Destroyed Ontario ghost town was almost a historic catastrophe

Once a quaint French Ontarian farming village nestled along the South Nation River, Lemieux, Ontario, is now nothing more than a distant memory.

Formerly located just an hour's drive east of Ottawa, the town's origins can be traced back to the mid-1850s, when it began as a service centre for the local lumber industry before transitioning into a farming hamlet.

Though the community appeared stable on the surface, it was built on sensitive marine silts and clays, known as Leda clay, which were laid down during the Champlain Sea roughly 10,000 years ago.

The 1993 Lemeiux landslide. Photo: South Nation Conservation Authority.

On May 4, 1971, a landslide in Saint-Jean-Vianney, Quebec, which was caused by the same type of soil, resulted in the deaths of 31 people and the destruction of 40 homes.

In the aftermath, the Geological Survey of Canada began soil testing in similar regions, including areas along the South Nation River. Tests confirmed that Lemieux, which at the time was comprised of 28 homes and a local Parish, was also at risk of a similar landslide.

Between 1989 and 1991, residents of Lemieux — many of whom had been there for generations —were relocated at the expense of the provincial government, and buildings were demolished, the last being the local church, the Parish of St. Joseph de Lemieux.

Photo: S. Evans.

On June 20, 1993, just two years after Lemieux was abandoned, a landslide occurred on nearby farmland, just off the edge of the former town.

The slope failure was triggered by excessive rain and resulted in a massive landslide that covered 17 hectares and consumed the former town's main street, creating a new bay on the South Nation River.

Photo: South Nation Conservation Authority.

Roughly 2.8 million cubic metres of sand, silt, and liquified clay travelled 1.7 kilometres upstream and 1.6 kilometres downstream, and completely blocked the river for days. The costs of the landslide, both direct and indirect, were estimated to be around $12.5 million. Luckily, due to the prior relocation of residents, there were no injuries or fatalities reported.

Today, all that remains of Lemieux is the old village cemetery and a historical plaque marking where the town's main street once stood.