Lears Cove: According to information presented in the ENL, Lears Cove is an abandoned fishing settlement that was located about 8 km south of St. Bride's on the Avalon Peninsula's Cape Shore. (Note: The community does not appear on the most recent Traveller's Map of NL).

First appearing with "Red Land" (10 km east around the head of Cape St. Mary's) in the 1836 Census, with a total of eight residents, Lears Cove, was listed alone in all subsequent census years, 17 people recorded in 1869 [Red Land does not appear on the map, but there is a Red Head River].

While most of these people were prosecuting the inshore fishery by this time, a single farmer, probably Irishman John Fewer, retained a dependence on commercial agriculture, which had been more widespread throughout the early 1800s.

A John or Jim Fewer is believed to have been the first settler at Lears Cove and to have been followed soon by a Jim Young, also of Ireland.

Virtually every inhabitant of Lears Cove throughout its history bore the surname Young. Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s the fishery continued to support the few occupants of Lears Cove, although some trapping and subsistence farming was also carried out.

By 1961 this handful of people had moved the last family, that of Arthur Young, to St. Bride's.

There is no information on how the town got its name. Again, possibly it is named after an early settler.

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/LearsCove