Swastika, Ontario

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Swastika is a small community founded in 1908 around a mining site in northern Ontario, Canada, and today within the municipal boundaries of Kirkland Lake, Ontario.

Swastika is a junction on the Ontario Northland Railway [1], where a branch to Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec leaves the ONR's main line from North Bay, Ontario to Moosonee. The Northlander passenger railway service between Toronto and Cochrane serves a station at Swastika, with connecting bus service along Highway 66 into downtown Kirkland Lake.

The town's other claim to fame is its association with the Mitford family, who owned the Swastika Mine for which the town was named. In particular, Nazi sympathizer Unity Mitford's association with the town — she was conceived there — impressed the superstitious Nazis,^{[citation needed]} to whom the swastika was an important symbol.

During World War II, the provincial government sought to change the town's name to Winston, in honour of Winston Churchill, but the town refused, insisting that the town had held the name long before the Nazis co-opted the symbol.

An important figure was Christopher Macaulay, direct descendant of Thomas Babbington Macaulay, who fought to keep the name as Swastika.

Swastika Public School serves local students from grades 1 through 6.