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greatest liability. Martin Russel started a sawmill at the falls, in 1883. It was powered by a water wheel which ran four upright saws. A dam was constructed across the falls with a power house, in 1894. The electricity produced, would run the pulp mill constructed by Pagett, Heath and Company, of Huntsville Ontario. The surplus power was sold to the town. Thus, Sturgeon Falls became the first town west of Pembroke to have electricity. The pulp mill however, had it's ups and downs. It changed hands frequently, first to Lloyd's, then to Imperial Paper Company of London Ontario and then to the Ontario Pulp Company. It closed from 1906 to 1912, when it was sold to the Spanish River Company. In 1928 it was taken over by the Abitibi Company, who had to close it from 1931 to 1946, but ran it for most of the next four decades. It was sold to MacMillan Bloedel Limited, in 1978. In 1894, a brick Public School was built on John Street, near the two bridges. The foundation was placed on solid rock, made of stones, which were cemented together with mortar. The beams were made of squared, one foot rough timber, running the entire length of the building. The electrical wiring was "knob and tube". When a larger Public School was completed in 1901, the building became vacant and was later purchased by the Masons, for their Masonic Lodge. In 1895, Sturgeon Falls was incorporated into a town with a population of fifteen hundred people, one third of which were French Canadian. A road to Cache Bay was opened, to connect the two communities. The Cockburn family were the commercial fishermen, selling caviar to countries as far away as Europe. The Clarks were the boat people, transporting tourists to the French River and settlers to the Monetville area. The Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian and Roman Catholic churches all had an impact on the development of the area. CHAPTER 2 The Sturgeon Falls Masonic Lodge # 447 began with an organization meeting , on February 9th 1900, with Right Wor. Bro. J.N. Shearer, Unity Lodge # 376 of Huntsville Ontario, in the Master's chair. The first regular meeting of the lodge was held at the "Masonic Hall", on Monday February 12th 1900, with Wor. Bro. William Anderson presiding over the meeting. What an exciting year awaited the new officers and members, with plenty of applications and many obstacles to overcome. The initiation fee was set at thirty dollars and the dues were set at "fifty cents per month, payable monthly". The order of business was adopted from the North Bay's Nipissing Lodge # 420 order of business and the basic format is still in use. Wor. Bro. A.J. Young and Bro. J.D. Cockburn were asked to form a committee to buy or obtain lodge furnishings and by the March meeting, had completed their job, to the satisfaction of all brethren present. Bro. H. Fudge provided the rough and perfect ashlar, while Bro. Jas A. Brown donated a handsome alter. Bro. John Eaton presented the lodge with gavels and Bro. A.J. Young gave the lodge a beautiful, large, Volume of the Sacred Law. The four corner tassels were finally hung in 1910, a gift from Bro. W.B. McInnis. A committee was set up to draft the by-laws and when the job was completed, the by-laws were forwarded to Grand Lodge for their final approval. The ceremony of Constituting and Consecrating the lodge was performed by