Hurkett

As I went through the site to reformat and redo it after losing all of my content in early 2013 (thank you, wonderful internet!), I collapsed a number of tiny entries into single pages.  Mainly to save website space and to improve the viewer’s navigation experience – anything in the name of efficiency.

But there is one town whose page I refuse to combine with any other: Hurkett.

Because if I did, I might find a price on my head.  OK, more likely I’d get inundadted with nasty emails…but more on that later.

Hurkett is actually three kilometres south of Highway 11.  At first glace, I thought that there wasn’t much there.  I counted about three houses near the highway, and another three further in. In all it was a five minute detour.

So I posted these impressions online, and promptly started developing a really bad reputation with the local population.

Hurkett Ontario Highway 11 Yonge Street Thunder Bay

Is there more to Hurkett than this?

One resident sent an email incensed that I had gotten things so wrong about her community.

Another told me that some townsfolk were reporting that there was a website stating that there was nothing in Hurkett, and that, according to this emailer, “well, that just couldn’t be true..”

One particularly memorable email stated that us southerners (they assumed) just couldn’t give a crap about the north (they assumed), and that I wouldn’t know a nice town if it smacked me in the head and if I had any eyes, ears, or brains at all (did they assume I had any? Or that I didn’t have any? I will assume that they assumed the latter) well then I’d have seen this wonderful little community, but because I come from Toronto (they assumed), a place where people are shot on the street on a daily basis, then I must be another half-wit southerner (they assumed) who should just stay the heck out of the north. Wow.

However, there were also some much more reasonable emails from Hurkettians (sp?) informing that I had, indeed, misrepresented their community.

Dawn emailed me to tell me that I had, once again gotten things wrong. It turns out that Hurkett is community of approximately 100 households (not 6!) and 300 people just off the Highway. My apologies to the poeple of Hurkett for missing the essence of their community.

Dale emailed to tell me that Hurkett has a nice public dock on Black Bay where you can fish (there is a local fly fishing company in town.) There is a community centre, a fire station, an arena that was volunteer-built (like Iroquois Falls), and nearby is the Hurkett Cove Conservation Area.

Hurkett Ontario habour Lake Superior highway 11 yonge street thunder bay

There sure is! This is Hurkett’s little harbour on Lake Superior. (Photo Credit: Wiki Commons P199)

On my quick drive through, the things I noticed were a wetland, a strawberry farm, a tree nursery, and a “walk-in cooler for all your cold storage needs.” I’m hoping to add to this with more about Hurkett’s past and present, if I can.

Email me at info (at) highway11 (dot) ca. Thanks to Dale and Dawn for the info on Hurkett, and my apologies to the other Hurkettites (sp?) that I offended with my earlier profile of Hurkett.

13 thoughts on “Hurkett

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  2. I would be interested in understanding more about the tragic house fire that happened in this town, Feb 6, 1976, and took the lives of a father and his eight children,. Was there a fire department in the community at that time and what was the cause of the fire? Can anyone tell me how I would go about researching this information?

    Thank you,
    Johanne

    • I remember that house fire like it was yesterday. I went to St Hillary School in Red Rock & we had some of the family members go to school there. I was in grade 8 at the time & the 5 or 6 – 8 classes attended the funeral service. It’s something that never goes away. If you go to the Brodie Street library in Thunder Bay they have lots of old Thunder Bay newspapers on microfilm. You can ask about the Feb/1976 film. They will gladly load the film in a projector for you and you can scan & read the pages & find more information. There are lots of articles about this sad event over the course of the following week including an article & photos of the funeral. Take your time and you will find lots of info. Hope this helps.

  3. If I emailed this guy about Hurkett like he says it must of been a few years ago and I have no memory of it at all.

  4. My surname is John Hurkett and I’m trying to find out the History of “Hurkett” and how it was named.
    Any information gratefully received

  5. I passed through Hurkett a few years ago and took a picture of the fire station. Since then I have been trying to obtain the history of the Hurkett Fire Department. This has been a futile attempt unfortunately since there doesn’t seem to be any e-mail contacts for the area. It does appear Dale and Dawn and others have been able to contact you as the Editor and they seem to know the area quite well. If anyone reads this comment I would appreciate hearing from you regarding the departments evolution.

    Regards
    Rob
    http://www.robbysroost.ca
    robandsue@primus.ca

  6. I unfortunately had somewhat the same impression of Hurkett. I did find an arena and a fire hall, but little else. It did appear to have some very nice people who were instumental in directing me to the fire station, which I took a picture of. It is a nice area, but unfortunately it doesn’t look very populated since the houses are spaced out along the main roadway. I didn’t see the hotel and I am have problems finding any history on the local fire service. It would be nice if someone created a webpage promoting the area.

  7. for those looking for information about Hurkett – I grew up there and still live in the area- you can e-mail me at jwlbel (at) hotmail (dot) com. Please list Hurkett in the subject line

  8. My Grandma used to own the Hurkett Hotel, and I have many fond memories of being there.She taught me to use a cash register when I was 6. My parents had Moose Lodge up on the Highway too…I remember being there as a baby. I would be interested in any information about Hurkett. Is the hotel still there?

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