Grates Cove: Just north of Red Head Cove, Grates Cove is the most northerly community found on the Avalon Peninsula. The derivation of the place name is unknown, however as far back as 1612, John Guy, a British Merchant you read about in the Chapters on Settlement, he referred to as "The Grates".

Several researchers have traced the name back to the French fishing industry, suggesting it came from the French term degrat or en degrat which refers to when a smaller boat leaves the harbour, in the hopes of finding a better fishing ground, when the "parent ship" remains anchored.

From Wikipedia comes the following brief bit of history regarding the area, including a bit of lamentable maritime history:

Grates Cove was first settled in 1790 by four families from Lower Island Cove and one family from Old Perlican. It is believed that Grates Cove was visited by seasonal fisherman before this and some have expressed the belief that it was visited as carly as 1497 by John Cabot.

This speculation has been fueled by the presence of a large rock high above the water on a cliff face located in Grates Cove.

As Harold Horwood states, "some of those who formerly examined it, including a curator of the Newfoundland Museum, professed to be able to read the names IO CABOTO, SANCIUS and SAINMALIA quite plainly"

The Mollie was a coasting schooner posted out of Carmanville, Newfoundland that was lost near Grates Cove on the evening of December 20, 1944.

All people on board were lost. The Mollie's Captain was Ross Chaulk, who was 26 years old and unmarried. Lost with him were James Ellsworth, age 25, John Goodyear, age 61 also his two sons Reginald Goodyear, age 32 and Charles Goodyear, age 26, both of them were also unmarried.

The last crew member was Otto Hicks of Musgrave Harbour, who was a widower with one child. The cook, Charles Goodyear just 2 years earlier survived another near-miss shipwreck on the schooner I.C. Norman when it ran into the tip of Cape Bonavista.

13 crews of men from Grates Cove made trips to recover the bodies of the crew of The Mollie.

The "Walled Landscape of Grates Cove" was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1995. The designated site comprises 60.7 hectares (150 acres) of grassy landscape containing small gardens demarcated by stone walls.

The area represents a rare surviving example of a communal system of land and community organization unique to Newfoundland....

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/GratesCove