| The Town of Marathon is located in Thunder Bay district, Ontario, Canada, on the north shore of Lake Superior north of Pukaskwa National Park, in the heart of the Canadian Shield.
Marathon was born as a railroad community named Peninsula, due to its location on a peninsula on Lake Superior. Constructing the railroad over this terrain was a great engineering feat. It has been said, but not verified, that certain sections of track would be laid one day, only to be devoured by the earth the next. Like most railroad communities, once the railroad had been completed Peninsula's population dwindled considerably. It wasn't until a pulp mill was constructed in the town that the population rose back to 2,500, and the town's name was changed to Marathon in tribute to Marathon Corporation of Wisconsin - the owners of the pulp mill. Since Everest, Ontario - after D.C. Everest, president of Marathon Paper Mills - but it approved, by the post office, since was thought to sound to close to Everett, Ontario. In the early 1980s, gold was discovered at Hemlo Ontario, an uninhabited area adjacent to the Trans Canada highway some 40kms east of Marathon. By the late 1980s, three mines were running at Hemlo, with two of the three mines locating their employees in Marathon, which effectively doubled its population making it the largest town along the North Shore between Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay.
Personal residences encompass an area starting from Lake Superior, and stretch out to a new subdivision near Penn Lake, an in-town campsite and beach in the eastern portion of the town. The Pic River is located outside of the town's eastern limits.
The town is adjacent to the Peninsula Harbour and has several coves including Carden Cove, Sturdee Cove and Craddock Cove, all three located west-northwest of Marathon. Penn Lake is a local lake within the town where tourists can enjoy camping and water sports.
Heron Bay is a town located to the south of Marathon, and shares the post office and phone prefix. The Pic River First Nation is located on the outskirts of Pukaskwa National Park.
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