Bob & Diana McElroy
Point Alexander, Ontario, Canada K0J 1P0

notes, thoughts & drafts

Spring Camp on the Nipissing River - 1979

A Prisoner of War Camp in Algonquin Park

Spring Camp on the Nipissing River served as a prisoner of war camp during World War II. It has since fallen into decay and is being reclaimed by the forest. This page shows how it looked in May 1979.
Spring Camp, a prisoner of war camp on the Nipissing River in Algonquin Park in 1979

Spring Camp is located on the Nipissing River in Algonquin Park along the 390m portage downstream of Graham's Dam and upstream of High Falls. (Military map reference 17TPL 735 848 (NAD83)). It comprises a collection of decaying log structures that are now being reclaimed by the forest.

According to Donald Lloyd, Spring Camp served as a work camp for German prisoners of war during WW II. Lloyd also relates that in 1945, the prisoners were gone, but a caretaker was still there and that the caretaker died in the granary.

Ralph Bice, does not mention this camp in his description of his trip down the river in 1923. However in describing a trip down the river in 1956, he says of this location (in the context of lamenting the deterioration of the logging dams):

Next morning we again found another portage where there had been plenty of water, and on a hill where there had been a fine stand of pine trees was a large group of empty buildings. This had once been a lumber camp, and was later used to hold quite a number of prisoners of war, who had been sent to work in the woods.

Doug Mackey (Heritage Perspectives) talks of a POW camp in Algonquin Park in Paxton Township known as Camp 10. While the headwaters of the Nipissing River are in and around Paxton Township, Mackey is describing a different camp.

When we traveled down the Nipissing River in 1979, we passed through Spring Camp and took several photographs. These are reproduced here.

Spring Camp, a prisoner of war camp on the Nipissing River in Algonquin Park in 1979
Spring Camp, a prisoner of war camp on the Nipissing River in Algonquin Park in 1979
Spring Camp, a prisoner of war camp on the Nipissing River in Algonquin Park in 1979
Spring Camp, a prisoner of war camp on the Nipissing River in Algonquin Park in 1979
Spring Camp, a prisoner of war camp on the Nipissing River in Algonquin Park in 1979
Spring Camp, a prisoner of war camp on the Nipissing River in Algonquin Park in 1979
Spring Camp, a prisoner of war camp on the Nipissing River in Algonquin Park in 1979
Spring Camp, a prisoner of war camp on the Nipissing River in Algonquin Park in 1979
Spring Camp, a prisoner of war camp on the Nipissing River in Algonquin Park in 1979
Spring Camp, a prisoner of war camp on the Nipissing River in Algonquin Park in 1979
Spring Camp, a prisoner of war camp on the Nipissing River in Algonquin Park in 1979
Spring Camp, a prisoner of war camp on the Nipissing River in Algonquin Park in 1979
Spring Camp, a prisoner of war camp on the Nipissing River in Algonquin Park in 1979
Spring Camp, a prisoner of war camp on the Nipissing River in Algonquin Park in 1979

Bibliography

Ralph Bice (1980), Along the Trail with Ralph Bice in Algonquin Park, Consolidated Amethyst.

Donald L. Lloyd (2000); Canoeing Algonquin Park, Published by D.L. Lloyd. Distributed by Hushion House Publishing Ltd. Toronto.

Disclaimer

This section of our website comprises pages relevant to the various themes of this site where the content, or our understanding, is incomplete.

They may be:

  • notes because they are often snippets of information that we have gleaned from other sources.
  • thoughts because these facts are tied together with our opinions and speculation.
  • drafts because they are continually under development as we learn more or collect additional material.

Use this material with caution and intelligence.

Notes Index