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Southern Labrador Region
Below are profiles of communities found in the Labrador Straits, starting with L'Anse au Clair and travelling to Battle Harbour.
L'Anse au Clair
Incorporated as a town in 1970, the original name of the cove was L'anse Eau Claire (Clear Water Cove). L'Anse au Clair was used as a fishing and sealing station by the French as early as 1700 and later as a fishing station for Jersey fishermen. The first census was taken in 1857, and it showed there were two families and eight inhabitants of the settlement. The first settlers were either Jersey fishermen who decided to stay all year or French fishermen from Blanc Sablon. In the late 1800s, settlers came from the Conception Bay area to work the summer fishery. The inshore fishery remained important but since the beginning of the ferry service on the Labrador Straits in 1960, L'Anse au Clair has benefitted from being the nearest community to the Blanc Sablon terminal.Forteau
Forteau is a service centre for the Labrador Straits and the second largest community in the region. Its population as of 1991 was 519. The name Forteau may come from the French adjective forte (strong), describing the strong tides in the area. Excavations at Forteau show strong evidence of the Maritime archaic Indians settling here as early as 5560 BC. Much later, the Basque used the harbour as a whaling station and by 1757, a garrison called La Forteau had been erected by the French. In 1763, Labrador was given to the British and it came under the control of the Newfoundland government. The British, some of which were from the Channel Islands, began to use the area. Joseph Bird established a cod, furring and salmon enterprise here in 1808 and William Buckle and his wife Mary became Forteau's first settlers. The first census was taken in 1874 and showed a population of 86 and by 1921 the population had risen to 216. Forteau was incorporated as a town in 1971.L'Anse Amour
The name L'Anse Amour was believed to mean "cove of love", but this may be a corruption of the French name Pointe aux Morts, or Deadman's Point because of the many shipwrecks which occurred there. The community, which had a population of 29 people in 1976, features a burial mound of the Maritime Archaic Indians, dating to 5000 BC. This is the oldest burial mound in North America and is now a National Historic Sites monument. By 1820, European settlement was established at L'Anse Amour, which had become a fishing and sealing station. The first census in 1857 showed five people at L'Anse Aman and 23 at L'Anse Aman Point. In that year, the Point Amour lighthouse, located near the community, was constructed. At 53.2 metres (or 109 feet), it is the tallest lighthouse in Atlantic Canada and the second tallest in Canada. In 1974, the community was chosen as the site for the construction of a tunnel to bring electricity from Churchill Falls. This construction provided a reliable road link to Forteau and it was during this construction that the burial mound along with other artifacts were found. Construction began in 1975, but was ceased the next year. The building constructed on the site was use for many years as an arena.L'Anse au Loup
Incorporated as a town in 1975, the name L'Anse au Loup means "wolf cove". Archaeological evidence shows the area was occupied by the Maritime Archaic and Palaeo-Indians as early as 8000 years ago. The Basque probably used the site in the late 1400's and the French began using the area in the early 1700's establishing, a trading post and a small fort there. The area was beginning to be abandoned by the French after 1763 when Labrador was ceded to the English, although they still fished in the area. After 1783, American fishermen began to use the harbour when they obtained fishing rights in the area under the treaty ending the Revolutionary War. This often resulted in violent clashes between the American fishermen and the British merchants in the area. The first permanent settlers of the community were Thomas O'Brien, his wife Margaret, and their four children in 1855. The first census was taken in 1869 and it showed a population of 47. In the early 1900s Job Brothers of St. John's and a Norwegian firm built a whale factory near the community. The whaling was done by Norwegians, but the factory provided employment to the people of the community in processing oil and guano. Because of the town central location in the Straits area, it became the service centre for the region and by 1971 it was the largest town in the Straits. The cod fishery was an important employer, but shrimp has become increasingly important to the area in later years. The Labrador Fishermen's Union Shrimp Company and the Eagle River Credit Union head offices are located here.West St. Modeste
West St. Modeste was incorporated as a town in 1975. In the 1560s the area was known as San Mandat or Semedet and was a minor whaling station for the Basque. In the 1700s it became a fishing station for the French and later English merchants took over the station making it a sealing post. Unlike some communities in the Straits, it was not dominated by a merchant based fishery. The area was settled by Newfoundland and English fishing servants and in the first Labrador census of 1856, the community showed a population of 18. By 1869 the population had risen to 63. The harbour was also used by migratory fishermen from the island during the summer Labrador fishery. The residents were involved in the cod fishery and in the salmon and seal fishery in the spring. In 1958 the Oblate mission of Our Lady of Labrador was established in the community. The population increased in 1967 when several families resettled in the community from L'Anse au Diable. With the decline of the fish stocks many younger people have left the community, resulting in a decrease in the settlement's population.Pinware
Pinware was incorporated as a town in 1978. The community has been formerly known as Riviere des Francois, Pirouette River, and Black Bay. It is believed the name is a corruption of Baie Noire (Black Bay) or Pied Noire (black foot) from the shape of a rock found at the mouth of Black Rock Brook. The first settlers of the area were the Palaeo-Indians around 9000 years ago. Their earlier sites mark the location of one of the earliest archaeological sites in the province. Jacques Cartier may have visited the area in 1534, and by the 1600s the French were fishing in the area. Pierre Constantin, a merchant, was given control of the area in 1715. Later, the English merchants of Noble and Pinson established a post there. The first permanent settler was probably John O'Dell. It is believed the first houses in the area were built from the wood of a wrecked ship. One of the first churches on the Labrador Coast was built here as well. The fishery was and is important to the town's economy. Many people relied upon the selling of bait to the French and Americans in the early years as there main source of income. In the winter the settlers moved to the Pinware River to hunt and trap and to be nearer to the fuel supply. The population of the community grew slowly. In 1857 there were 12 residents, in 1949 there were 70 residents. Some families were resettled here in the 1950s and 1960s, mainly from East St. Modeste and Carrol Cove. In 1965 a bridge was built over the Pinware River making travelling in the Straits area easier.Red Bay
Red Bay is named for the reddish cliffs found along the local shoreline. Between 1550 and 1600, Red Bay was the site of Buttes, a major Basque whaling station. A whaling ship, the San Juan, lost in 1567 in Red Bay Harbour, is the oldest shipwreck north of the Caribbean and one of the best preserved. After 1600, the whaling station was abandoned mainly due to the reduction of the whale stocks. In the 18th century, Red Bay was a Canadian fur trading post. Red Bay became a Newfoundland fishing station in the 1800s. The first census was in 1856, and it showed 72 people settled in Red Bay; it increased to 152 by 1891. Dr. Wilfred Grenfell helped to establish the first co-operative at Red Bay in 1896. In the 1950s and 1960s, many families moved to Red Bay from outlying fishing stations, and in the 1960s the first road was constructed. By the 1970s, archaeological work began and this led to Red Bay becoming an historical site and making tourism an important industry for the town. Red Bay was incorporated as a town in 1973.Mary's Harbour
Mary's Harbour surrounds the beautiful St. Mary's River. St. Mary's River was the site of a salmon fishery as early as the 1780's. However Mary's Harbour was a permanent settlement until after a fire at Battle Harbour in 1930. The International Grenfell Association decided to relocate its hospital and boarding school, destroyed by the fire, from Battle Harbour to Mary's Harbour. Mary's Harbour has always depended on the fishery for its livelihood. Since the cod moratorium the community has thrived on the crab fishery. The Labrador Fishermen's Union Shrimp Company employs over 120 people at the local crab processing facility. It is also the gateway to the National Historic Site of Battle Harbour.Battle Harbour
The mercantile saltfish premises at Battle Harbour were established by the firm of John Slade & Company of Poole, England in the early 1770s. Lying just north of the old French Shore, Battle Harbour served as the gateway for Newfoundlanders seeking to fish in the resource rich waters of Labrador. The local population increased rapidly after 1820 when Newfoundland fishing schooners adopted Battle Harbour as their primary port of call and made it the recognized capital of the Labrador floater fishery. Battle Harbour remained in the hands of Slade & Co. until 1871, and during this time became a settled community, dominated by the fish merchants, but with its own evolving institutions, especially schools and churches. In 1871 the Slades sold Battle Harbour to Baine, Johnston & Co., Ltd. who operated the site in much the same manner until 1955. The activity of these two firms at Battle Harbour serve as an accurate microcosm of the history of Newfoundland and Labrador's fishery over almost two centuries. In 1955 Baine, Johnston & Co., Ltd. sold the premises to the Earle Brothers Freighting Services who continued the site's operation until the decline in the inshore fishery at the start of the 1990s. At that time the site was turned over to the Battle Harbour Historic Trust. The community's permanent residents had been relocated under a government-sponsored resettlement program from 1965 to 1970, although a number of families still use the site as a seasonal home.