Jellicoe (and Nezan and/or Nezah, and Tansleyville)

Jellicoe, Ontario, west of Geraldton on Highway 11 (Photo credit: Wiki Commons User P199)

Jellicoe, Ontario, west of Geraldton on Highway 11 (Photo credit: Wiki Commons User P199)

Depending on the map you’re using, one, two, or all of three of Nezan, Nezah, and Tansleyville exist as dots on the map west of Jellicoe.

Although they exist on my map, they didn’t exist on the road as I drove it – I saw one house that might be Tansleyville, while I found an intersection that might qualify as Nezan, or possibly Nezah.  And that’s it.

Jellicoe is the kind of place that makes the francophone hamlets like Mattice and Moonbeam on Highway 11 look big.  There are about a dozen houses and cottages in Jellicoe, many of which are on the shores of a small lake that had beautiful emerald-green water the day that I visited.  (Too bad it didn’t turn out in my photo.)

This photo doesn't show it, but the lake was serene and green (in a good way)

This photo doesn’t show it, but the lake was serene and green (in a good way)

The town is pretty small. It was really quiet the day I was there. The church was closed, there were some other buildings – some cottages, a few boarded up – and some old election signs up on a few trees. It was really really quiet.

As for services, there’s a hunting store and gas station, and that’s all I noticed on that day.  When going to Geraldton (50 kilometres away) is considered a trip to the city, you know you’re remote.

TB-04-Jellicoe-Church

Jellicoe also features Colimar Lodges and Chalets about five minutes west of town. I’ve only been through once so please fill in anything I missed below.

13 thoughts on “Jellicoe (and Nezan and/or Nezah, and Tansleyville)

  1. recently moved up to the greenstone area, drove to Jellico the other weekend to take a look around and came across this grand wooden building with cedar shakes, u can catch a glimpse of it off the highway. wondering if anyone has any information on it? (2 Dumond st south )

    thanks!

  2. My uncle owned and operated the store and garage in Jellicoe since I was young I’m 43. He just recently retired. My cousin his wife and their kids still love there. But Jellicoe has the best people and the most beautiful water in Ontario. I worked up there 10 years ago for my relatives. And being country born and raised I would move there Ina heartbeat.

  3. Jazz Mann , I kinda think the storage building you are referring to was Lakehead
    Freightways
    Oh by the way I moved there in 1940
    Alden Hill

  4. When I first moved to Jellicoe in 1978, there were still approximately 150 permanent residents and probably another 50 or so seasonal residents. We now have about 50 permanent residents, many of whom are retirees. There are about 30 residences, not all of which are lived in. In 1978, there was a large air service in operation (Kyro’s Airways), another smaller air service (Ara Lake Camps), three restaurants, two motels, four gas stations, and numerous resorts in and around Jellicoe. Domtar and Abitibi were the major employers of the residents, the CNR still had a divisional station in Jellicoe and maintenance personnel. It was a humming little place, and one of the previous commenters is right – it was a great place to party! Sadly, Jellicoe has diminished both in size and population over the years due to the withdrawal of its major employers. It has now been swallowed into the tax-grabbing municipality of ‘Greenstone’. Despite its small size, Jellicoe will always be a quiet, friendly community, whose residents will go to great lengths to help people who are travelling through.

  5. Tansleyville was an awesome place to grow up in. My house was the blue one u see right off the highway. I miss it so much. Small places and towns may not have much…but its certainly an amazing place to grow up in.

    • Couldn’t agree more. Tansleyville was an Awsome
      place to grow up in. When empire closed Gary Keatley
      And my self would spend hours exploring the old mine
      site. I was,4 and half when my family moved there.
      Wouldn’t trade my growing up years there for anylthing.
      Alden Hill

  6. My family and l lived in Tansleyville, there are about 10 homes that are still lived in. Tansleyville is approx 2 miles east of Beardmore which as a teenager I walked every Fri/Sat. There was 1 bldg in Tansleyville that was a storage bldg for one of the trucking companies … sorry can’t remember which one. All the homes are built around a small lake. As kids we swam all summer long, kept us out of trouble ( for some of us anyway )
    Lots of good memories.
    Jazz

  7. Indeed, Jellicoe is very small. The store you mentioned above serves as the main ‘service’ facility – it is the post office, the liquor store and much more. Jellicoe is a great place to be if you love the outdoors, and the folks who live there are great!

  8. I was raised at Leitch Gold Mines, about 5 miles from Tansleyville. One of the houses at Tansleyville in the late 60’s was our house from Leitch old townsite.

  9. I lived in one of the houses in Tansleyville in the 1960’s. I think there were only 10 or 12 houses there at the time. Fun place to grow up!

  10. Great site!
    I worked as a Junior Forest Ranger in Kap and then in 1976 on a fire crew in Geraldton district, based up close to Nakina.
    That winter me and five firefighting buddies lived in Nezah, which consisted of one large old house complete with its own railroad siding. Ellie Swan, from Jellicoe, rented the house to us 6 long-haired 20-year olds. We let Ellie know we were having a housewarming party; to our surprise, almost every adult from Jellicoe showed up. The house rocked til 6 am! Those Jellicoe people know how to party!

    Jim

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