Cape Norman vs Cape Onion: Located at the northerly tip of the Great Northern Peninsula, one might ask, "Why would there be two capes listed side by side?"

Well, for many years Cape Onion was believed to be the most northerly point on the island of Newfoundland; however, it is now known that Cape Norman is just a "smidge" further north at 51.6179° N, 55.8982° W.

Cape Norman: Described as a very bare, rocky expanse was first known as Cape Dordois and appears on an early map published in 1713. But on later maps it appears a Cap Normand (which eventually became anglicized to Cape Norman), most likely named by unknown French mariners from Normandy (Hamilton, 1996).

The original wooden lighthouse at Cape Norman, on the east side of Pistolet Bay, was built by the Canadian Government in 1871. It was replaced by an iron tower in 1907. The current concrete tower, a few km from Cooks Harbour was built in 1964.

Cape Onion: Located slightly to the east of Cape Norman at the entrance to Sacred Bay, according to Hamilton (1996) first appeared on early maps as C de Ognion or Cape Dognon, which he believes is a corruption of the French oignon, referring to the "onion shape" of the headland.

Its coordinates are 51.6101° N, 55.6266° The cape itself rises to 80 m (262 ft) from the shore. The most famous landmark in the town of Cape Onion is the Adams House, built in 1890 is a designated historic place in Canada.

It is a typical turn of the century merchant/fisherman's house. From Canada's Historic Places website comes the following description:

The Adams family was one of the most well know families on the Great Northern Peninsula. In particular, both Henry and Ross Adams were noteworthy as master boat builders, merchants and fishermen. Moreover, the two operated a general store I Cape Onion for a number of years and Ross was responsible for bringing the first telephone line to Cape Onion and served as the region's first social worker.

The Adams House was known in the community as a place for visitors to stay and one of the more famous visitors to the house was Sir Wilfred Grenfell.

In 2016 the population of the community of Cape Onion was 643, a 10.1% decrease from the earlier census of 2011 when there were 715 inhabitants.

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/CapeNorman