Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador
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| Stephenville | |||
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  Stephenville
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| Country |  Canada |
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| Province |  Newfoundland and Labrador |
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| Incorporated | 1952 | ||
| Government | |||
| - Mayor | Tom O'Brien | ||
| - MHA | Tony Cornect, Joan Burke | ||
| - MP | Bill Matthews | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 35.69 km² (13.8 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 0 - 74 m (0 - 243 ft) | ||
| Population (2006)[1] | |||
| - Total | 6,588 | ||
| - Density | 184.6/km² (478.1/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | Newfoundland Time (UTC-3:30) | ||
| - Summer (DST) | Newfoundland Daylight (UTC-2:30) | ||
| Postal code span | A2N | ||
| Area code(s) | 709 | ||
| Website: Town of Stephenville official website | |||
Stephenville (2006 est. pop.: 6,500[1]) is a Canadian town in Newfoundland and Labrador on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland.
The town functions as a local service centre for the southwestern part of the island, serving a direct population of 25,000 people from surrounding areas and over 90,000 people along the entire west coast of the island.
Stephenville has a 40 bed modern hospital (built in 2003), schools, stores, banks and government institutions. The provincial community college system, College of the North Atlantic, is headquartered in Stephenville and maintains a campus there for students from the southwestern region of the island. A provincial minimum security jail is also located in the town.
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[edit] Geography
The town is located on the northeast coast of St. George's Bay in southwestern Newfoundland, and on the Atlantic Ocean. It is situated on a small plateau and surrounded by the Long Range Mountains and Lewis Hills on either side. The downtown area lies to the north of the Stephenville Airport, and the rest of the town expands primarily to the northwest.
[edit] Transportation
The Stephenville International Airport, formerly Ernest Harmon AFB, serves the entire west coast of the island - a catchment population of 90,000 people from Port aux Basques to St. Anthony, currently offering intraprovincal flights. And direct non-stop air service during the summer months to Toronto, Pearson International Airport.
Daily intraprovincial bus service connecting to major population centres and ferry terminals across the island is provided by DRL CoachLines. Dedicated bus service between Stephenville and Corner Brook is provided by Eddy Services. Dedicated bus service between Stephenville and Port Aux Basques is provided by Gateway Bus Service.
Two taxi companies service the town: Crown Taxi and Blue Bird Taxi.
The town is located 15 kilometres northwest of the Trans-Canada Highway, and is accessible using Provincal Highway Routes 490 and 460.
Rail service to the town was abandoned by Terra Transport in 1988.
The small size of the town and its flat topography permits residents to enjoy outdoor activities such as walking, bicycling, roller blading and cross-country skiing.
[edit] History
Stephenville was formerly home to Ernest Harmon AFB, which was operated by the United States Army Air Force and later the United States Air Force between 1941-1966.
The base precipitated an economic boom of sorts on Newfoundland's southwest coast during the 1940s. Corner Brook to the northeast had been considered the major population center for the region, given its industrial base and nearby recreational opportunities in the Humber River. With the massive investment of the Government of the United States in the base, the Stephenville and St. George's Bay area began to flourish. The village of Stephenville grew from a hamlet of several hundred people with no paved streets, side walks, water or sewage system in 1941 into a modern town of over 5,000 by the mid 1950s. By the time Ernest Harmon AFB closed in 1966, the town had more than doubled in size, partly as a result of the provincial government's forced resettlement policy toward residents of outports.
After the base was closed, the facility was turned over to the federal government which then provided it to the provincial government for divestiture to the local community.
The facility included the air field, which has 2 runways (10,000 ft x 200 ft, 4,000 ft x 150 ft) and numerous buildings which are operated as the Stephenville Airport. An abandoned USAF Pinetree Line radar site is located on nearby Table Mountain, north of the town. The town uses many former USAF structures for housing, recreation and entertainment.
[edit] Education
The first educational institution in the St. George's Bay area was the Roman Catholic Church. Bishop John T. Mullock established the first church of the Roman Catholic faith at Sandy Point in 1848 when the population of the area was about 2000. Father Belenger was the first priest in the St. Georges Bay area from 1850 to 1868. Father Sears, then priest in the area, established a church in the growing town of Stephenville. In 1884 there were four Catholic schools in the parish. One at Sandy Point, one at the Highlands, one at Port aux Basques and one at Campbell's Creek.
[edit] Recreation
The town has numerous indoor and outdoor recreation opportunities. Various schools have public gymnasiums and there are private recreation and fitness facilities in the town and surrounding areas.
The International Appalachian Trail has been extended through the area, providing a continuous recreational hiking trail along the Long Range Mountains. The abandoned railway corridors of the Newfoundland Railway have also been designated the "T'railway Provincial Park", providing a level wilderness trail for bicycling and walking.
The town also has an 18-hole links style golf course that was expanded from a 9-hole course in 1999. The course was orinigally built by the United States Air Force.
[edit] Recent events
- On September 11, 2001, 8 civilian airliners made unscheduled landings at the Stephenville Airport following the closure of North American airspace in the wake of the terrorist attack on New York City and Washington, DC. An unwitting participant in Operation Yellow Ribbon, the town managed to host the stranded passengers for approximately one week.
- On July 27, 2005 Abitibi-Consolidated announced plans to cease newsprint production in Stephenville, resulting in a loss of 280 jobs to the town and surrounding region.[2]
- On September 27, 2005, a torrential downpour caused 180 people to be evacuated, after two rivers that flow through the town lept their banks and flooded the town. About 140 millimetres of rain fell.[3]
- On October 29, 2005, the CBC announced that Stephenville had been chosen as site for the annual Hockey Day in Canada feature of Hockey Night in Canada. The event took place on January 7, 2006.[4]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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