Capreol, Ontario, is a charming community nestled in the city of Greater Sudbury. Located on the Vermilion River, approximately 35 minutes north of the downtown core, Capreol is the northernmost populated area of the city. From 1918 to 2000, Capreol was an independent town, but on January 1, 2001, it was amalgamated into the single-tier city of Greater Sudbury along with other towns and cities of the Regional Municipality of Sudbury.
The town of Capreol was formed around the Capreol railway station, a major divisional point on the Canadian National Railway line. Named after Frederick Chase Capreol, the original promoter of the Northern Railway of Canada, the town was founded in 1911 and incorporated as a town in 1918. The first family to move into Capreol was Adolph and Margaret Sawyer, who pioneered in farming.
In its early years, Capreol was an independent community with its own thriving economy. However, it gradually became a satellite community to the rapidly growing city of Sudbury, located approximately 40 kilometres to the south. By 1919, sixty houses had been built, and the town decided to build its own YMCA. Despite a fire in 1920 causing $40,000 in damages, the YMCA was rebuilt at double the cost and finally opened in 1921.
In 1973, the boundaries of Capreol were expanded to include the nearby villages of Sellwood and Milnet, and the town was incorporated into the Regional Municipality of Sudbury.
The former villages of Milnet and Sellwood, which were annexed by Capreol in 1973, are now ghost towns. The National Steel Corporation mined iron ore in Sellwood and transported it south to Depot Harbour for onward shipment to its plants in Detroit.
Milnet, originally named Sellwood Junction up to 1916, began as a stop along the Canadian Northern Railway. After the railway was laid down in 1917, the Marshay Lumber Company built a mill and began a 22-year process of cutting trees from the area. An open pit mine now stands where the Sellwood townsite once was.
On January 1, 2001, Capreol and the other cities and towns of the regional municipality were amalgamated into the city of Greater Sudbury. In the Canada 2011 Census, Capreol was listed for the first time as one of six distinct population centres within the city, with a population of 3,276 and a population density of 537.7 km2. The community is part of Ward 7 on Greater Sudbury City Council, and is represented by councillor Mike Jakubo.
Capreol is home to the Northern Ontario Railroad Museum, a heritage attraction located in the former CN and CNoR superintendent's home and Prescott Park, which takes up a large portion of the town's downtown core parallel to the railroad tracks. From 1978 to 1986, Capreol had a Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League team called the Capreol Hawks, who won the league title in 1980-81.
Capreol has a long history as a Northern Ontario railway town and is still situated along the Canadian National Railway mainline. It is served by the Canadian, Canada's transcontinental passenger rail service, which is operated by Via Rail and stops at Capreol station. Local bus service is available in Capreol via Greater Sudbury Transit's 105 Valley Route, which connects with downtown Sudbury and the Sudbury Transit Centre.
Capreol has been led by a number of dedicated mayors throughout its history, including P. Kilgour (1927-1928), B. M. Robinson (1931), William Gibson (1932-1935, 1944-1946, 1953-1954), James E. Coyne (1936-1943), Alistair MacLean (1947-1952), Harold Prescott (1955-1969, 1973-1975), Norman Fawcett (1969-1973), Frank Mazzuca (1975-1997), and Dave Kilgour (1997-2000).
