Balaclava, Renfrew County, Ontario
| Balaclava | |
| Settlement | |
 Balaclava Mill, 2007
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| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Province | Ontario |
| County | Renfrew |
| Municipality | Bonnechere Valley |
| Elevation | 195 m (640 ft) |
| Coordinates | 45°23′26″N 76°56′56″W / 45.39056°N 76.94889°WCoordinates: 45°23′26″N 76°56′56″W / 45.39056°N 76.94889°W |
| Founded | 1860s |
| Government | N/A |
| Timezone | Eastern Time Zone (UTC-5) |
| - summer (DST) | Eastern Time Zone (UTC-4) |
| Forward Sortation Area | K0J |
| Area code | 613, 343 |
  Location of Balaclava in Ontario.
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Balaclava is a community in the township of Bonnechere Valley, Renfrew County, Ontario, Canada. It is on Ontario Highway 513 just off Ontario Highway 132 north of the community of Dacre, and at the outlet of Constant Creek, a tributary of the Madawaska River, from Constant Lake, approximately 30 minutes drive time from Renfrew.
Balaclava is a near ghost town today, a come down from the bustling lumber town of its heyday. It started as a small community named for battle in the Crimean war. Shortly after its founding a dam and sawmill were built and by the 1860s the small hamlet had acquired a blacksmith shop and hotel to go with its permanent residents. In 1903 a sawdust burner was built so that sawdust from the mill would not be dumped in the local river, thereby polluting it. The water-powered sawmill was rebuilt in 1939 after a fire destroyed the mill that had previously occupied the space and continued to operate until 1959. At that time the depletion of available timber had reduced production to uneconomically small amounts. With the loss of the mill the viability of Balaclava as a residential town was also lost. The sawmill was the last water-powered mill to operate in the Province of Ontario
Balaclava was listed in a book on ghost towns by Ron Brown. Although it makes Balaclava sound like a pristine, deserted ghost town, actually it still has a few residents.
The place Balaclava was named in 1859 to commemorate a key victory of the British Commonwealth during the Crimean War. The Battle of Balaklava was fought on 25 October 1854 as part of the Siege of Sevastopol. and was commanded by Colonel Thomas Griffith.
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Wikipedia