Burlington, Newfoundland and Labrador
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| Burlington | |
  Burlington
|
|
| Coordinates: | |
|---|---|
| Country |  Canada |
| Province |  Newfoundland and Labrador |
| Area | |
| - Total | 4.11 km² (1.6 sq mi) |
| Population (2007) | |
| - Total | 376 |
| Time zone | Newfoundland Time (UTC-3:30) |
| - Summer (DST) | Newfoundland Daylight (UTC-2:30) |
| Area code(s) | 709 |
| Website: Town of Burlington Official Site | |
Burlington is an incorporated town located at the north side of the mouth of Green Bay Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Burlington, once named Northwest Arm, is a small fishing and lumbering community that was permanently settled in the mid 1800s. The community was renamed in the early part of 1915 due to a mix-up in the mail service. After many residents complained that their mail was sent to another community with a similar name, the town leaders felt the need to have a name change. Out of three separate enteries, 'Burlington' was chosen.
Contents |
[edit] Geography
[edit] Towns and communities nearby
- Middle Arm
- Smith's Harbour
- Baie Verte
- Springdale
[edit] History
In August 1933, the community was completely destroyed by fire that was caused by careless campers that were camping out in the woods between Burlington and Middle Arm , a small community just a few miles from Burlington.
The fire destroyed homes, livestock, sawmills and valuable timber. Since this was in the depression years, and a lot of long hours and hard work was gone up in smoke in just a few hours. A lot of people did not rebuild, instead they left to make a new start elsewhere.
In 1965, a Community Council was started. In 1965, the community first got electricity through diesel motor. Since that it is now changed so that it is received through NF & Labrador Power distribution. In 1968 telephone service was supplied and within the last two or three years water from Waddies Pond has been provided to the houses.
Green Bay has had a Liberal member in the provincial election since 1949 with the exception of the 1972 election when the district went Progressive Conservative.
In 1855, there was one family living in Burlington, the White's. It seems that they didn't live there very long because when Mr. Joseph Green and his family moved there in 1855, they were in the community a month before Mrs. Green saw another woman. The next family to come was the Mills from Tizzard's Harbour, in the Twillingate District. In 1876, the Perry family came from Indian Islands, the Dwyer family from Hillview, Trinity Bay, and the Robbins family from Bonavista.
The first Government Land Grant was issued in 1872 to George Marsh, Perry's Cove, on the South Side of the Arm. In 1874 Fredrick Martin and James Young were issued grants also. Grants were issued until the final one in 1924. In all, there were forty-five grants of land covering 199 acres. Since then some of the families have left and transferred property to other people, so other documents were then issued and some families have them in their possession. For example, in the official land map at the Confederation Building, St. John's, the land granted to James Higgins is entered under the name of James Albert Rideout.
From a census dating back as far as 1874 we find that the people of Burlington cultivated the land, raised animals and followed the inshore and Labrador fisheries. They cut and sawed timber, built houses and outbuildings, as well as schools and a church. They also cut firewood and sold to people living in places like Twillingate where firewood was scarce.
Of the original surnames Marsh, Hudson, Pike, Higgins, House, Green, Jennings, etc. most are no longer to be found in Burlington. New names have been added in the recent years, Foster, Kelly, Dawe, Elliott, Saunders, Burton, etc.
In the old Methodist records at Nipper's Harbour , there is a record of marriage between Azarilla Mills and Mary Ann White, dated October 31, 1883. Mary F. White is listed as a witness to a marriage. Mr. Joseph Rideout of Rouge's Harbour married a white girl from Indian Burying Place another nearby settlement. Mr. Bond Roberts, a resident of Burlington thinks that these people were all members of the first family of Burlington.
Mr. Abraham Mills, who pioneered schooner building, came to North West Arm just after the Green family. He had four brothers, George, Ambrose, Joseph and Nathaniel. In December, 1882, Abraham and Joseph were drowned along with four more men. The schooner building industry was then taken over by Abraham's son Eliezer, and in turn by Eliezer's son Abraham who died in 1971.
The people were mainly Methodists. One family was Roman Catholic and one or two were Church of England. At one time, on census return, eight people were listed as Salvation Army. As time went on everyone was considered to be United because that was the only church in the community at the time, until people started to change their religion. In 1960, there was a new church established which was the Pentecostal Assemblies of Newfoundland.
Back then everyone went to church. The church supplied a great need. It took care of social needs for people. On winter nights, people would meet in each others houses for prayer meetings. The Sunday School carried on Easter Programs and Christmas Concerts, mainly for the children, and of course, it would not be Christmas without a Christmas tree and Santa Claus. At the concert they would distribute their gifts to their friends and families.
Apart from the Church itself there was the Ladies Aid. Although they were all hard working back then, bringing water, knitting, sewing, hooking their own rugs, shearing sheep and spinning wool, they still made time for the church. There was also a branch of the Orange Lodge was started in the 1900s which the women also attended.
The first school building was erected in 1877 on the north side. By 1884 another school building was erected, this time on the south side, and the teacher was to teach there for a period. After this the practice was to have a teacher teach for five months on the north side and five months on the south side.
There was no large industry back in the 1800s. The early settlers fished for cod, cleared land to grow their own potatoes, cabbage and small fruits. By keeping animals provided meat for the winter and milk and butter in season. They built their own boats and those who did not go to Labrador to fish were employed at the inshore fishery. When the mines opened at Bett's Cove and at Tilt Cove some of the men went there to work.
Pioneers in the sawmill industry were the Roberts family. In 1876 Josiah Roberts came to North West Arm from Twillingate. There was a great demand for lumber in North West Arm so Mr. Robert's two sons William and Elias after returning from St. John's in 1892, set up the first steam mill, near the North West River, on the site of the water-mill that their father had started.
Logging pitprops for the United Kingdom started in 1915 by John Jennings (contractor). This industry was closed down in 1918 when the sale of pitprops ended. Lumbering camps opened in 1920 and closed down during the depression years of the 1930s. Later camps opened for the cutting of pulpwood and continues for about ten years. In 1969 pulpwood was again the main industry and was shipped out by truck from Burlington.
Taken From: http://www.ezc.ca/webs/ez_page.asp?user=communities&sub_category=Burlington&title=Local+History
[edit] Brief business & organizations information
There was no large industry in the 1800s. The early settlers fished for cod and cleared land to grow potatoes, cabbage and small fruits. Keeping animals provided meat for the winter and milk and butter in season. Settlers built their own boats for fishing in Labrador, or they were employed by the inshore fishery. When the mines opened at Bett's Cove and at Tilt Cove some of the men went there to work.
Logging pitprops for the United Kingdom were started in 1915 by John Jennings (contractor). This industry was closed in 1918 when the sale of pitprops ended. Lumber camps opened in 1920 but closed during the Depression of the 1930s. Camps later opened for the cutting of pulpwood and continued for about ten years. In 1969 pulpwood was again the main industry, shipped out by truck from Burlington.
Current Businesses Include:
Brian's Trucking*
Melvin F. Noble Ltd.
Midtown Convenience
NewLife Design*
Noble Brothers
Sharon's Tanning and Beauty Salon*
Spectrum Design and Video*
Wolverine Enterprises
- indicates business is home based
Current Organizations Include:
Back in Time Museum
CAP Site
Faith Pentecostal Assembly
Family Resource Centre
Fire Department
L.O.B.A.
M.W. Jeans Academy
Recreation
Riverside United Church
Share Foundation
[edit] Culture
| Population in 2007 | 376 |
| Population change from 2000 | -8.0% |
| Median age | 35 |
| Number of families | 127 |
| Number of married couples | 115 |
| Total number of dwellings | 130 |
| Protestant | 97.6% |
| Land area (km².) | 4.11 |
Statistics Canada detail demographics follow link here
[edit] Notable residents
- Rex Goudie
- Shaun Majumder
- Reuben Bartlett
