Badger, Newfoundland and Labrador

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Coordinates: 48°58′00″N 56°02′00″W / 48.966667, -56.033333
Badger
Badger Location of Badger in Newfoundland
Country	Canada
Province	Newfoundland and Labrador
Census division	6
Incorporated	1963
Area
- Total	1.96 km² (0.8 sq mi)
Population (2006)
- Total	813
Time zone	Newfoundland Time (UTC-3:30)
- Summer (DST)	Newfoundland Daylight (UTC-2:30)
Area code(s)	709

Badger (2006 Population 813) is a town in north-central Newfoundland, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is in Division No. 6, on the Exploits River. It supplied pulp and paper for the mills in Grand Falls. It is located in the interior of the island, twenty miles west of Grand Falls. Badger was incorporated as a Town on September 34, 1963. On Saturday, February 15, 2003 the town was flooded as the Exploits River, Red Indian River, and Badger River were backed up with ice jams, causing water levels to rise 2.5 meters. Some believe this to be a direct result of global warming. According to the 2006 Statistics Canada Census: More likely, though, it was human error by releasing too much water from the hydro dam up river from the town while ice blocked river below it.

Population: 813
% Change (2001-2006): -10.3
Dwellings: 336
Area (km².): 1.96
Density (persons per km².): 414.8

1 Early History
2 Logging and Lumbering
3 The Anglo-Newfoundland Development Company and the "Badger Drive."
4 Recent History
5 Sources
6 See also
7 References

[edit] Early History

The name of the town was taken from Badger Brook, which flows through the town and is a tributary of the Exploits River. The Brook was initially thought to flow into Badger Bay and was name Badger Bay Brook. It was later shortened to Badger Brook (it does not flow into Badger Bay)

This history of human settlement in what is now Badger can be traced back to the Beothuck Indians, who are known to have lived where Badger Brook flows into the Exploits River. There are remains of Beothuck sites known in the area. A strategically important point with regards to transportation by water the Miq-Mac Indians are also known to have used this area as a camp site, when traveling to the Exploits River on unto Halls Bay.

[edit] Logging and Lumbering

The Miq-mac family name most closely associated with Badger is Paul, and it is a John Paul that is thought to be the first permanent resident of the town. He is known to have trapped in the area and formerly lived in Seal Bay. The area was all wilderness until about 1894 when the Newfoundland Railway wen through the area. Soon after the first railway workers settled there. Around the same time lumbering operations commenced in the area. The area initially was a source of logs for the Exploit Lumber Company who had a Sawmill at Botwood and owned the timber limits in the area. This same Company established a mill at Badger sometime around the turn of the century. According to the Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador there were two mills in the area in 1901. A Company known as the Newfoundland Pinelands Company owned a mill at Badger in 1905. Pinelands was a Harvey and Company subsidiary. The lumbering operations in Badger were taken over in the period 1905-1909 by Harry Judson Crowe, who would later sell the timber limits to the A.E. Reed (Newfoundland) company as a source of wood for their Bishop's Falls pulp mill.

In 1911 the Reed company began a series of sales of timber rights with the Anglo-Newfoundland Development Company which led to the latter's acquisition of most of the timber limits in the area. In 1910-1911 A.N.D established Badger Woods Division to facilitate logging operations in the area. From that point until 1965 the AND Co would be the most important force in the economy of the area. In 1911 AND built warehouses, repair shops, blacksmiths forges and a cable scow to facilitate crossing of men horses, and supplies across the Exploits River.

[edit] The Anglo-Newfoundland Development Company and the "Badger Drive."

Perhaps Badgers most important role in logging was that it was where the “Badger Drive” was conducted from. This log drive took place on the Exploits River between Badger and Grand Falls and was carried on between 1908-1991. it was famously described by P.K. Devine in his song The Badger Drive. Most all of the pulpwood from Millertown and Badger divisions west of Badger had to pass through the area. To facilitate this hundreds of men were employed keeping the logs flowing down the river.

During the 1920's a tractor repair garage was also built by AND in the town to repair its tractors, this later involved Newfoundland Tractor, who preferred to all the maintenance for the AND Company. With the building of the road to Hall's Bay Badger became a railhead for the communities in the Springdale and Green Bay areas.

For many years Badger was more or less a company town with most services being he responsibility of the Anglo-Newfoundland Development Company. Under this company the town was the responsibility of a man by the name of Hugh Wilding Cole. Cole was an Englishman who came to work for AND in 1905. As superintendent of the Badger Division Cole was known as the “Mayor of Badger”.

As logging was the mainstay of the area Badger received national attention during the 1959 Newfoundland International Woodworkers of America Strike. The Strike culminated in March of 1959 with a riot in the town in which one policeman was killed and dozens of loggers injured.

[edit] Recent History

When a Bridge was built over the Exploits River at Grand Falls in the early 1960's Badgers importance as the gateway into the lumber woods was greatly diminished. In 1965 it ceased to be a woods division. despite this logging remained important to the community for many years. Some people found employment in mining at the nearby Buchans and Gullbridge mines, though these would close. The closure of these mines combined with the closure of the Newfoundland Railway in 1988 took much importance away from the town. Today many residence as well as students commute to Grand Falls Windsor for work and School. As of late important players in the town economically include several gas stations and restaurants, a heavy equipment training school and a metal fabrication establishment.

Long plagued by flooding Badger was inundated by a catastrophic flood as Badger Brook, Little Red Indian Brook, and the Exploits River overflowed their bands and flooded the town under feet of water and ice. The town was forced to evacuate and many found lodging in nearby Grand Falls-Windsor.