Lower Island Cove vs. Upper Island Cove: Located on the Bay de Verde Peninsula, on the north shore of Conception Bay, while the origins of these "two" community's names would appear to be pretty apparent, there are "oddities" about both names.

The original settlement of Lower Island Cove began as "Island Cove" - but, in fact, there is no "Island" in the cove, rather there is what is described in the ENL, as a "sheltered beach off which lay some large rocks".

It is those rocks that are the "namesake" of the community. Local lore is that pirates buried "treasure" at Flambro Head, approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) from the cove, and given that there have been no reports if it has been ever found, get your spades and pails ready for a "potentially lucrative" outing!

How the Head got its name remain unknown to the research team. Upper Island Cove is south of Lower Island Cove on the same peninsula.

It is approximately 110 km (68.3 mi) from the capital city of St. John's off Route 70, the Conception Bay Highway, and is located between the towns of Harbour Grace and Spaniard's Bay.

The actual cove consists of a sheltered beach south of Bryant's Cove and according to the ENL is "not a secure anchorage".

Again, as in the case of Lower Island Cove there is no island in the nearby vicinity according to most local maps. What is most interesting about this community is its former name, "The Walled City".

According to the town's website, the name comes from the fact that it built at the "bottom" of some very high cliffs, and so when viewed from a distance the cliffs give the appearance of a wall having been built in order to "protect" it (from what, who knows?).

In addition to those "walls", there are walls "within" the community. In order to clear the land for farming, early settlers removed the rocks by hand and then used them to build rock walls, more like "fences", as boundaries between neighboring properties.

Some of these early walls are still visible as one travels around the community. History shows that the town was settled as early as 1675.

It was incorporated almost 300 years later in 1965. The population topped 1,000 in the 1940s, and in 2016 the population was recorded as having 1,561 residents, signaling a 2.1% decrease over the 1,594 recorded in 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/LowerIslandCove