The Icelandic Settlement Disaster

Ontario's Historical Plaques

Here's where you can learn a little Ontario history.

Photo by Alan L Brown - May 18, 2004

Plaque Location

The City of Kawartha Lakes
In Kinmount just north of the Road 121 bridge over the Burnt River, on the west side of the street behind the old railway station

Plaque Text

In the 1870's, economic distress prompted mass emigration from Iceland. On September 25th, 1874, 352 Icelanders, exhausted and weakened by illness arrived at the emigration sheds in Toronto. When the Victoria Railway Company offered work constructing its line from near Kinmount, the provincial government housed the Icelanders in log shanties down river from here. Poor ventilation, sanitation and diet allowed sickness to rage through their cold, over-crowded quarters. Within six weeks, twelve children and a teenager had died. By the spring of 1875, the death toll had doubled and many of the settlers scattered in search of a better life. In the fall, most regrouped in Toronto and travelled west to found the settlement of Gimli, Manitoba.

Here's More
Disasters

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