The Town (Terrace Bay)
Terrace Bay originated as a company town in the 1940s when a pulp and paper mill was established there by the Longlac Pulp & Paper Company, later renamed Kimberly – Clark Forest Products. At the same time, the Aguasabon Generating Station was created by the Ontario Hydro water division, to redirect the northward flowing Long Lake south through the Aguasabon River system to Lake Superior.
On September 1, 1947, Terrace Bay was granted status as an Improvement District. The pulp mill was the lead developer with construction of the community’s basic infrastructure. By the end of 1948, Terrace Bay consisted of about 230 houses serviced with sewer, water and electricity but surrounded only by bush as the highway was still not completed through the town. In 1951, the Lakeview subdivision was started, with sewer, water and electrical services provided for well over 100 houses. By December 31, 33 of the 35 new houses were completed and occupied.
Other additions to the community were two new churches, 22-bed modern hospital, post office, bank, liquor store, theatre, clothing store and railway station. Construction of the Memorial Recreation Centre was completed in July 1953. The building consisted of an arena, curling club, restaurant, bowling alley, library, offices, three meeting rooms and public washrooms. In 1958, the mill converted to chlorine dioxide bleaching and had sold 63 houses to employees and another 28 houses were privately built. The next year, Terrace Bay became a municipal township.
In 1972, the Kimberly Clark Pulp and Paper Company Ltd. and Kimberly Clark of Canada Ltd. amalgamated. From 1972 to 1977 the population of Terrace Bay increased from 1,755 to 2,299 persons, directly attributed to Kimberly Clark’s expansion program. The pulp mill was the lifeblood of the region and in 2005 Kimberly-Clark sold the mill to Neenah Paper Inc, who then sold the mill to Buchanan Forestry Products in 2006. The mill was renamed to Terrace Bay Pulp Inc. It operated until it ran into financial hardship and was shut down in 2009. After financial reorganization, it reopened in October 2010 to strong pulp markets. However, soon thereafter the mill ran into financial trouble again and had to declare bankruptcy and look for a buyer. In July 2012, the Aditya Birla Group agreed to purchase the mill.