Roddickton, Newfoundland and Labrador

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A wood carving of the town seal of Roddickton on display at Memorial University of Newfoundland.

Roddickton is a town located north west of Meelpaeg Lake. Roddickton was originally named Easter Brook and was used by residents of Englee, a small fishing community for salmon fishing, hunting and trapping. In 1906, the Grenfell Mission began a sawmill operation here and the name was changed to Roddickton in honour of Thomas G. Roddick, a supporter of the Mission. The first permanent settlers of the community were residents from Englee and Wild Cove who went there to work in the sawmill operation and to clear land for growing crops for the St. Anthony hospital. The first census was taken in 1911, and showed a population of 46, but the sawmill closed and by 1921 there were only 8 residents left and the community was abandoned the next year. Four years later, the sawmill was reopened and in the 1930's Bowater began pulpwood cutting in the area. By 1945, the population rose to 548. It was incorporated as a town in 1953 In the 1960s, isolation ended with a road being built to the town and made it the region’s service and supply centre. People from other small settlements in the are were resettled to Roddickton and in 1961 the population was 1185. In the 1970's, things began to decline. The pulpwood operations owned by Bowater closed causing many to leave the area. In the 1980s, a crab plant was opened up to provide employment for the community, but in the late 1980's a fire destroyed it and the sawmill. By 1992, the sawmill was running again, the crab plant had been rebuilt, but was not operating.