Lethbridge vs Brooklyn: Located across from each other on an inlet of Green Bay (Lethbridge on the south shore; Brooklyn on the north), by boat it would not have taken long to cross the bay; today they are connected by Rte. 234, 5.1 km (3.2 mi) apart by car.
Settled in the 1870s, Lethbridge should get the prize for having a lot of different names. According to ENL contributors, its first name was believed to be Southeast Arm, however, quite early on it became known as Hopevale.
Nonetheless, in the 1874 Census it appeared as Hopeville (i.e., "ville" not "vale"). Around the same time, it was regarded as being part of nearby Brooklyn, and was known as Brooklyn East.
In 1912 the Nomenclature Board renamed Brooklyn East in honor of James Lethbridge, the town's oldest resident.
It is believed that originally the community of Brooklyn (or Brooklyn West) was so named because of the numerous brooks in the area what wove through the small community.

Winter Brook: Located at the head of the Northwest Arm of Sweet Bay, the name of the community of Winter Brook (or Winterbrook) may have something to do with the movement of people to places where they would stay the winter.

According to ENL sources it may have been first used as a "winter residence in the late 1800s, with its first year-round residents settling in the early 1900s".

Predominantly a lumbering town, "with fishing, farming and construction labour clsewhere serving as secondary sources". According to the Explore NL website, the town's name however, might not have had anything to do with the "wintering" patterns of the early settlers.

There it is written that "Winterbrook was originally called Northwest Arm because of its location near Sweet Bay" however, in 1934 "it was changed to Winterbrook because of the many people who crossed the brooks in the Winter."

However, the website does suggest that people in fact, now-a-days may actually "leave" Winter Brook because of the weather. There it is stated that "Winterbrook has a very small population of only approximately 64.

In winter many of the older people leave to go live with their families living in other communities throughout Newfoundland and Canada and return again in the summer".

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/LethbridgeNL