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Dryden
Ontariocity
Dryden
Total population
7,617
Founded
1895
Demographic figures from Statistics Canada. Overview below cites Wikipedia and may reference a different year.
City facts
Facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Overview
Dryden is the second-largest city in the Kenora District of northwestern Ontario, Canada, located on Wabigoon Lake. It is the least populous community in Ontario incorporated as a city. The City of Dryden had a population of 7,388 and its population centre had a population of 5,355 in 2021.
Read more on WikipediaHistory & geography
History
Before settlement by Europeans, the Dryden area was inhabited by the Anishinaabe. They used the shore by the Wabigoon River as a camping site, calling it Paawidigong ("the place of rapids" in Ojibwe). The settlement was founded as an agricultural community by John Dryden, Ontario's Minister of Agriculture in 1895. While his train was stopped at what was then known as Barclay Tank to re-water, he noticed clover growing and decided to found an experimental farm the following year. The farm's success brought settlers from southern Ontario and the community came to be known as New Prospect. In 1886, gold was discovered near the area, also attracting people. In 1897, the community was renamed to Dryden to honour the minister of agriculture. It incorporated as a town in 1910 and as a city in 1998 after merging with the neighbouring township of Barclay. One of the earliest industries in the area was pulp and paper. A paper mill was built in the town in 1910 because of the abundance of wood suitable for kraft pulping as well as energy from the Wabigoon River. The town came into national consciousness because of mercury contamination. In the 1970s, it became known that the Dryden pulp and paper operations discharged ten tons of mercury directly into the Wabigoon River over a span of eight years. The mercury caused persistent environmental damage, poisoned river systems and lakes, and led to members of the Grassy Narrows community suffering severe mercury poisoning known as Minamata disease. The town was also the site of the March 10, 1989 crash of Air Ontario Flight 1363 from Thunder Bay to Winnipeg, which killed 24 people.
Geography
Dryden is located on the Wabigoon River and Wabigoon Lake in northwestern Ontario. It borders Thunder Lake and Aaron Provincial Park on the east, and the smaller Milanese's Lakes are also located within the city. Dryden is located 340 kilometres (210 miles) northwest of Thunder Bay. Nearby communities include Wabigoon, Vermilion Bay, Kenora, and Sioux Lookout. Dryden is also near the Eagle Lake First Nation. Along with most of the rest of Ontario west of 90° West, Dryden is in the Central Time Zone and observes daylight saving time. Dryden experiences a humid continental climate (Dfb) with short, warm summers, and long, cold winters. The highest temperature ever recorded in Dryden was on 11 July 1936. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 11 February 1914.
Excerpted from the corresponding Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA).
Geography
Coordinates & boundaries from the US Census TIGER/Line shapefiles.
Climate
Air quality
Walkability
Amenities nearby
Wildlife & biodiversity
Earthquake history
Photos
Sights & places nearby
Notable people from here
Nearby places in Ontario
- Whitefish Bay56.7 mi away
- Ear Falls61.7 mi away · pop. 1,026
- Sioux Narrows62.2 mi away
- Redditt70.8 mi away · pop. 139
- Nigigoonsiminikaaning74.6 mi away
- Minaki82.9 mi away
- Big Grassy82.9 mi away
- Atikokan89.3 mi away
- Rainy River92.9 mi away · pop. 842
- Barwick94.2 mi away
- Slate Falls108.4 mi away · pop. 186
- Cat Lake141 mi away
Geography & sun
Elevation, sunrise/sunset and daylight from Open-Meteo. Solar climatology from NASA POWER.
Nearby airports
Public attention
Pageview totals from the Wikimedia Pageviews API.
Books about Dryden
Search results from Open Library.
Recent natural events nearby
Ground air-quality sensors
Recently spotted species
Events
Gallery
Official Identifiers
StatCan — Statistics Canada
- SGC code
- 3560027
- Population (Wikidata)
- 7,388
- Wikidata
- Q3040214
Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) via Wikidata P3012
Sources
- • Wikipedia
- • Wikidata
- • Open-Meteo / sunrise-sunset.org
- • Wikipedia Pageviews API
- • Open Library
- • StatCan — Statistics Canada — Standard Geographical Classification (SGC) via Wikidata P3012