St. George's is a Canadian community in the St. George's Bay on the southwest coast of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

of the province of

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

. The community, originally known as ''South Side'' or ''Little Bay'' has its origins in the French fishery of the seventeenth century when the good natural harbour would attract fishermen to spend the summer in the area and return to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

for the winter months. Permanently settled in the eighteenth century, the community remained a fishing village for nearly 200 years until the advent of the

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

Mi'kmaq

Mi'kmaq villages in St. Georges Bay and Placentia existed in 1594.Stone, Helen. 1993. Living in time immemorial: Concepts of "time" and "time immemorial": Why Aboriginal rights theory is problematic in the courts and around the negotiating table. Master's thesis, Carleton University. Jeannot Pequidalouet - the eastern Mi'kmaq chief of Cape Breton, who had previously overwintered in Newfoundland - began to create permanent settlements in St. George's Bay and Miawpukek in the 1760s. March 10, 1996, to April 2001 In May 1767 when James Cook was mapping Newfoundland coast, he met a tribe of Mi'kmaq in St. George's Bay.

Early fisheries

In the seventeenth century the French fishermen spent the summer months in St. Georges harbour and returned to France for the winter. They began to overwinter in the eighteenth century and St. Georges continued to be a fishing village "for nearly 200 years until the advent of the railroad."

After the railroad

The railroad came to Western Newfoundland in 1898, and because of the work that the railway created, as well as access to many different types of goods, many people from outlying communities flocked to St. George's. The town quickly became a major centre in Western Newfoundland. The town became a distributor of goods to the surrounding area and the Port au Port Peninsula. Lumbering, fishing and farming were the primary occupations and lobster plants also opened there. A brewery/distillery also operated there for a short time at the turn of the century. The community also became the seat of the

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

in the area and a courthouse was constructed.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultu ...

, St. George's had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Attractions

St. Georges once hosted an Annual Blueberry Festival every August at Blueberry Hill which ran for 25 consecutive years . Sandy Point, located 3.5 kilometres south of Stephenville, is an uninhabited 2,471-acre (1,000-hectare) island of natural wealth in St. Georges Bay. Black bank is a black sand beach with beautiful tree lined embankments.

References