On the north side of the Grand Codroy River, O'Regan's, originally known as Backlands, was renamed to honor Father Camelius O'Regan, a local parish priest who drowned in the line of service, on October 25, 1901.

While farming was important in this are, there was a special type of farming that developed in this area (Janes, 2002):

Families in the area usually kept cattle as many as 20 heads or more. There would be 2 or 3 young cattle to sell each fall and $100.00 would be a very good price for a fair-sized calf.

There were fox farms kept in the area, on a small scale. The largest in O'Regans, kept by Mr. John Ryan, had 6 or 7 pair of foxes. Most had only one pair. The fox would be caught in the spring and killed early in the New Year.

Each year Mr. Ryan would travel to the United States, usually New York, with the fur, by boat and by train. Fox farms died out in the area about 55 years ago [1950s], and they started several years after the turn of the century.

According to ENL sources, in the 1920s a bridge was built across the Grand Codroy River, between Upper Ferry and O'Regan's and "at the time and for many years afterward the longest bridge in Newfoundland, the Grand Codroy bridge offered farmers improved access to the railway at Doyles and markets for produce along the Newfoundland Northern and Western Railway line, particularly at the growing town of Corner Brook".

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/ORegans