Whitefish River Valley facts for kids

The Whitefish River Valley is a beautiful area in Ontario, Canada. It's found in the Thunder Bay District, in a part of Ontario that doesn't have its own local government. The valley gets its name from the Whitefish River, which flows right through it.

Many small towns and communities grew here around the early 1900s. This happened when a special law called the Dominion Lands Act made it possible for people to claim land for farming and building homes. Many settlers, especially families from Finland, moved to this area. Today, about 1,362 people live in the Whitefish River Valley.

Kids in the valley go to the Whitefish Valley School in Hymers. This school is run by the Lakehead District School Board.

Communities in the Valley

The Whitefish River Valley is home to several small communities. These include Flint, Harstone, Hillside, Hymers, Leeper, Nolalu, Sellers, and Silver Mountain.

Some parts of the valley are inside the towns of O'Connor and Gillies. Other parts are looked after by the local services board of Nolalu, which helps with things like roads and services in that area.

Hillside

Hillside is a very small village located along Highway 588. Finnish settlers first came to Hillside in the early 1900s to build their homes. Until the 1950s, Hillside had many small dairy farms and fields. It even had its own train stop on the Port Arthur, Duluth and Western Railway line, and a school built in 1914.

Nolalu

Nolalu is another village on Highway 588. It is located in an area called Lybster geographic township. The name "Nolalu" is a shorter way of saying "Northern Lands and Lumber," which was the name of a company. The name Nolalu is also used for the larger area around the village. The Whitefish River flows through Nolalu on its way to the Kaministiquia River.