Victoria Cove, Newfoundland and Labrador

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Not to be confused with Victoria, Newfoundland and Labrador.

Victoria Cove, Newfoundland is situated on the west side of Gander Bay, near the town of Gander.

Victoria Cove was originally called Little House Cove and was visited since the mid 1800s by fishermen who would do woods work in the winter. Permanent settlement did not begin until 1894 and the first settler is believed to have been Richard Bursey. Other family names that came to Victoria Cove in the 1800s, mostly from Fogo and Change Islands, were:

Bursey
King
Mercer
Oake
Reccord
Torraville
Webb
Gillingham
Hodder
Porter

John Webb, one of the first settlers in Victoria Cove is said to have chosen the name Victoria Cove in 1896 to honour the Queen.

In 1898 the first school-chapel was built, and a real church building was started in 1903 but was destroyed by fire. A Church of England church was built by 1910.

Victoria Cove was first recorded in the 1911 Census with a population of 140. The first business was opened by Esau Record in 1920. The population decreased as the Labrador and local fishery decreased.

Until the 1930s Victoria Cove was a fishing community, fishing primarily on the Labrador. Cutting lumber increased when Horwood Lumber Co. had a major lumber mill in Dog Bay, a nearby community.^[1]

Population was 250 in 1956.