Lumbering and milling began at the future site of Kiosk in the 1870s. After going through a number of ownership changes, the owners abandoned the site in 1930. The fire that destroyed the mill at Fossmill in 1935, brought renewed life to Kiosk. Sydney Staniforth, a former Vice President at the Fassett Lumber Company, negotiated for the timber limits and then formed the Staniforth Lumber Company in 1936. He hired a number of men from Fossmill and began rebuilding the mill.
In 1941 the company established Kiosk as a small lumbering settlement within the Algonquin Park borders. By then the settlement included a store, and station, in addition to the boarding house, cookery and post office all built a few years earlier.
The mill was highly successful and by the 1950s, the community added a Catholic church, French separate school, warehouses, recreation hall and outdoor rink. Power came from a small plant on the Amable-du-Fonds River. By 1961 the community had grown to over 350 residents, and a decade later to nearly 600 people.
The mill burnt down in 1973 effectively sealing Kiosk’s fate. In 1974, the provincial government laid down their master plan for Algonquin Park, which did not include the rebuilding of the mill. In fact, they ordered all residents to leave the townsite no later than 1996. As soon as a building became vacant, the government was in there with the bulldozer. By 1992, the townsite was completely vacant.
Today all that remains of the settlement is the ranger’s cabin. The site is now an access point for Algonquin Park and is also in use as a camping ground. They removed the church to a nearby farm just north of Kiosk outside the park boundaries. Learn more