centre – At the Ministry of Natural Resources office, you can see displays and videos about the wildlife, geology, and geography of the region.
• Bird Sanctuaries – You can take trips to the bird sanctuaries on Shipsands Island and in the Southern James Bay.

Tidewater Provincial Park is also nearby, on Charles Island, right next to Moose Factory Island.

See also

In Spanish: Moosonee para niños