Ship Cove (St. Brides)
Settlement



  • Detail

13 MAIN STREET
Ship Cove, A0B 2Z0


Newfoundland Tourism Region : Avalon


Located just north of Gooseberry Cove, this "Ship Cove" is one of many by the same name in the province.

The following is a description of the community from the ENL: A tiny community on the Cape Shore (or eastern side) of Placentia Bay, Ship Cove is between Great Barrisway and the abandoned community of Gooseberry Cove.

The Cove lies in the bottom of a valley between two steep hills and is bordered by a gravel and sand beach. The first recorded settlers were John and Alice Skerry in 1794.

Skerry had been a fisherman with the Sweetman firm and officially petitioned for ownership of his farmland in 1802. The Skerrys' two daughters received equal shares of the farm and married Irish immigrants Patrick Tobin and James Brennan.

Gooseberry and Ship coves had a combined population of 26 in 1836. By 1845 there were 16 people in Ship Cove, fishing and farming. There were five families in 1857. Adult males recorded in 1871 were Edward Brennan and Andrew, Patrick and John Tobin.

Farming remained the chief occupation of the settlement, but for a brief period in the early 1900s there was a lobster factory.

Connected by road to Placentia since the 1850s, Ship Cove, was known to sportsmen as a good place for sea trout. Though there was no church in this Roman Catholic community, there was a school for a few years around 1911.

The population was between 50 and 70 people until the early 1960s. People began moving away from Ship Cove, while nearby Gooseberry Cove was completely deserted.

Those who remained found employment in Argentia, Placentia, at the ERCO plant in Long Harbour or in the fish plant at St. Bride's. By 1994, only farmer Stan Tobin and his family remained in the community, and several vacated houses could be seen along the road through Ship Cove.

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/ShipCoveStBrides



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