Kiosk Ghost Town

The town of Kiosk was established in 1941 but grew out of a previously existing lumber operation that had been on its site since 1883. Located in the far northern reaches of the heavily wooded Algonquin Provincial Park, the town’s mill became very profitable, and the population increased to 600 by 1971, over 200 of whom were employed by the mill itself. At its peak, Kiosk contained about 80 buildings for various uses. A series of unfortunate events soon after, however, led to Kiosk’s eventual decline into a ghost town.  

In 1973 the lumber mill completely burned down and in 1974 the land on which Kiosk is situated was destined to be a part of what would become the new Algonquin Provincial Park. Lacking funds to rebuild after the fire and facing huge amounts of pressure from the government to leave (with a deadline of 1996 to completely vacate), 1992 saw the last few residents move elsewhere. Once they vacated, bulldozers were called in to flatten nearly every building.

Today the ghost town of Kiosk is a mere shadow of its former self. The one original building remaining is the former town’s ranger station. The only evidence of any other building is the occasional foundation sticking out of the ground and the heavily overgrown streets which are barely visible anymore. Now, the surrounding area is popular for camping and canoeing. The remote, forested location was also used as a film location for The Witch.