St. Anthony is a town on the northern reaches of the

Great Northern Peninsula The Great Northern Peninsula ( Inuttitut: ''Ikkarumiklua'') is the largest and longest peninsula of Newfoundland, Canada, approximately 270 km long and 90 km wide at its widest point and encompassing an area of 17,483 km2. It is def ...

of the Canadian

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

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 ...

. St. Anthony serves as a main service centre for northern Newfoundland and southern Labrador. St. Anthony had a population of 2,180 in 2021, compared with 2,258 in 2016, 2,418 in 2011, 2,476 in 2006 and 2,730 in 2001.

L'Anse aux Meadows L'Anse aux Meadows ( lit. Meadows Cove) is an archaeological site, first excavated in the 1960s, of a Norse settlement dating to approximately 1,000 years ago. The site is located on the northernmost tip of the island of Newfoundland in the C ...

, which was designated a

National Historic Site of Canada National Historic Sites of Canada (french: Lieux historiques nationaux du Canada) are places that have been designated by the federal Minister of the Environment on the advice of the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (HSMBC), as being ...

in 1968 and a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

in 1978, is located near (40km) St. Anthony. St. Anthony is the largest population centre on the

History

The history of European settlement of St. Anthony reaches back to the early 16th century, when French and

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

fishermen used the well-sheltered harbour as a seasonal fishing station. By the time explorer

Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier ( , also , , ; br, Jakez Karter; 31 December 14911 September 1557) was a French- Breton maritime explorer for France. Jacques Cartier was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of ...

came across the settlement in 1534, he reported it was named St. Anthony Haven. More people began arriving in the mid-19th century. By 1857, a

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

found 71 inhabitants in 10 families. By 1874, the population rose to 110, and by 1891, it was 139. The town grew in population after the arrival of Dr.

Wilfred Grenfell Sir Wilfred Thomason Grenfell (28 February 1865 – 9 October 1940) was a British medical missionary to Newfoundland, who wrote books on his work and other topics. Early life and education He was born at Parkgate, Cheshire, England, on 28 Febr ...

in 1900 (see below). A

salt fish Salted fish, such as kippered herring or dried and salted cod, is fish cured with dry salt and thus preserved for later eating. Drying or salting, either with dry salt or with brine, was the only widely available method of preserving fish unt ...

plant and cold storage facility built in the 1930s and 1940s were a boon to the local economy. St. Anthony also became an outpost for the U.S. military. In 1951, a

Pinetree Line The Pinetree Line was a series of radar stations located across the northern United States and southern Canada at about the 50th parallel north, along with a number of other stations located on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. Run by North Ame ...

radar site was built on a nearby hill, and by 1962, there were 250 servicemen stationed there. The site was operated by the 921st AC&W Squadron. Tourism has become an important industry to the town as fishing stocks dwindled. Tourists come to visit historical sites related to Grenfell, to see the nearby

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

settlement at

or to see natural attractions such as

iceberg An iceberg is a piece of freshwater ice more than 15 m long that has broken off a glacier or an ice shelf and is floating freely in open (salt) water. Smaller chunks of floating glacially-derived ice are called "growlers" or "bergy bits". The ...

s and

whale Whales are a widely distributed and diverse group of fully aquatic placental marine mammals. As an informal and colloquial grouping, they correspond to large members of the infraorder Cetacea, i.e. all cetaceans apart from dolphins and ...

Dr. Wilfred Grenfell

St. Anthony's most influential historic figure is Dr.

. Born on February 28, 1865, in northern

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Grenfell entered the London Hospital Medical School in 1883. While in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Grenfell heard the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a co ...

Dwight L. Moody. The event inspired him to a life of

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

charity. A member of the Royal National Mission To Deep Sea Fishermen, Grenfell was sent to investigate the conditions of fishermen in the

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

region in 1892. He was said to be the first doctor to reach the region. He would later establish a string of hospitals, cooperatives and schools for people in remote

towns. He chose Red Bay as the headquarters of the

Grenfell Mission The Grenfell Mission was a philanthropic organization that provided medical and social services to people in rural communities of northern Newfoundland and Labrador. It was founded by Sir Wilfred Grenfell in 1892 as a branch of The Royal National Mi ...

in 1900. However, in later years the focus of the organization became St. Anthony. He began responsibility of health care for the more than thirty thousand residents in Northern Newfoundland and Southern Labrador. This health responsibility was maintained until 1981 when the Government bought the resources and took over responsibility for the health service for one dollar. Dr. Grenfell was most interested in the holistic approach to betterment of the lifestyle of the people of the province. He worked in areas of food production, craft production and sale. Grenfell also worked to provide funds for his religious mission through speaking tours throughout the United States and Europe and he used colorized slides of the people and places he was operating his mission. He began to work from a non denominational Christian belief structure and religious conversion was his goal. Although the religious based mission was successful he was supported by volunteers who gave service to the mission. One notable volunteer was Josephine Colgate of the Colgate fortune. Grenfell died in 1940 and his ashes were interred at Tea House Hill in St. Anthony with those of his wife Lady Anne Grenfell. Dr. Grenfell's contributions to the region are honoured by Grenfell Historic Properties, which comprises the Grenfell Interpretation Centre, the Grenfell House Museum, and the Grenfell Handicrafts Store.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

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. Anthony 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.

Climate

St. Anthony experiences a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, g ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Dfc'') with long, cold winters and short, warm summers. However, owing to the strong maritime influence, the winters are less cold than most of Canada at the same latitude, and there is no permafrost especially with snow cover sometimes reaching as high as . However its winters are still far more severe than

Valentia Island Valentia Island () is one of Ireland's most westerly points. It lies off the Iveragh Peninsula in the southwest of County Kerry. It is linked to the mainland by the Maurice O'Neill Memorial Bridge at Portmagee. A car ferry also departs from ...

off the coast of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

half a latitude farther north on the other side of the Atlantic which enjoys the moderating effects of the Gulf Stream. St. Anthony is as much as colder than

on a near exact latitude in an average year.

Precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

, driven the powerful

Icelandic Low The Icelandic Low is a semi-permanent centre of low atmospheric pressure found between Iceland and southern Greenland and extending in the Northern Hemisphere winter into the Barents Sea. In the summer, it weakens and splits into two centres, ...

, is quite high year round, with an annual average of approximately .

Transportation

The town is at the end of the Great Northern Peninsula Highway. It is also served by St. Anthony Airport.

Attractions

* Is a popular tourist destination known for its whale watching. Dr.

's work in St. Anthony is commemorated by several historic sites and museums, including: * Grenfell House Museum: Built between 1909 and 1910, it was the home of Dr. Grenfell, his wife Anne, and their three children. After Grenfell's retirement to Vermont, the house became a residence for mission workers. It opened as a museum in 1981. * Grenfell Interpretation Centre: Interprets the life and times of Dr. Wilfred Grenfell through a gallery of interpretative paneling and displays. The centre is designed to be self touring and to provide a more modern interpretative experience for visitors. * Tea House Hill: A 20-minute walking trail with interpretative panels and seating along the route. The trail leads to the top of the hill where Dr. Grenfell, his wife and other colleagues' ashes are buried. Other attractions include: * The Rotunda: A display of ceramic murals depicting the culture and history of the people of Newfoundland and Labrador. The mural was created by the acclaimed sculptor

Jordi Bonet Jordi Bonet i Godó, known professionally as Jordi Bonet (7 May 1932 – 25 December 1979), was a Spanish-born Canadian painter, ceramist, muralist, and sculptor who worked principally in Quebec. Life and work Born in Barcelona, Spain of Cata ...

. * Dockhouse Museum: which currently is not in operation, Demonstrated to visitors how vessels of all sizes were pulled out of the water for repairs in the late 1920s. *

: A Norse village briefly inhabited around 1000 AD. The site was recognized as one of the world's major archaeological properties and is designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978.

Notable people

Krista Howell Krista Lynn Howell is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Newfoundland and Labrador House of Assembly in the 2021 provincial election. She represents the electoral district of St. Barbe-L'Anse aux Meadows as a member of the Liberal Par ...

, MHA and former mayor *

Gavin Tucker Gavin Scott Tucker (born June 17, 1986) is a Canadian professional mixed martial artist. Tucker currently competes in the featherweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He had previously won the Extreme Cage Combat promotio ...

, Mixed Martial Arts fighter * Shirley Jane Turner, convicted murderer

In popular culture

St. Anthony appears as a playable area in the 2014 videogame

Assassin's Creed Rogue ''Assassin's Creed Rogue'' is a 2014 Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Sofia and published by Ubisoft. It is the seventh major installment in the Assassin's Creed, ''Assassin's Creed'' series, and is set betw ...

References

External links

St. Anthony official siteGoogle Maps Satellite ViewSt. Anthony - Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, vol. 5, p. 7-9.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Anthony, Newfoundland And Labrador Populated coastal places in Canada Towns in Newfoundland and Labrador