Algoma was created by proclamation in 1858[2] as a provisional judicial district of the Province of Canada comprising territory north of the French River as far west as Pigeon River (Minnesota-Ontario), including all Canadian islands in Lakes Huron and Superior. The authorizing act of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Canada was An Act to provide for the Administration of Justice in the unorganized Tracts of Country within the limits of this Province (known by its short title as The Temporary Judicial Districts Act, 1857).
As the population grew and the northern and northwestern boundaries of Ontario were determined by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, Algoma shrank. Other districts were created from it by the provincial government of Ontario:
The rugged scenery of this region has inspired works by Canadian artists, particularly the Group of Seven. They rented a boxcar from the Algoma Central Railway to travel on excursions through this region.
In the Algoma section, the characteristic forest mixture consists of yellow birch, white spruce, balsam fir, sugar maple, hop-hornbeam, and eastern white cedar. Eastern white pine and occasional red pine (Pinus resinosa) dominate on the upper, steep south-facing slopes; white spruce, eastern white cedar, and balsam fir occupy the middle and lower slopes. A white spruce–balsam fir association, which usually includes white birch and black spruce, is prominent on the river terraces and adjoining flats in the northern part of the Section (Rowe 1972).[5]
^Proclamation to take effect 1 May 1858, Canada Gazette (April 17, 1858), p. 676-677. New Proclamation to take effect 1 Oct 1859, Canada Gazette (Sept 10, 1859), p. 2226.