As so much of the world’s attention is focused on coronavirus, our weekly look at Timmins history goes back to the Spanish influenza of 1918.
Timmins museum director-curator Karen Bachmann tells us the worldwide epidemic reached the Porcupine mining camp in the early fall and worsened in December.
“In order to make sure that it didn’t spread too much, the town decided that there would be no big gatherings of people,” she says. “So all the churches were closed, the schools were closed, businesses were closed, the council meetings didn’t have people that came to them, so they were closed behind doors. And that lasted right up until Christmas.”
With the situation easing a bit, churches were allowed to have Christmas services, but were closed again right after that.
“There were attempts made, of cours,e to sort of isolate and quarantine but at the end of the day, about 120 people did pass away, between that last day of September and January 1st, 1919.”
Next Monday: Who treated the ill in the Porcupine Camp… and where.
