New Ferolle vs. Old Ferolle: Located on a small peninsula in St. Margaret Bay, the "Ferolles" were most likely named by Basque fishermen after a town in northern Spain near Corunna, known as El Ferolle.

According to the NP website, the peninsula, known as Ferolle Point, is well known for its lighthouse which was built at the very tip in 1912 and was operated by three generations of the Beaudoin family.

In 1992, the lighthouse was eventually automated. From the lighthouse, which is still operation visitors can have an "incredible" view out to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Old Ferolle, which is further north from New Ferolle, between Brig Bay and Blue Cove was renamed as Plum Point to disunguish the community from New Ferolle in 1931.

Why the name Plum Point was chosen was not uncovered by the research team. The following history of Old Ferolle/Plum Point, from the NP Website: The community's first European inhabitants were Basque fisherman. They used Plum Point as a base for final preparations before their annual return to Europe from their summer fishery.

It was later used by the French during the time that France had the French Sores in Newfoundland as a fishing room. In 1884 there were 30 settlers, but the area was later abandoned and the next recorded settler was Henry Coombs in 1897.

Residents of Plum Point relied on the fishery - mainly cod, lobster and herring for their livelihood. In 1928, the International Pulp and Paper Company began a pulpwood cutting operation in the area.

the population of the town remained small until the 1960s when a number of families from Current Island and St. Genevieve Bay resettled here.

These new residents combined with the completion of the highway along the Great Northern Peninsula, Route 430, in 1969 saw Plum Point become a small- service centre for the area.

Plum Point had a population of 2016 of 112 (a 12.5% decrease from 128 recorded in 20110. The population of New Ferolle, is not known (as it is part of a larger census subdivision) however it is known that it is the smaller of the two communities.

According to the Communities Accounts website, the 2016 Census the combined population for Reef's Harbour-Shoal Cove West-New Ferolle was 205 (reflecting a 12.8 % decline from the 235 recorded in 2011.

The residents of New Ferolle have to rely on nearby towns (e.g., Port Saunders, Port au Choix) for many of their services.

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/PlumPoint