When Ever Does This Happen?? ..., Ontario

Offered at $399,000

Property Highlights

• Historical Site
• Unorganized Township
• Selling “AS IS”
• Approx.. 237 Acres
• 1400 ft. on the Wahnapitae River
• Trees and More Trees
• Privacy Plus
• Naturalist Heaven
• Fields & Fields
• Hunters??
• Bird Watcher?? [spacer height=”20px”]

When Ever Does This Happen??

Imagine owning such a historical site -history in the making at this real prison.

Known as Camp Bison in Burwash!!

We are offering 200 plus acres in an unorganized Township with 1400 feet of water frontage on the famous Wahnapitae River system that flows into the French.

The land is a great mixture of pasture and stunning mixed forest with ponds & rivers..

A paradise for bird watchers, naturalists, an oasis for game hunters, and those wanting to view our northern wildlife.

I canoed this river many times.  It is peaceful and calming, and offers great fishing!!

Development potential plus with land and water.

The original prison is still standing though the glory years have long passed & where once a community was built to house the staff working at the Burwash Industrial Farm is long one..

The prison opened in 1914 and was closed in 1975 after it was deemed to be too costly to run despite it being a self-sufficient prison the farming lands till surround..

Prior to the construction of Highway 69, Burwash was an isolated location in the Wanapitei River valley, accessible only from a nearby station on the Canadian Northern Railway (today’s Canadian National Railway).

At its peak, the correctional facility owned 35,000 acres (14,164 hectors) and leased an additional 100,000 acres (40,469 hectors) of land, and was the fourth-largest employer in the Sudbury area.

Following the construction of Highway 69, the facility became less isolated and signs were posted on the highway advising motorists not to pick up hitchhikers in the area due to the possibility of convict escapes.

Imagine??

The crumbling ruins of Camp Bison stand as the sole reminder of a long-vanished town & we are for sale, offering ebbs of history.. historical sale.. one of its kind!!

Ontario has many ghost towns, towns that once bustled with people and activity but now are silent.

The former Town of Burwash, south of Sudbury, is a favourite among Urban Explorers & so is our product.

Burwash was originally founded in 1914 to house the workers from the Burwash Correctional Farm and their families. The town had around 1,000 residents housed in 95 residential units and all the amenities of any other town, including a public school, a church, a post office, a barber shop, a tailor shop, a sawmill and a grocery store.

More ??

A townsite was required for the guards and support staff that worked at the prison farm and the community, built by inmate labour, housed anywhere up to about 1,000 residents.

It boasted a public school, which went from kindergarten through grade 10 at one point, a church, a post office, a barber shop, a tailor shop and a shoe repair shop.

There was also a grocery store that sold bread made by the inmates, meat from the farm and vegetables produced by the inmates, as well as other grocery items which were brought in from Sudbury. Milk was delivered to the door by horse and wagon and the garbage was picked up by a different horse and wagon.

There was a complete working sawmill, which milled the trees cut down by inmates.

The village was built from the lumber and all of the provincial parks were provided with picnic tables made there as well.

Burwash was considered to be almost self-sufficient, with the inmates working at various trades and receiving an education.

Prior to the construction of Highway 69, Burwash was accessible only by rail.

A Canadian Northern Railway station was built nearby.

The Burwash Jail was a medium security jail and a working farm where inmates could grow their own crops.

In 1958, Camp Bison was opened at Burwash as a minimum security jail.

A two-story E-shaped building housed up to 850 inmates in small cells with wooden doors instead of steel bars, the segregation wing being the only exception & we are still standing.

Plans were made to transform the jail into a federal penitentiary, but this plan was abandoned in 1978 and the town and jail buildings were left empty.

Several other proposals for the property were put forth over the years, including converting it to a physical rehabilitation center or a provincial park, but none came to fruition.

The City of Sudbury had leased a portion of the property for use as an Angora goat farm, but this idea was left astray years back .

The property was broken up into several parcels, with the Department of National Defence taking around 3, 000 acres for use as a training area.

Other segments were taken by the Ontario Ministries of Transportation and natural Resources and the Burwash Native Peoples Project for a logging business.

All housing, community and jail buildings were demolished except for the Camp Bison building and a few outbuildings around it.

The site is on the Northern Ontario tourist list & our owner does allow official tours and even overnight stays in a renovated cell for those so inclined.

Our site offers a new access off of Highway 637!!

The world is your oyster!!

Imagine!! [spacer height=”20px”]

Other Information:

• Taxes: Approx. $400

Property Details

Building