The archives of the Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society holds approximately 410 linear meters of textual records, 1,900 maps and plans, 500,000 photographic images, and extensive ready-reference files on historical, biographical and architectural themes.
Its mandate covers the history of Northwestern Ontario, with a special focus on the City of Thunder Bay and its district. Collections include personal papers and the records of businesses, governments, labour unions, and community and military organizations.
The archives is supplemented by a 2,200-volume library and complete reprography services. It is open to the public from 9am to 5pm, Mondays to Fridays. Appointments are preferred.
Archive Records & Fonds
The records of businesses and labour unions in the City of Thunder Bay and the Thunder Bay district, particularly from the 1870s to 1960 but also including records from as early as 1806. Significant collections include the Silver Islet Mining Company, Thomas Marks & Co., Port Arthur Shipbuilding Co., Royal Edward Hotels, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Thunder Bay station, C.B.Q.
List of Business and Labour Fonds
- Abitibi Power & Paper Co., 1926-1947
- Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, Division 63, 1903-1968
- Canadian Auto Workers, Local 1075
- Canadian Broadcasting Corp./C.B.Q., 1974-1988
- Canadian Car & Foundry Co., 1917-1923, 1944-1979
- Canadian Pacific Railway, 1906-1940
- Canadian Underwriters Association
- Chapples Ltd., 1950
- CKPR Radio Television
- Commercial Motion Picture Co., 1914, 1931
- Consolidated Press, 1939-1961
- Crawley Films, ca. 1950
- Daily Times-Journal, 1965-1970
- Donald Clark Ltd.
- E & B Cowan Ltd.
- Farmers Mercantile Association Nolalu
- Fort William Brick & Tile Co., 1892-1984
- Grand Trunk Pacific Railway bridge
- Great Lakes Lumber & Shipping Co., 1948-1950
- Great Lakes Paper Co., 1948, 1950
- Hudson’s Bay Company, 1823-1971
- J.V. Welch Co., 1897-1983
- Kam Power Company
- Kellough Bros. Dairy
- Kimberly Hotel
- Moran & Co., Fort William, 1930-1933
- Newago Timber Co., 1856-1958
- N.M. Paterson & Sons Ltd.
- Northern Engineering Company
- North West Company, 1806-1809
- Ontario Hydro, 1926, 1974
- P.H. & P. Co. (R.S. Piper Co.), 1905-1906
- Port Arthur Coal Handlers’ Union, 1911-1917
- Port Arthur Shipbuilding Company, 1909-1966
- Provincial Paper Ltd.
- Provincial Paper Ltd. (James Foulds)
- Rodney Brown
- Royal Edward Hotel, 1928-1977
- St. Andrew’s Cemetery, 1878-1940
- St Josephs Boarding School
- Saskatchewan Pool Elevators
- Saskatchewan Wheat Pool #6
- Scandinavian Boarding House, 1911-1914
- Silver Islet Mining Co., 1870-1884
- Steep Rock Iron Mines, 1890-1979
- Thomas Marks & Co., 1874-1893
- Thunder Bay Co-op Dairy
- Thunder Bay Urban Renewal
- Underwriters Survey Bureau
- Woodside Bros. Foundry, 1888-1903, 1922-1923
- Workman’s Cooperative Association Restaurant, 1924-1947
- Workers’ Co-Operative of Consumers (Ft. William) Ltd.
- W.S. Piper Hardware Co., 1890-195?
- Young & Lillie, 1918-1964
The records of community organizations in Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario, primarily from the late 19th century to the present. Includes notable economic organizations such as the Thunder Bay Chambers of Commerce, the Lakehead Planning Board, and the Intercity Development Association, but also social reform groups (The Lord’s Day Alliance and the I.O.D.E., for example) and those geared mostly for recreation such as the Lakehead Film Society and the YMCA. Ethnic clubs are also included here.
List of Community Organization Fonds
- Algoma Lodge #267 IOOF
- Amateur Cinema Society of Thunder Bay
- Atikokan Centennial Museum
- The Canadian Club
- Citizen’s League of West Fort William
- Coalition for Language Tolerance
- Cobalt Club
- Cursillo Movement, Fort William
- Diocese of Keewatin Anglican Mission
- East Fort William Women’s Institute
- Fort William Caledonian Society
- Fort William City Band
- Fort William Little Theatre
- Fort William Loyal Temperance Union
- Fort William Male Choir
- The Fort William Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
- The Fort William Patriotic Society
- Fort William Police Athletic Club / Fort William Police Association
- Fort William Police Protective Association/Fort William Police Association
- Fort William Public Schools Exams
- Friends of White Otter Castle
- Golden Gateway Lodge, Fort William, #384, A.O.L.W.
- Girl Guides of Canada, Northwestern Ontario
- Happy Handicap Club
- Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (John McIntyre Chapter)
- Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (Lady Grey Chapter)
- Imperial Order Daughters of the Empire (Princess Beatrice Chapter, Port Arthur)
- Intercity Development Association
- Kaministikwia Club
- Kam Theatre Laboratory
- Ladies’ Orange Benevolent Association
- Ladies Aid & Auxiliary of the Port Arthur General Hospital
- Lakehead Anti-Pollution Committee
- The Lakehead Film Society
- Lakehead Planning Board
- Lakehead Society Planning Council
- Lakehead Stamp Club/Lakehead Philatelic Association
- Lake Superior Chapter, I.O.D.E.
- Lord’s Day Alliance, Fort William, Port Arthur Branch
- McGregor Women’s Institute
- McKellar General Hospital Ladies Auxiliary
- McKellar General Hospital Nurses Alumni
- Mission to Seamen
- The Moral and Social Reform Council of Fort William
- National Film Board, Thunder Bay
- 19-25 Club of Fort William
- Northwest Association for Community Crafts
- Northwestern Ontario Archivists’ Association
- The North Western Ontario Art Association
- Northwestern Ontario Associated Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade
- North Western Ontario Conservation Federation
- Northwestern Ontario Film Federation
- Nurses Alumni of the Port Arthur General Hospital
- Old Fort William Reconstruction Collection
- Ontario Farm Service Force
- Ontario Registered Music Teachers’ Association
- The Ontario Women’s Institute of Westfort
- Operation Dismantle
- Overture Concert Association
- Patient’s Rights Association
- Port Arthur Board of Education Scrapbooks
- Port Arthur Club
- Port Arthur General Hospital – Railway, Marine & General
- Port Arthur General School of Nursing
- Port Arthur Girl’s Pipe Band Ladies Auxiliary
- Port Arthur Ladies Bowling League
- Port Arthur Police Association
- Queen Mary’s Needlework Guild
- Rebekah Greenstone #86 IOOF
- St. Joseph’s Hospital Nurses’ Alumni
- St. Joseph’s Hospital School of Nursing
- St Paul’s Anglican Church
- Shared Creative Action Resource Facility, S.C.A.R.F.
- Society of Management Accounts, Lakehead Chapter
- Summer Solstice Festival
- Thunder Bay and District Labour Council
- Thunder Bay Chambers of Commerce
- Thunder Bay District Scouts Canada
- Thunder Bay Economic Development Corporation
- Thunder Bay Emergency Shelter
- Thunder Bay International Friendship Gardens
- Thunder Bay Jazz Society
- Thunder Bay Memorial Society
- Thunder Bay Scottish Club
- Thunder Bay Soroptomists’ Club
- Thunder Bay Ventures
- Trinity United Church
- Ukrainian Canadian Committee, Fort William Branch
- Ukrainian National Federation of Canada
- United Steel Workers of America, Thunder Bay
- Wartime Housing Community Club of Fort William
- West Algoma Council of Women
- Westfort Community Centre, Teen Town
- Westfort Women’s Institute
- Winston Hall Tenants Committee
- Women’s Health Action Group Education Program
- Yes For Canada! Thunder Bay Committee
- YMCA, Fort William
Personal papers encompass a wide range of subjects from politics and industrial history to education and the arts. Each deals with some aspect of Northwestern Ontario or, more specifically, with Thunder Bay and its predecessors, Fort William and Port Arthur. There are fonds from Saul Laskin, Thunder Bay’s first mayor; Anne J. Barrie, suffragist; A.T. Hill, Communist leader; Wendell Beckwith, scientist; Helmer Borg, labour organizer; Andrew Dick, lighthouse keeper; Richard Faries, missionary; and William Wilson, farmer, to name just a few. Most fonds are small in size.
List of Personal Papers Fonds
- Allison, John
- Andrews, John
- Angus, Iain
- Aris, Jim
- Assef, Walter
- Auger, Rosalee
- Badanai, Bert
- Baril, Joan (Port Arthur Central School)
- Barr, Elinor
- Barrie, Anne J.
- Beckwith, Wendell
- Bertrand, J.P.
- Black, Bernard I.
- Blake-McNaughten
- Borg, Helmer (Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners)
- Boreham, A.J.
- Brown, Clifford (Port Arthur, Duluth & Western Railway)
- Brown, Robert
- Brown, Russell
- Brown, W.S.
- Burkowski, Gordon (Can-Car/Bombardier)
- Carpenter, E.A.
- Chapple, John
- Chochla, Mark (railway school cars)
- Coombs, Alfred
- Cousins, John
- Cowan, Benjamin
- Cox, Charles W.
- Crawford, Jessie
- Crittall, Jean
- De La Ronde family
- Denis, George
- Denis, Keith
- Dewar, Robert Kerr
- Dick, Andrew
- Dobie, William Currie
- Doty, James D.
- Doughty, John (Lake Superior Takes Grampa Woo)
- Draycott, Walter MacKay
- Duffield, Wally (Lakehead Search and Rescue)
- Duncan, G.R.
- Dyke, Gertrude
- Dyke, John A.
- Eakins, George E.
- Eaton’s Co. Staff, Thunder Bay Urban Renewal
- Eberts, Herman Frederick
- Eisenbach, Pat (Wendell Beckwith)
- Ellery, Basil
- Eoll, George K.
- Faires, Richard
- Farrell, Jim
- Fitzpatrick, Athalinda May
- Frenette, Margaret
- Frue, William Bell (Silver Islet Mining Co.)
- Garner, Howard
- Grant, Donald and Charlotte
- Hancock, H. Sydney
- Heald, Ethel May Grover
- Henry, Alma
- Hill, A.T.
- Horne, J.T.
- Horne and Graham
- Kane, Dr. Thomas
- Kelly, John M.
- Knights, Helen
- Little, James A./Hogarth, Donald M.
- Kelly, Dr. Mary Isabel Mackay
- Kittredge, Belle
- Lake Superior voyage diary (Anon.)
- Laskin, Saul
- Lavoie, Paul
- Lyzun, Jim (Aviation in Thunder Bay)
- Macgillvray, George Brown
- Machin, C.J.
- MacPhail, John (Victoriaville Centre)
- Matthews, Ross Munro
- McDougall, Neil (Port Arthur Semi-Centennial)
- McIntosh, Dr. John Donald
- McKellar, Peter
- McKillop, D.B.
- McMahon, Ray Leslie
- McVicar family
- Miller, Dusty (Election Campaign)
- Moberley, Frank
- Morrison, Jean
- Morrison, Ken
- Morrison, Peggy
- Moss-Sharman, Lynne
- Murray, Doreen (South Arthur Neighbourhood Planning Council)
- Murray, the Rev. S.C.
- Nordstrom, Einar
- Olafson, Karl
- Parker, Ralph
- Penny, Louise (Lake Superior Regiment)
- Piovesana, Roy
- Piper, Carson
- Piper, Robert S.
- Pollack, Barbara Mitchell
- Poutanen, Marion (Port Arthur General School of Nursing)
- Powell, George
- Rasporich, Anthony
- Reed, Ernest
- Robertson family
- Ross, Bernard Rogan
- Scollie, F. Brent
- Seaman, Cecil
- Sjoback Family
- Slack, Hiram Worcester
- Smith, David
- Smith, Thomas Henry
- Sorenson, Hans
- Stephenson, Fred (Fort William playground movement)
- Strickland, Helen Moore
- Taylor family
- Thompson, W.J.
- Tilson, Katie
- Trenks, Selena (Lakehead Centennial Jubilee Book)
- Vervoort, Patricia
- Wadsworth, V.B.
- Wahl, Clifford
- Wardrope, George
- Wass, Charles
- Watsyk, John
- Widnall, Art
- Wilson, William
- Wright Family
- Zimmermann, Ernest R. (Lakehead Unitarian Fellowship)
Primarily the records of the Lake Superior Regiment during the two World Wars, but also including some records of peacetime service between the wars and after 1945. Includes the 96th Lake Superior Regiment, the 52nd Canadian Infantry Battalion, the 9th Canadian Infantry Brigade, the Lake Superior Regiment (Motor), and the Lake Superior Scottish Regiment.
List of Military Organizations Fonds
The Thunder Bay Museum is not an official repository for the records of any government. However, from time to time records created by governments do become part of the Society’s collections, and fonds have been created for these records. These governments include the cities of Fort William, Port Arthur, and Thunder Bay, as well as the Municipalities of Neebing and Shuniah. A few Provincial and Federal records are also available.
List of Government & Judicial Records Fonds
- City of Fort William, 1905-1969
- City of Port Arthur, 1870-1969
- City of Thunder Bay, 1970-1981
- Government of Ontario, 1780-1987
- Crown vs. Oliver Prevost, 1898-1899
- Government of Canada, 1871-1967
- Lakehead Planning Board
- Lakehead Region Conservation Authority
- Municipality of Neebing, 1892-1923
- Municipality of Shuniah, 1873-1891
- Port Arthur Collegiate Institute
- Port Arthur Electric Light Collection, 1883-1901, 1906
- Province of Canada, 1864
- Thunder Bay Jail, 1882-1977
- Thunder Bay District Liquor Licence Inspector, 1887-1917
- Thunder Bay Harbour Commission
Ethnic archives are hard to define precisely. Below, however, are several fonds that deal at least in part with ethnic themes, either through their creators or through their activities. Each of these fonds is also listed in the categories above.
List of Ethnic Fonds
- Borg, Helmer (Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners)
- Nordstrom, Einar
- Ukrainian National Federation of Canada
- Ukrainian Canadian Committee, Fort William Branch
- Fort William Caledonian Society
- Workers’ Co-Operative of Consumers (Ft. William) Ltd.
- Workman’s Cooperative Association Restaurant, 1924-1947
- J.V. Welch Co., 1897-1983
- Scandinavian Boarding House, 1911-1914
- Sjoback Family
- Thunder Bay International Friendship Gardens
- Thunder Bay Scottish Club
- Thunder Bay Soroptomists’ Club
Reproduction Fees
These fees apply to reproduction of material for personal use, and include utilization for personal, private, academic or non-profit publications. Separate fees apply for commercial publication, see below.
To make an appointment to browser our photo collection or archives, please contact us.
- Digital, High-Resolution, Scanned Photographs
- Regular: $15
- Large Format (up to 20×24″): $30
- Audio and Video Recordings: $50
Includes Reel Memories of the Lakehead - Photocopies: $0.25/copy
Commercial Publication Fees
These fees are over and above the reproduction fees outlined above, and pertain to publishing material for uses other than those previously identified.
- Not-for-Profit Museum/Gallery
- Photos: $25
- Audio/Video: $50
- Books/Serials (Print run under 2000)
- Inside Illustration: $25
- Cover Illustration: $50
- Books/Serials (Print run over 2000)
- Inside Illustration: $50
- Cover Illustration: $100
- Posters (Promotional)
- Local: $25
- National: $100
- Broadcast Film/Television
- Local or Educational: $50 photos | $100 audio/visual
- National: $100 photos | $200 audio/visual
- Web-based content (Commercial)
- Photos: $100
- Audio/Visual: $200