Eddies Cove West vs. Eddies Cove East: Located in the Ingornachoix subregion, Eddies Cove West is described on the NP website as a "quaint fishing village" with a number of fishing enterprises working out of the cove and with "their fishing stores/sheds... located along the community's shoreline".

According to the ENL sources, it is believed that French stationed on St. John Island and in the small coves of St. John Bay probably established fishing stations for lobster and herring during the 1800s, it was not settled until the 1900s when French fishermen who lost their fishing rights on the French Shore in 1904 and ended up moving from St. John Island to the mainland soon after.

The first recorded population, in 1911, was eleven, including one foreign-born person who operated a lobster factory. Oral tradition names Elian or Alain, Offrey (French Offray) and Gaslard (French Gouslard) as the first settlers of Eddies Cove West.

No Eddies in any of the early settlers could be found. One would (foolishly) expect Eddies Cove East would be nearby, but in fact it is much further north up the peninsula, located northeast of Anchor Point in the Strait of Belle Isle.

Local history records that Eddies Cove East was settled by Phillip Coates, a fisherman from Somerset, and his wife Sarah Duncan. In 1869, the first official census of the area, records one family (one presumes the Coates) with ten children.

While it was possible to find a little information about these two communities, how they obtained their name remains a mystery. One can probably assume that "Eddie" was an early settler, but nothing is known about "him", however from the ENL.com website, website a bit of history about Eddies Cove West was uncovered.

"Local lore has it that St. John Island, which is the largest island in the bay [St. John Bay], was frequented by pirates", and that "there is legend that treasure is buried somewhere near the famous blowhole found on the island".

Maybe the pirate's name was Eddie? Eddies Cove East is the larger of the two communities (pop. 78 vs. 41)

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/EddiesCoveWest