Noddy Bay: Located on the northern tip of the Great Northern Peninsula west of Quirpon, Noddy Bay is a small fishing community often makes it to the list of "odd ball" names in Newfoundland.

Settled in the 1700s, this community is actually named Robert's Arm: Located in the southwestem section of Notre Dame Bay, Robert's Arm was originally named "Rabbits Arm", one would assume after the large concentration of the long eared snowshoe hares.

Should this listing be in the section on names that are given in honour of "other non-living entities'? Well, yes and no depending on whether you look at its "original name" or its more "recent name".

It is known that early residents used to frequent the area in the winter to cut timber and to trap rabbits. The rabbits were believed to be sold in nearby South Brook.

Settled sometime in the late 1800s it remained Rabbits Arm until it "appeared" as Robert's Arm, in the 1911 Census in honour of a well known and well respected resident in the area, a Mister John Robert who own a large tract of land in the area.

A bit of interesting history comes from Wikipedia, which was based on excerpts from Moments in Time, by the Green Bay Economic Development Association, dated 1994: It was logging, however, that was to be the economic backbone of Roberts Arm. Between 1930 and 1935 Peter Parsons from Long Island was contracted to produce pit props for the overseas market.

The wood was driven via a brook to Tommy's Arm (a shipping depot for pit prop and pulpwood located about three miles outside of the community) and loaded on ships to be taken to its destination.

William Faulkner from Point Leamington also produced pit prop, working from Tommy's Arm during the Depression years. Both operations were small scale and short term. By 1935, 45 residents lived in the community.

By 1966 there were 978. Mark Rowsell was the local merchant, but many residents traded at Pilley's Island or Little Bay Islands. In 1937 Roberts Arm became a major center for pulpwood. Bowater came to town under the supervision of A. J. Hewlett who was born and raised there.

Men from other communities working in Tommy's Arm moved to Roberts Arm with their families. The population was on the rise ... "

Shortly after Bowaters started operation in Tommy's Arm, the men went on strike due to bad camp conditions and low wages. Hewlett was paying $2.00 per cord ($0.55/m3) which was much less the $2.50 per cord ($0.69/m3) per cord that other loggers in Newfoundland were getting.

What was known as the Roberts Arm Strike was short lived when Sir Eric Bowater stated that he would shut down operation. A representative of the strikers apologized to Bowater and Hewlett and stated that they would gladly return to work for $2.00 per cord.
To this, Bowater responded that operation would continue. Now known as a "regional service centre", according to the most recent Census (2016) there were 805 residents, reflecting a miniscule decrease of 0.2% from the 807 recorded 5-years earlier.

Used with permission from "Uncovering the Origin of 1001 Unique Place

Address of this page: http://nl.ruralroutes.com/NoddyBay