The North Bay Narrative

Description

This is the remarkable story of a remote Newfoundland village and its evolution from a community of a few families where men built boats by hand to today’s collection of cottages where men guide visiting Atlantic salmon fishermen.

North Bay’s first settlers began building ocean-going fishing boats, cutting trees by hand, pulling them from the woods to the river bank, and floating the logs downstream to the village. The logs were pulled ashore and cut into boards by men using pit saws. The completed vessels, some sixty feet long, were launched by hand to the river, and sold to fishermen along the coast. From 1890 until 1968, three generations built over 150 vessels.

The people of North Bay, never more than 80 at any one time, began moving away from the village after World War II. Although the last year around resident left in 1968, the village was already in transition. Many former residents returned during the summer and old houses were replaced with cottages. The La Poile River still runs by the revived village, however, and local men guide fishermen who cast for Atlantic salmon.