Father Evain'O. M..I. originally from Ville Marie, would journey by canoe to Fort Matachewan Mission, located 18 miles up the Montreal River from the present day town Matachewan .
Fort Matachewan  was established as a Hudson Bay Trading Post in 1867. It is believed that he also would stop and administer in the then Elk Lake Lumbering Camps to the local inhabitants.

It is a fact that saloons and blind pigs certainly preceded churches in the north prior to the summer of 1909, however after this date Elk City became the proud owner of four new church buildings. An Anglican, a Presbyterian, a Methodist, and our own Catholic Church were built  that summer. Prior to this, services were being held in various hotels, tents and "establishments" adjacent to poolrooms. One could imagine the frustrations of the congregations trying to receive spiritual forgiveness to the sounds of the billiard balls and player's comments from the next room.

In 1909 Father Rousssel established our Church building, which is the current setting for The Elk Lake Museum, using a loan of $1500.00 from the Brockville Loan and Savings Co, . The name of the church  was " The Church of the Nativity of the Lord" and served a vast territory. The first priest was Father O. Dufresne who conducted services including marriages, baptisms, and funerals. Father Dufresne was succeeded by Father L.P. Thereault, and with a growing population of over 5000, Father Dufresne then took over the responsibility for the needs of Gowganda, Osseo, Bear Island and Fort Matachewan . Both our Catholic church and the Presbyterian Church served as schools during the week. Lessons were taught in the upper story of the Catholic Church, reached by means of an outside stairway. A new school was built in 1915, but the church continued to operate until 1978, when residents of the town decided that a museum should be established to house all of the area's precious artifacts.

The Elk Lake Presbyterian Church and Elk Lake Methodist Church operated under their own ministry prior to 1909, however, with the unification of the two religious in Canada, services were only held in the Presbyterian church building, now the United Church, and was renamed "The Church of the Stranger". Once unification occurred, the Methodist building was vacated and was eventually torn down.

The collection of church vestments, and other religious artifacts collected from the early 1900 to date, are displayed in the Museum. A collection of copes, used in Liturgy, is displayed and was used during regular services.

Some of the vestments and religious articles in the collection, were donated by other churches within the Diocese of Timmins. The parish was at this time  part of the Diocese of Sault St Marie, and only changed its affiliation to Timmins  in 1978. The original church was closed in 1978, and the re-established in the former R.C. separate school, which is located next door to the museum. This new location is presently serving the community.