Renfrew – The Hockey Town from the Bonnechere Valley
A cottagers paradise, the tiny town of Renfrew has come a long way! While many towns of its size have fallen into decay and disrepair, Renfrew boast a quaint little downtown core with a variety of different restaurants and merchants.
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Renfrew and its Country Fair
Like many teens/young adults in the Ottawa area, I filled my summers up by hitting concerts at the never ending series of concerts taking place at the Ottawa Valley country fairs. My first visit to the town was to see Kim Mitchel, where he was drunkenly heckled to play their hit song Patio lanterns and he refused as we wanted to keep it for the end of the show quipping “If you play it now, you lot will leave”. All this to say that I have found memories of the town.
Day Trips
As previously mentioned, this town is a cottagers paradise. From here a road leads to the city of Bancroft deep into central Ontario where many cottages are located. You will also find plenty of day trippers and swimmers up along the Ottawa river towards Mattawa on Highway 11. If interested you could take Highway 60 into the main portion of Algonquin Park or take the old logging round to the back country of the park to explore the Barren Canyon and a natural waterside called High Falls. Alternatively you would stop in the Bonachere valley to visit its famous caves, the historic town of Packenham or the stunning Eagles Nest hike at nearby Calabogie.
A Brief History
The city itself dates from 1848 and was a major lumber town, shipping logs from the hinterland into the Ottawa River via a tributary though town. It is named after the county of Renfrewshire in Scotland.
What to do in Town
Walk the Downtown Core (And Check Out the NHL museum)
The downtown includes a beautiful post office, with a distinctive clock perched on its peak roof and although typical of a 20th century main streets includes a variety of restaurants. Other landmarks include the city hall and the war memorial. If you have time check out the NHL birthplace museum, documenting the creation of its predecessor the National Hockey Association (NHA) in 1909. This league had 5 five teams including a young Montreal Canadians as well as a second Montreal team, a team in Cobalt, Haileybury and of course the Renfrew Creamery Kings. A six team, the Ottawa Senators was soon to be added. All this was created by a millionaire owner from Renfrew, a man whose goal was to pursue the Stanley Cup.
McDougall Mill Museum
Remember how I said that Renfrew was once a center of industry, the McDougal Mills is at the center of this industry. It was built by the now damned Bonnechere river, where you can find a wooden suspention bridge crossing it and today remains as an eclectic museum of Renfrew’s past.
Opposite is a more modern hydro facility holding back most of the rivers water. Don’t be fooled by the small trickle of flow, much of the water is head back above in a reservoir and can spill out an any time.
The fine stone structure was constructed in 1855 by fur trader and Hudson’s Bay Company agent John Lorne McDougall. Like most its Eastern Ontario contemporaries it was a grist (flour mill).
