Fogo: Located on the northwest comer of Fogo Island, the community is now officially known as the "Town of Fogo Island". Fogo Island (the island), located approximately 16 km (10 mi) off the northeast coast in Notre Dame Bay, is the largest off-shore island in the waters off Newfoundland.

Next to the Change Islands, the actual island is about 25 km long and 14 km wide, making the total area to be approximately 270 sq.km (see section on islands for more on Fogo Island).

History shows that it was a Beothuk summer site. On an early Portuguese map dated 1529, the island is identified y del fogo; in a French map dated 1606, the island is shown as "Isles de Fougues" as one of many islands off the NE coast. Fuego/fogo translated from Portuguese means "fire".

David Clark (2018) wrote the following about the origin of the name of island: [The] element of mystery is common to many Isles towns, including Fogo Island and its namesake community. The Portuguese term y del fuego, or "island of tire," became associated with the locale sometime after 1500.

Later corrupted to "Fogo," the name may derive from a settlement in the Cape Verde Islands, or to major forest fires recorded on Fogo Island as late as 1896.

Other theories give the campfires of Indigenous peoples observed by the early explorers, or even the dense fogs that beset the area, as the source of the name. Perhaps the most interesting, if least appealing, idea is that Fogo may have the same root as "funk," referring to the foul odour from the droppings of the thousands of seabirds which called Fogo Island home.

French, Spanish and Portuguese fishermen probably used some of the coves on the island as safe harbours in the 1500s and early 1600s.

According to the town's website, Fogo Island was permanently settled in 1729. Even though Fogo Island was part of the French Shore, more and more English and Irish fishermen took up permanent residency and by 1750, Fogo was a thriving port.

While Fogo started off as a key port for the cod fishery, later other commodities were traded seal skins and oil, lumber, fur-bearing animals, salmon and other types of fish. Crab, shrimp, turbot and to a lesser extent, lobster are still being processed in the fish-packing plant that remains active in town.

Unlike Tilting Harbour which is almost exclusively Irish by the late 18th century, Fogo remained a mix of English and Irish; both towns continue to be developed as tourist destinations.

According to Wikipedia contributors, on March 1, 2011, the towns of Fogo, Joe Batt's Arm-Barr'd Islands-Shoal Bay, Seldom-Little Seldom and Tilting and a portion of the Fogo Island Region (Stag Harbour, Island Harbour, Deep Bay, and Fogo Island Central) amalgamated to form the Town of Fogo Island.

According to the Central NL website, "a well known attraction of Fogo is Brimstone Head, which the Flat Earth Society claims is one of the four corners of the earth". In 2016 the census enumerated 2,244 residents of the town, a 6.3% decrease from the 2,395 of 2011.

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/Fogo