Battle Harbour: The community of Battle Harbour is on Battle Island at the entrance to the St Lewis Inlet, just east of Lodge Bay.

There are two very different theories about how the community of Battle Harbour got its name. The ENL cited W.G. Gosling who in 1910 wrote an extremely comprehensive history of Labrador, suggested that the name had an ethnic (or "linguistic") derivation.

In that text, Gosling maintained that Battle Harbour was derived from the Portuguese Word, batal which translates into "boat" and that the harbour was named "Batal Harbour" as far back as the 1560s on one or more Portuguese maps.

However, not all, including the well-respected researcher, E.R. Scary did not, according to the information presented in the ENL, support that theory.

The second theory comes from the legends of the Montagnais Indians. According to them, Battle Harbour, known as Ca-tuc-to, was given its name based on the final battle fought between the native Indians and the Inuit in 1760, and hence its derivation should be considered to be classified as an "occurrent" name, specifically an "incident" name.

According to ENL contributors, there is a burial mound that is "supposed to mark the site" in the area. Through the 1800s and early 1900s, Battle Harbour was so important in the early cod fishery it was given the nickname "the Capital of Labrador", having a population of more than 200 at its peak, and because of its prominence it was chose by Sir Wilfred Grenfell as a site for a hospital:

After his first voyage to Labrador in 1892 Sir Wilfred Grenfell decided that Battle Harbour, as "the centre of large fisheries," should be the site of a hospital. In 1893 the hospital, one of the first in Labrador, opened for year-round service with a qualified doctor and nurse.

In 1896 a new wing was added to the hospital, built with wood from two wrecked vessels. P.W. Browne (1909) describes the hospital as "two connecting frame houses surrounded by a piazza... two stories in height, neatly painted, with a text from the Bible in large white letters on a green background running across the fronts," "inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren ye have done it unto me."

In 1905 the first lighthouse in Labrador, called Double Island light, was set up at Battle Harbour and by 1921 there was telegraph service for the population of ninety-five.

Unfortunately, in 1920 Battle Harbour was the site of a devastating fire. Grenfell was quoted as saying that "even the Marconi Pole on the top of the hill was burned."

While Battle Harbour "stumbled" along, with a few residents staying put, eventually it became no longer a viable community.

According to the Labrador Coastal Drive website, "the relocation of community residents under a government-sponsored resettlement program from 1965 to 1970 to nearby Mary's Harbour, the replacement of saltfish operations with fresh and frozen fish industries and then the decline in the inshore fishery at the start of the 1990s saw an end to all operations at Battle Harbour".

Today, however, according to the Battle Harbour website, Battle Harbour has come back to life as a restored 19th Century fishing village. There it is described as "a living museum", a "hop, skip and a jump across the tickle", a "private island like no other" and "nine miles from normal - there's off the beaten path, and then there is this place". From the NL tourism website comes the following descriptions:

Battle Harbour is one of the only places on earth where distance from the modern world can be measured in both miles and years. Journey by boat to a place without power lines or cell towers, without cars or paved roads, you can walk footpaths worn by fishermen and merchants centuries ago.

Sleep in one of the island's centuries-old houses that have been restored to their original state. This is one of the few National Historic Districts where you can spend the night.

And without the barrage of modern distractions, you are able to find the time and space needed for spiritual connection and reawakening.... This small, isolated outport is truly a restorative and inspiring destination.

Used with permission from "Uncovering the Origin of 1001 Unique Place Names in Newfoundland and Labrador" 2021 Jennifer Leigh Hill

Address of this page: http://nl.ruralroutes.com/BattleHarbour