The Burin Peninsula - A Development History

      Prehistory 

        A variably mineralized band of rock thrust out into the North Atlantic, 
        the Burin Peninsula has intrigued generations of geologists. The cliffs 
        and abundant fossils of Fortune Head are an internationally recognized 
        showcase of the boundary between the Pre-Cambrian and Cambrian periods 
        (530 million years old), the time of the first skeletal and bioturbating 
        organisms on Earth.

        Perhaps more is known about the geological prehistory of the Burin 
        Peninsula than that of its first peoples. An under-surveyed area 
        according to archaeologists, work to date has been done primarily in 
        connection with development impact assessments. Artifacts recovered 
        suggest however that Burin Peninsula occupation patterns were similar to 
        those of better studied areas elsewhere in the eastern portion of the 
        Island. It is known that there has been longstanding coastal area 
        visitation by recent native peoples up to and including the Beothuk, 
        attracted by the fish, marine mammals, caribou herds and migratory 
        waterfowl of the region. There is also inconclusive evidence pointing to 
        more ancient Paleo-Eskimo and Dorset period hunters. 
       
      Earliest Records 


        Seasonally intensive fishery-related occupation of the Burin Peninsula 
        by Europeans dates from the early 1500s. Evidence of early Basque 
        activities has been found in many parts of Placentia Bay including Burin 
        Harbour and Spanish Room. Through the 1600s, the Spaniards were 
        succeeded by French and then, in the 1700s, by English fisherpeople as 
        these nations jockeyed for control of the Island. Today, the French 
        Islands of St-Pierre et Miquelon, a few kilometers to the southwest of 
        the Peninsula, stand as reminders of the colonial period battles. 

        With heavy marine traffic comes a long history of marine disasters. Many 
        ships have been wrecked in the vicinity of St-Pierre et Miquelon and 
        along the coastline of the Burin Peninsula. The one underwater 
        archaeological survey on record for the region was done for the Burin 
        Harbour, Mortier, and Little St. Lawrence areas in 1982. Evidence of 
        local wrecks known from the 1790s was sought but little was found. More 
        recent disasters in this vein include the Monasco, which ran aground at 
        Corbin in the 1800's under suspicious circumstances and which has 
        inspired area residents of late to a murder-mystery theme interpretive 
        effort. 
       
      Growth of Communities 

        Grand Bank was the most prosperous community on the Peninsula through 
        the 19th century and this good fortune remains to be seen in the many 
        high-style Victorian homes that stand in the old harbourfront area.

        The Province established Winterland in 1920s-30s to initiate an 
        agricultural industry on the Burin Peninsula. Its residents came from 
        the Burin Peninsula and other areas of the province. 

        The Prohibition Period of 1920 to 1933, when the sale of spirits was 
        outlawed in the United States, saw the emergence of a significant 
        smuggling industry in the region. Liquor from St-Pierre et Miquelon was 
        regularly carried to within a few miles of America by vessels crewed by 
        men from the Burin Peninsula.

        The huge Tidal Wave of November 18th, 1929 decimated communities 
        throughout the South Coast of Newfoundland but nowhere so dramatically 
        as on the Burin Peninsula. Besides extensive property damage and loss of 
        life, the wave swept away marine growth and artifacts offshore. Local 
        fishing grounds took more than a decade to recover.

        Known since the mid-1800s, St. Lawrence-area fluorospar wasn't mined 
        until 1932. Not long thereafter, their production accounted for 15% of 
        the fluorspar imported by the United States. 

        In the 1950s and 1960s, the Smallwood administration was promoting 
        centralization. People in isolated fishing communities throughout the 
        Burin Peninsula were encouraged to move to larger communities where 
        improved services/infrastructure were being developed. A decline in the 
        inshore fishery of the day added to the reasons people had to leave 
        their long-time homes.

        Close to 40 Placentia Bay communities were resettled, beginning with 
        Toslow and Bona in 1954. Most of the people resettled to South East 
        Bight, Petite Forte and Monkstown were from St. Leonard's, St. Kyran's, 
        Clattice Harbour and Oderin. The people of St. Joseph's resettled to 
        Rushoon and the people of Port Elizabeth resettled to Red Harbour. 
        Otherwise, only Monkstown, South East Bight and Petite Forte survived 
        this period, remaining year-round communities and reminders of the 
        former, isolated nature of fishing life in the region.

        On the Fortune Bay side of the Peninsula, people resettled from Grand 
        Jarvis, Grand John and Long De Surf to St. Bernard's and Jacques 
        Fontaine. Many of the residents of Bay L'Argent and Little Bay East were 
        moved in from Femme, Stone Cove, Anderson's Cove and Bay Du Nord.

        Development of Marystown-Burin as regional centre with government 
        services, health care, shopping malls and industry (Marystown Shipyard / 
        Winterland Airport) was introduced in the 1960s.