[2] Miss Kirkland never visited the town, and the lake that bore her name did not exist as it dried because of mine tailings, but recently due to floodings of the mineshafts has come back up to about half of its initial deepness.

A by-law was introduced, on July 20, 1971, to change the municipality's name to Town of Kirkland Lake, effective January 1, 1972.

[3] Gold in the Kirkland Lake region was originally reported in the late 1800s by Chief Ignace Tonené of the Temagami First Nation.

Later, Tom Price discovered a boulder containing gold on a visit to the Kirkland Lake area in 1906.

Melville McDougall staked claims on June 27, 1911, which he transferred to Oakes on September 6, 1912, and became the part of the Lake Shore Mine.

Jack Matchett staked a claim on July 7, 1911, later acquired by Oakes, which became part of the Townsite Mine.

[4]: 31–32 In order to maximize taxation revenue from existing and potential mines in the area, the six square mile Municipal Corporation of the Township of Teck was formed with Wellington J. McLeod as the first reeve in 1919.

[4] Their first task was the establishment of public utilities, including roads and water pipes, in the rapidly growing area.

As Pain points out, "Kirkland Lake camp came to occupy a position of real importance in the mining world."

After the war, local soldiers returned to the newly created Federal area in the northern section of the town.

Home of the Kirkland Lake Aquatic Club (KLAC) which has been the starting point for Dominique Bouchard - Olympic Swimmer, Rodney Thomas - Canada Games Double Gold medalist and numerous other university Varsity level scholarship swimmers.

In the early 1980s, LAC Minerals reopened the main shaft of the Lake Shore Mine and worked it from 1982 to 1987 to extract pockets of gold that had been left behind.

[9] On the morning of Sunday, May 20, 2012, a forest fire was discovered about 3 km (1.9 mi) north of Kirkland Lake, which grew to 2,757 ha (6,810 acres) by the afternoon of May 21, causing a state of emergency to be declared.

[13] Kirkland Lake is located in the resource-rich Precambrian Shield, an ancient geological core of the North American continent.

Noticeable local landmarks include Mount Cheminis, rising 500 m (1,600 ft) above sea level, and many small kettle lakes, scraped out of the rock during the last Ice Age and filled with clear water.

[14] Moose, beaver, muskrat, snowshoe hare, as well as numerous predators roam this area, including marten, ermine, fisher, otter, black bear, wolf, and lynx.

The many wetlands and lakes support a diversity of bird species, such as great blue herons, ducks, geese, and that symbol of the north, the common loon.

This Break is a vein located along a thrust fault extending east to west and dipping steeply to the south.

[15] The major mines in 1960, trending east to west, included Toburn, Sylvanite, Wright-Hargreaves, Lake Shore, Teck Hughes, Kirkland Minerals, and Macassa.

They formed the Kirkland Lake Gold Mining Company in 1915 and the main shaft was sunk 800 feet (240 m), which prompted the building on a mill in 1919.

Oakes proceeded with sending a crosscut from his shaft on the South Vein towards the anticipated Main Break under the lake to the north.

That ended in 2001, when Foxpoint Resources (now Kirkland Lake Gold Inc. or KLG) bought five of the mining claims in the town and began intensive exploration work.

KLG successfully resuscitated the local mining scene, finding new zones of mineralization that, combined with the steadily increasing price of gold, turned the town around.

Local attractions include: The Kirkland Lake Festivals Committee hosts an annual homecoming week.

The 2018 Kirkland Lake Winter Carnival featured 18 days of events between February 15–March 4 including: the Alamos Gold $50,000 Ice Fishing Derby, Hockey Tournament, Kids Winter Jam Party featuring the Stars of Pop, 3 nights of Kabaret, Kirkland Lake Skating Club's Ice Show, fireworks, free sleigh rides, a comedy night, free skating parties, a magic show, free kids matinees and the NorthernTel Kids Carnival on the Family Day holiday.

As of 2022, the Winter Carnival was cancelled and events were to be made by the companies and groups on their own, as the Festivals Committee has shut down.

[26][27] The Ontario Northland Railway mainline passes through the municipality, with a branch freight line diverging at Swastika east toward Rouyn-Noranda, Quebec.

The stop will be renamed "Kirkland Lake" and a new permanent heated passenger shelter, replacing the station that was demolished in 2020, will be constructed on the site between 2024–2026 in preparation for ONR resuming Northlander service in the mid-2020s.

Northern also offers post-diploma, apprenticeship, skills and job re-entry programs funded by the federal and provincial governments.

This includes providing the facilities for the delivery of third party programs, or the development of courses to meet the needs of a company.