Vision
To operate Historic Cobalt as a major, world class heritage tourism destination, successfully attracting guests from around the world and operating on a self-sufficient basis.

Mission
To bring to life the rich history of Historic Cobalt

    * With the primary focus being the Great Silver Rush of 1903 to the late 1920's within the nationally designated geographic area
    * With supplementary focus on
      Time periods before and after, as well as
      The larger geographic area of the Cobalt mining camp

Cobalt Mining District National Historic Site of Canada
The Cobalt mining landscape:

Is a rare cultural landscape possessing a large number of vestiges and buildings directly relating to the evolution of the hard rock mining process of early 20th century in Canada; and,

It reflects an important period of hard rock mining in Canada, between 1903 and the late 1920s that established a more secure investment environment for mining speculation and created financial capital for large-scale Canadian mining development in the first half of the 20th century.

Interpretive Programming Themes

 While the National Historic Site designation focused on the physical aspects of the Cobalt Mining district, the Historic Cobalt Mining Camp will go beyond the static physical remains to also convey the dramatic social history of the Cobalt Silver Rush. Local history will be incorporated and fully explored so that visitors can gain some real appreciation of life in Cobalt in the 1903 through late 1920's period, as well as some appreciation of the pre and post periods. Specific interpretive themes will include the following;

   1. The hard rock mining history of Cobalt (with some information on pre-European contact to the present).
   2. The contribution that Cobalt has made to hard rock mining industry in Canada.
   3. The social history of Cobalt including the stories of ethnic communities, health, women's issues, labour and class.
   4. The fascinating geological history of the area.
   5. The 'Spirit of Cobalt', which has been key to the survival of the community through the various boom and bust cycle

Guiding Principles

 The guiding principles for the Historic Cobalt Mining Camp initiative are;

    * historical authenticity
    * a community driven process with community control over design, development and operations, with
    * 'community' defined to include the Town of Cobalt as the lead with Coleman as the desired primary partner
    * a heavy focus on initial and ongoing strengthening of community capacity in terms of human resources and organizational development
    * a 'whole site' approach focusing primarily, but not exclusively, on the national historic site designated area and timeframe (1903 to the late 1920s)
    * a balanced approach to developing the various elements, utilizing available resources strategically and selectively based on established priorities, and developing the broad range of heritage resources and values including physical, cultural, material and associative
    * an entrepreneurial approach emphasizing operational self-sufficiency, responsiveness to target markets and active support for community businesses and private businesses including a focus on downtown revitalization and short-term positive impacts
    * a 'phased approach' to develop the initiative over time, with each phase addressing three key development components;
         1. infrastructure,
         2. community heritage planning, development, and capacity building
         3. implementing product development, packaging and marketing.
    * an environmental focus, to help visitors understand this aspect of the Historic Cobalt Mining Camp, through interpretation and through use of some leading edge environmental technologies and products where possible (i.e. alternative energy sources, recycled materials)
    * to establish partnerships, over time, with the private sector, government agencies, and other communities in the broader region, to strengthen the initiative and to develop the core sites and possibly complementary sites.

The Historic Cobalt Mining Camp

 The Historic Cobalt Mining Camp Project is an important, community-based nitiative to revitalize the community and regional economy through development of Cobalt's mining heritage tourism resources. This initiative is being led by the Town of Cobalt and the Township of Coleman, through the Cobalt Mining Camp Steering Committee.

In May 2002, the Cobalt Mining Camp was designated a national historic site. TV Ontario also designated Cobalt Ontario's most historic town in 2002. The designations are only possible because of current and past generations of Cobalt residents carefully preserving the physical and cultural heritage resources of the Cobalt Mining Camp.

Once fully developed, the Historic Cobalt Mining Camp will provide visitors with an opportunity to experience the excitement and adventure of the Cobalt Silver Rush of the early 20th century. Visitors will be welcomed at the new Train Station Welcome Centre, where they can purchase passes for various new and existing Cobalt attractions including guided and self-guided interpretive trails and tours, as well as the high quality interactive heritage exhibits which will provide context on the history of Cobalt.

If you have any questions about our project, or would just like some more information, please feel free to contact us.

Historic Cobalt Mine Attraction Receives FedNor Industry Canada Funds

At a special gathering in Cobalt held on January 18, 2005, the Honourable Joe Comuzzi, Minister of State (FedNor) and Anthony Rota, Member of Parliament for Temiskaming announced FedNor financial support for the Town of Cobalt toward the development of the Historic Cobalt Mining Camp as a world-class tourism destination.

" The attraction will provide visitors with the experience of taking a walk back into time, and witnessing the excitement and energy of the Cobalt Silver Rush of the early 1900's. Visitors will begin their tour at the Welcome Centre, located in the same train station where miners and fortune seekers from around the world arrived at the height of the Great Silver Rush. The mining camp will appear much as it was from 1903 to the late 1920s, with hands-on exhibits for visitors of all ages, exciting indoor and outdoor soundscapes featuring dynamic blasts and other historical mining sounds. The Cobalt Mining Camp is one of only three nationally-designated mining sites in Canada."

The Project soon became incorporated as Historic Cobalt Corporation, and now has a legal Board which governs its activities.