Hollinger House

The mines were booming after the discovery of gold in the Porcupine Camps. So many people flooded the area for work that the mines had to come up with a plan for housing. In 1919 with Hill, Clark & Francis of New Liskeard received the contract from the Hollinger Mine to build one-and-a-half story boxed homes starting with four rooms: living room, three bedrooms, plus a small kitchen and toilet outside. They were built close together on nine meter lots with tarpaper siding, alternating between red and green.  Employees were charged $10.00 per month for a four-bedroom home, $12.50 for five bedrooms, and $15.00 for six bedrooms.  The homes became known as the “Hollinger Houses” and by 1921, 150 of these homes were built. In the summer of 1936, peaked roofs were added to them to provide extra rooms. Annual gardening contests were held where residents would plant flowers and vegetables on their tiny lots. Streets were named after World War One sites which included: Vimy, Cambrai, Messines, and Borden as a commemoration to the war effort. They became iconic in many people’s memories of living in Timmins. “The Hill” or “Hill District” is a grid of half a dozen streets laid out with numbered avenues running east-west. Running north-south were streets names after trees: Spruce, Pine, Cedar, Balsam, and Birch.  This helped established a sort of “open” company town with room to grow.

Come visit our Hollinger house at the museum. Tour inside and see what life was like in the 1930s.