Fortress Paper Mill
Built: 1960
–
Thurso
,
Quebec
, Canada
Built in the early 1960s, the Fortress Paper Mill was a major force in Thurso’s economy, producing high-grade dissolving pulp used in textiles, specialty papers, and other industrial applications. Positioned along the Ottawa River, the site had direct access to the vast water supply and shipping routes needed to feed its enormous operations.
Inside, the mill was a sprawling industrial maze — endless conveyors, bleaching towers, chippers, and pulp dryers stretched across cavernous halls. The control rooms were lined with vintage gauges, levers, and panels, many still bearing handwritten notes from operators. Catwalks hung high above the floor, linking sections of machinery that once ran day and night.
When production stopped, it felt as though time simply froze. Machinery sat idle but intact, stacks of pulp rolls waited as if for trucks that would never arrive, and personal items — coffee mugs, work gloves, calendars — remained scattered around, untouched. Sunlight cut through grimy windows, illuminating drifting dust over the silent equipment.
In recent years, Fortress Paper’s former plant has been revived and converted for new industrial use, preserving its massive frame but stripping away the stillness that once made it an urbex treasure. Today, it stands as a rare example of an industrial giant reborn rather than erased, carrying forward a legacy that shaped Thurso for generations.
Inside, the mill was a sprawling industrial maze — endless conveyors, bleaching towers, chippers, and pulp dryers stretched across cavernous halls. The control rooms were lined with vintage gauges, levers, and panels, many still bearing handwritten notes from operators. Catwalks hung high above the floor, linking sections of machinery that once ran day and night.
When production stopped, it felt as though time simply froze. Machinery sat idle but intact, stacks of pulp rolls waited as if for trucks that would never arrive, and personal items — coffee mugs, work gloves, calendars — remained scattered around, untouched. Sunlight cut through grimy windows, illuminating drifting dust over the silent equipment.
In recent years, Fortress Paper’s former plant has been revived and converted for new industrial use, preserving its massive frame but stripping away the stillness that once made it an urbex treasure. Today, it stands as a rare example of an industrial giant reborn rather than erased, carrying forward a legacy that shaped Thurso for generations.