Boyd’s Cove – Stronghold of the Beothuk
The sheltered inlet of Boyd’s Cove (and the twin settlement of Boyd’s Harbour), due east of Chapel Island in central Notre Dame Bay, forms the junction between Route 340 and the Reach Run causeway. The town’s name supposedly honours a New World Island logger by the name of Boyd who harvested timber in the area. Although its history as a European-settled community is relatively recent, the area was inhabited for centuries by a number of Aboriginal groups, the last being the Beothuk. Today, an award-winning interpretation centre celebrating this people’s culture is located in Boyd’s Cove (see below). Continue Reading >>
Lewisporte – “Gateway to the North”
Lewisporte, with a population of 3,312 in 2001, is located in Notre Dame Bay on Newfoundland’s Northeast Coast. It was incorporated in 1946 with Albert Anstey as its first Mayor. In the days when most Newfoundland communities were linked only by sea Lewisporte was home to the “bay boat” S.S. Clyde. Found near the head of Burnt Bay in the Bay of Exploits (part of Notre Dame Bay), Lewisporte fills the role of distribution centre for the Northeast Coast, central Newfoundland, and Labrador north to Nain. Its modern role as a shipping entrepôt has earned Lewisporte the moniker “The Gateway to the North.” Its harbour is home to a boating marina complex where visitors can avail of boat tours and sailing charters. Continue Reading >>
William Coaker and the Fishermen’s Protective Union – Part II, Politics and Decline
On the eve of World War I (1914-18) the Fisherman’s Protective Union (FPU), founded by William Ford Coaker, was prospering. It had recruited members from all over the colony of Newfoundland, especially in the heavily-Protestant settlements along the Northeast Coast. The union had also spun off into other ventures aimed at helping fishers break free of merchant control. Apart from establishing the Union Trading Company (UTC), which operated its own stores, the FPU took an even more radical step in 1919 when it founded its own community, Port Union. Continue Reading >>
Herring Neck – “Birthplace of the Fishermen’s Protective Union”
Today the community of Herring Neck is rather quiet and seems out of the way, even though linked to the rest of Newfoundland by roads and causeways. For a rich history, though, few communities on Newfoundland’s Northeast Coast can compare to Herring Neck. It is located at the extreme northeast of New World Island (NWI) in Notre Dame Bay. Herring Neck is made up of a number of smaller settlements. Exactly which communities comprise Herring Neck has changed over the years, but since 1981 they have been Sunnyside, Merritt’s Harbour, Salt Harbour and Ship Island. Nearby Cobb’s Arm and Too Good Arm have also been considered part of Herring Neck, but today are normally thought of as separate communities. Herring Neck could only be reached by boat until the first roads were built in the 1950s. The community was first called Goshen’s Arm; “Herring Neck” then referred to today’s Pike’s Arm and Green Cove. The economy has always been based on fishing, an activity encouraged by a sheltered harbour. With its hilly terrain in some places rising to 150 feet, or forty-six metres and exposed bedrock, large-scale farming was never an option. There is a plentiful supply of coniferous trees nearby, and in 1940 three sawmills were operating in the area.
Continue Reading >>
William Coaker and the The Fishermen’s Protective Union – Part 1, the Early Years
One of the great stories of Newfoundland and Labrador labour history is that of the Province’s first independent fishers’ union, founded by William Ford Coaker. Coaker was born in Newfoundland’s capital city, St. John’s, in October 1871. His father was a carpenter by trade, and served on sealing vessels as a master watch. According to one account, Continue Reading >>
