Some Ukrainians left Europe due to political turmoil, others came for new opportunities. For most, they came to the Timmins area for railway construction opportunities and eventually worked in the mines and mills. They mostly came as sojourners. They worked hard and sent their paycheques back home to Ukraine. They came mostly from the Galicia region from small farmlands. After the First World War, many Ukrainian women arrived here in high numbers.
The population of the Porcupine in 1925 included representation from no less than 27 different groups — 155 of them Ukrainians. They built a church, established clubs and halls, and were renowned for their dancers and dancing performances.
With a monument and statue, Kobzar Park commemorates the Ukrainians who made the Porcupine their home. A statue of Taras H. Shevchenko, a Ukrainian poet and artist, decorates the park at the corner of Second Avenue and Mountjoy Street South. Kobzar Park was officially established in 1981 and dedicated in 1984. In 2013, a rejuvenation committee was formed and the park was transformed to what we see today.
Each week, the Timmins Museum: National Exhibition Centre provides TimminsToday readers with a glimpse of the city’s past.
Find out more of what the Timmins museum has to offer here and read more Remember This columns here.
