COCHRANE, ONTARIO

'Cochrane, Ontario, Canada' is a northern Ontario town situated on Highway 11. Highway 11 is the major highway in the area and is part of the Trans-Canada Highway system. The town's population is made up of approximately half anglophone and half francophone residents. Cochrane is located east of Kapuskasing, northeast of Timmins, south of Moosonee, and north of Iroquois Falls. It is about a 1 hour drive from Timmins, the major city of the region. It is the seat of Cochrane District.
Cochrane was founded as a railway town and was incorporated in 1910. It was named for politician and merchant Frank Cochrane, a former mayor of Sudbury, Ontario minister of Lands & Forests and federal minister of Railways and Canals in the cabinet of Robert Borden. The Town of Cochrane amalgamated with the surrounding townships of Glackmeyer and Lamarche to create a newly expanded Town of Cochrane in 2000.
According to the 2006 Census. Cochrane has a population of about 5,487, a 3.6 percent decrease from the 2001 Census. Like many northern Ontario communities, the population is declining due to lack of employment. The main industries in Cochrane are the railway, tourism and lumber industries. Marginal farming also exists around Cochrane. Though the soil is considered to be of good quality, the growing season is too short to have substantial crop production.
The town contains many references to polar bears. Its mascot is a large polar bear statue known as Chimo. There are also live polar bears at the new "Polar Bear Conservation and Educational Habitat and Heritage Village" which opened in the summer of 2004.

Cochrane's railway station.

The town's railway station is a part of the Ontario Northland Railway which operates the Northlander train to Toronto six days per week. The railway provides the only form of ground transportation to Moosonee, Ontario. The popular ''Polar Bear Express'' summer time train tour leaves Cochrane for Moosonee, and is a popular tourist activity.
Cochrane is close to the northern end of the road system in the area. The last roads in this part of Ontario end about halfway between Cochrane and Moosonee at Otter Rapids.
Cochrane was the site of the trial for 20 Reesor Siding farmers charged with the killing of 3 union employees during the Reesor Siding 1963 Strike.
Cochrane is the birthplace of Tim Horton, a hockey player who founded the Tim Hortons doughnut and coffee shop chain in Hamilton, Ontario in 1964. A new multi-purpose arena and events centre, the Tim Horton Events Centre, built in honour of him, was officially opened in the fall of 2006. A new aquatic centre is currently under construction, while the arena is officially open. The Tim Horton Museum is still in the works.

Cochrane as seen across Lake Commando.

Cochrane is also the birth place of Tim Horton classmate Donald McKinnon (born 1929). McKinnon was first in forestry but later became a prospector. He is most famous as the co-discoverer of the goldfields at Hemlo on Lake Superior, resulting in three great gold mines. He lives and works out of Timmins under McKinnon Prospecting and was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1996. A book The Scholalry Prospector - Don MacKinnon authored by Michael Barnes, was published in 2007,

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