Despite the urban sprawl, industrialization and endless highway construction, Ontario possesses many hidden corners and lonely roads where the remains of earlier settlements, often constructed with immense effort against impossible odds, now lie forgotten. Some are no more than a few decaying foundations and collapsing houses, while others are littered with the remains of the industry and manufacturing that once thrived there. There is a renewed interest in exploring our own backyard, and Ontario's Ghost Town Heritage is the perfect guide to these once-booming towns and villages. While some still maintain small resident populations, others exist only as abandoned buildings and ruins. All have in common that they are "ghosts" of their former greatness, and their images evoke the lost legacy of Ontario's past. This fascinating book by Ontario historian Ron Brown explores over 80 accessible ghost towns in all parts of Ontario. Detailed driving directions invite you to experience the province's heritage for yourself. This revised edition contains many new sites to visit and has been carefully updated with the latest information and driving directions.

Explore the remnants of vanished villages across Ontario’s cottage country. Crumbling foundations lost in the forest, weathered buildings leaning wearily with age, cracked tombstones jutting from the ground — all serve as haunting reminders of once thriving villages that have since been abandoned. Each of these locales has a distinct story to tell, stories that until now were confined to fading memories and grainy photographs. From the northern shores of Georgian Bay to the eastern reaches of the Kawarthas, Ontario’s cottage country is littered with vanished villages, including settlement-era farm communities, railway whistle-stops, and logging hamlets. Within these pages, readers will venture into Ontario’s past to learn how these communities lived and died and to meet the people who invested their hopes and dreams in them. Dozens of photographs, many historical and never before published, bring these ghost towns back to life. Join Andrew Hind in exploring over a dozen villages across the districts of Parry Sound and Nipissing, Muskoka, and the Haliburton Highlands.

Whether you hike, bike, ride the rails, or drive, the shore of Lake Ontario can yield a treasure trove of heritage sites and natural beauty – if you know where to look. Travel with Ron Brown as he probes the shoreline of the Canadian side of Lake Ontario to discover its hidden heritage. Explore "ghost ports," forgotten coves, historical lighthouses, rumrunning lore, and even the location of a top-secret spy camp. The area also contains some unusual natural features, including a mysterious mountain-top lake, sand dunes, and the rare albars of Prince Edward County. From small communities to the megacity of Toronto, history lives on in the buildings, bridges, canals, rail lines, and homes that have survived, and in the stories, both well-known and long-forgotten, of the people and places no longer here. In From Queenston to Kingston, Ron Brown provides today's explorer's with a window into Ontario's not so distant past and shares a hope that, in future, progress and historical preservation go hand in hand.

Explore Ontario’s forgotten rail lines and experience the legacy and lore of this the vital railway era of Ontario’s history. At its peak between 1880 and the 1920s, Ontario was criss-crossed by more than 20,000 kilometres of rail trackage. Today, only a fraction remains. Yet trains once hauled everything from strawberries to grain, cans of milk and even eels. Villagers depended on trains to visit friends, attend weddings, to shop, and to go to school. They gathered on station platforms to await their mail or greet a long-lost relative. Holidayers packed their trunks and headed north for an extended summer day at their favorite resorts. Today, these are but a distant memory as most of Ontario’s once essential transportation links lie abandoned and largely forgotten. But perhaps not entirely – many rights of way have become rail trails, and now witness hikers, cyclists, equestrians, and snowmobilers. Others sadly, lie overgrown and barely visible. Yet regardless of how one follows these early routes, one will find preserved stations, historic bridges, and railway era buildings, all of which recall this bygone era.

The magnetic aura surrounding Sudbury, for both the living as well as the once-alive, is the backdrop for tales of mystery, wonder, and outright horror. "I tried to leave" is a common theme for those from the Sudbury region. People often vow to move away, but something about the Nickel City keeps luring them back. Whether it’s the taste of fresh air – or just the sulphur in the air – it’s hard to move beyond the black rocks, endless lakes, and great openness without longing to come home. Some are so attached to the northern community that they choose to stick around, even when their physical life is over. After all, if the living can’t leave the place behind, why should the dead? Spooky Sudbury explores the magnetic aura surrounding the city, for the living as well as the once-alive, in these tales of the supernatural.