Harbour Grace

Harbour Grace
Town

Harbour Grace water front ca. 1911

Seal
Harbour Grace

Location of Harbour Grace in Newfoundland

Coordinates: 47°41′N 53°15′W / 47.683°N 53.250°W / 47.683; -53.250
Country  Canada
Province  Newfoundland and Labrador
Settled 1610
Incorporated July 10, 1945
Government
 • Type Harbour Grace Town Council
 • Mayor Terry Barnes
Area
 • Total 33.71 km2 (13.02 sq mi)
Elevation 16 m (52 ft)
Population (2006)[1]
 • Total 3,074
 • Density 91.2/km2 (236/sq mi)
Time zone Newfoundland Time (UTC-3:30)
 • Summer (DST) Newfoundland Daylight (UTC-2:30)
Postal code span A0A
Area code(s) 709
Highways Route 70
Website Harbour Grace official site

Harbour Grace is a town in Conception Bay on the Avalon Peninsula in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. With roots dating back to the sixteenth century, it is one of the oldest towns in North America.[2] It is located about 45 km northwest of the provincial capital, St. John's. The town has a population of 3,074 (2006), engaged primarily in fishing and fish processing.

The alternative spelling Harbor Grace was current at one time.[3]

History

Harbour Grace was an important port and fishing centre since the earliest days of European exploration of North America and was a thriving sessional fishing community by 1550, with permanent settlement beginning in 1583 (24 years before the Jamestown, Virginia colony, often incorrectly cited as the first permanent European settlement in North America, and two years before the "lost" colony at Roanoke, North Carolina). The first year-round settler that year was Robert Tossey of Dartmouth, England.[4] The town was named after Havre de Grâce (now Le Havre), France, although it is uncertain whether the name was given by French cartographers, Francis I of France, or early settlers from the British Channel Islands and West Country who were familiar with Le Havre as a common trade destination for fishermen from the Channel Islands.

In 1610, pirate Peter Easton made Harbour Grace his headquarters, and established a fort overlooking the bay. Although it was attacked by the French the following year, the early settlement survived throughout the seventeenth century, with a permanent, year-round population numbering a few dozen, swelling to several hundred during the fishing season. In 1618, Bristol's Society of Merchant Venturers received a charter from King James I of England to establish a settlement near Harbour Grace, "Bristol's Hope", and appointed Robert Hayman as its first Proprietary Governor, a post he held for the next ten years. Back in London at the end of this period in 1628 Hayman published a work of pithy epigrams called Quodlibets which he had written in Harbour Grace — it was the first book written in the new world.[5] The Conception Bay area is referred to in the subtitle of his book not as "Conception Bay" but by its original, though now largely forgotten, name of "New Britanolia".[6]

The Spirit of Harbour Grace and monument to Amelia Earhart

Over the coming years, control of Harbour Grace became a point of contention between the English and the French. The town, with a population numbering about 100, was razed by the French in 1697,[7] again in 1700, and captured briefly in 1762. Nevertheless, between these attacks, the population grew by 50 percent. By 1771, the population was close to 5,800. By then, however, other colonial towns along the Atlantic coast had surpassed Harbour Grace in population and influence. The town continued to grow and peaked in population in 1921, when the census was taken at 11,458 residents.

As trans-Atlantic aviation became more popular in the 1920 and 1930s, many aviation pioneers, among them Amelia Earhart, chose to make their crossing from the nearby Harbour Grace airfield due to its proximity to continental Europe. Altogether, some twenty flights left Harbour Grace from 1927 to 1936 in their attempts to cross the Atlantic.

In July 1941, the Royal Canadian Navy established a High Frequency Direction Finding wireless station on the airfield. Consisting of an Operations Building and a Direction Finding shack, the station had an uninterrupted sweep of the northern Atlantic sector and was able to provide bearings on U-boat transmissions and also intercepting enemy radio traffic.

Harbour Grace was one of the first sites that the Royal Canadian Navy was solely responsible for after war broke out. On May 21/45, the Canadian Naval Service approved the closing down and disposal of its facility at Harbour Grace. There is no evidence of the station today.

Following the war, the airstrip was left to deteriorate. In 1977, through the efforts of the Harbour Grace Historical Society, it was restored to a usable condition. In 1999, after years of being considered abandoned, the airstrip was reinstated to official international airdrome status under the designator of CHG2.

Today, Harbour Grace continues its tradition as a fishing and fish processing centre. In addition, because of its rich history and many historical buildings, a small tourist industry is emerging. The Gordon G. Pike Railway Heritage Museum and Park (c. 1881-84) was designated a Municipal Heritage Building in 2006.[8]

Demographics

Population trend[9]

Census Population Change
2006 3074 Decrease-9.1%
2001 3380 Decrease-9.6%
1996 3740 NA

Mother tongue language (2006)[9]

Language Percent
English only 96.7%
French only 0%
Both English and French 0%

Religion 2001[10]
Protestant 61.4%
Roman Catholic 38.3%
No religion 0.3%
Other religions 0%

Race/Ethnic Groups (2006)[9]

Group Percent
White 99.3%
Visible Minority 0.7%

History briefs

See also

References

  1. ↑ Population and dwelling counts
  2. ↑ "History of Harbour Grace". Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  3. ↑ The Morning Chronicle, St. John's, 1872
  4. ↑ History of Harbour Grace
  5. ↑ William Barker, ‘Hayman, Robert (bap. 1575, d. 1629)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edition, January 2008 accessed 28 December 2009
  6. ↑ William Barker, ‘Hayman, Robert (baptized 1575, died 1629)’, 'Quodlibets, Lately Come Over from New Britaniola, Old Newfound-land accessed 15 July 2010
  7. ↑ Journal of Abbe Jean Baudoin, 28 January 1697
  8. ↑ Gordon G. Pike Railway Heritage Museum and Park. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  9. 1 2 3
  10. ↑
  11. ↑ Harbour Grace Court House. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  12. ↑ St. Paul's Anglican Church Harbour Grace website

Coordinates: 47°41′N 53°15′W / 47.683°N 53.250°W / 47.683; -53.250

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