Joe Batt's Arm: Located on Fogo Island on the northern shore, Joe Batt's Arm was previously incorporated as a town prior to becoming part of the Town of Fogo Island through an amalgamation in 2011.

In terms of place names that are most often found in "lists" of odd-ball place names is Newfoundland Joe Batt's almost always makes the list, (e.g., Barnes, 2019; Marble Zip Tours, n.d.). The following explanations for the name Joe Batt's Arm come from Barnes (2019):

Though it is agreed that this place was named for someone named Joe Batt, there are two schools of thought as to who this Joe Batt was.

One story holds that Joe Batt was a crewmember of the famous explorer Captain James Cook who, in 1763 deserted the Captain and his ship at Gander Bay, during a surveying expedition, and settled on Fogo Island.

The less romantic version tells the tale of a Joseph Batt who was convicted in Bonavista in 1774 of stealing a pair of shoes but made his escape to Fogo Island to live out his days.

In 2014, the department of Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, video-taped local citizens in a variety of communities, eight in all, for use as promotional material. The series known as "What's in a Name?" the "episode" on Joe Batt's Arm has a slightly different version of how the community got its name was documented (almost a combination of the two possibilities above).

According to two residents of Joe Batt's Arm, the "real story" is that Joe Batt was in fact on one of James Cook's ships and either jumped off or was pushed off the ship.

Wherever he landed (that part is unknown) he "set up shop" and "everybody liked him". Colleen described him as follows: "He was like a Robin Hood, instead of coming in on his horse, he came in on a punt and landed on the rocks" where he "swimmed to the women" (Colleen also reports that he "wasn't bad on the eye!").

According to Walter he was a "really good person", "well loved by all", "never had much" and "wore around with no shoes". He did get in trouble for stealing a pair of shoes and was sentenced to 15 lashes.

However, the townsfolk so like Joe, they formed a mob, stormed the Magistrates office and grabbed Joe before his punishment could by handed out and "fled this way".

There apparently was not a sole "here" referred in the cove, and the harbour was shaped like an arm and "Joe Batt being so well liked" they called it Joe Batts Arm, and according to Walter, that is the "true story".

The following article by Waldstein. (2015) comes from the New York Times: Sorry, Jose, This Joe Batt Came First
- JOE BATT'S ARM, Newfoundland At first glance at a map, you wonder if this little fishing hamlet on a remote island off the northern coast of Newfoundland is playing a gag on everyone.

After all, Canadians are discovering amusing ways to celebrate the Toronto Blue Jays' return to the playoffs for the first time in 22 years.

The CN Tower in Toronto is lit in blue, and a famous coffee chain is selling Blue Jays doughnuts. So why couldn't Joe Batt's Arm, a little town on Fogo Island, have changed its name to honor the team's biggest star, Jose Bautista, a.k.a. Joey Bats?

Perhaps the island residents who watched Game 5 of Toronto's American League division series saw the dramatic pose that Bautista struck after hitting mammoth three-run home run.

He chucked his bat defiantly toward the Texas Rangers' dugout, his left arm remaining shoulder high, parallel to the ground and curved like the cove that defines the shape of this town.

The name could also refer to Joey Bats's cannon of a throwing arm that he unleashes from right field. It's a natural. Draw up the papers, a quick proclamation at Town Hall and voilà: Joe Batt's Arm. Who would notice in a country with towns named Saskatoon, Stoner, Skookumchuck and St.-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!

And finally, another humorous story about Joe Batt's Arm, comes from an article by David Clarke, published in The Telegram, dated Oct. 4, 2018, entitled “David Clarke: What's in a name?"

Another of the Isles' unique and charming names, and one of the most well- known in all the province, is Joe Batt's Arm, on Fogo Island.

Even in the 1800s, "Jobets," as it was often pronounced, was the subject of good-natured jests, with the British humour magazine Punch printing an ad reading, "Wanted: A Nurse for Joe Batt's Arm."

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/JoeBattsArm