Virgin Arm: Located at the head of Friday's Bay, on New World Island in Notre Dame Bay, according to information from the various ENL sources, the name probably came from the fact it was a "virgin" in terms of the time frame of being settled (i.e., many other nearby communities were settled before this one).

It is known that it was used for "winter woods work and schooner-building by fishermen from Tizzard's Harbour and Twillingate from the early 1800s" but the first recorded settlement was almost seventy years later, when in the 1870s there was a settlement with a recorded population of 10.

At around the same time, there was a community of Virgin Cove or Virgin's Cove, which was located on Merasheen Island, Placentia Bay, north of Merasheen harbour.

It appears that the community had a short "existence", being settled in the early 1830s and deserted in the 1890s. Why it was given the name of Virgin or Virgin's Cove is unknown.

DILDO RUN PROVINCIAL PARK:

If you were looking for Dildo Run Provincial Park on a map of Newfoundland you will not find it any where near the town of Dildo as it is located on New World Island east of the town of Virgin Arm, within a very short driving distance of the towns Twillingate on Twillingate Island and Birchy Bay on the mainland.

The park is also within a short driving distance of the ferry to Fogo Island and Change Islands, also popular areas on the north shore.

Dildo Run Provincial Park was opened to the public in 1967. The parks 328 hectares (810.5 acres) provides great access to the surrounding areas. New World Island has not always been connected to the mainland portion of Newfoundland as it is today.

Years ago, they were separated from each other, and the mainland. Before the arrival of the Europeans to the island, Beaches (c.1000 AD), Little Passage (c.1500 D) and Beothuk peoples, all visited the area to hunt seals and small mammals, and fish in the waters of "The Run".

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Twillingate was the centre of the Labrador and North Shore fishery. For the people who travelled between the islands often, the need to navigate around the top of the island was an annoyance and, often, a danger.

According to an article by Douglas Ballam, published in the Newfoundland and Labrador online publication, The Independent (2014) entitled "Our Battered Provincial Parks System turns 60", the derivation of the Parks name is as follows:Located on New World Island, the park is named after a tramway along the southern boundary of the park.

The tramway provided a safe shortcut back in the days when boats were the main mode of travel. That is not to say that boats are uncommon in the area today.

Indeed, many people use boats to access the 365 islands scattered through the stunning Notre Dame Bay.... Dildo Run, mid-sized between Lockston Path [Provincial Park] and Frenchman's Cove [Provincial Park], is the perfect place to base your trip as you explore this historically rich area.

This explanation, however, does not connect the "run" with the "tramway" so the research team continued to look for other possibilities.

As described earlier a "run" is a small, narrow, and fast flowing watercourse, however finding out why the stretch of water between New World Island and the mainland of the Island of Newfoundland was called Dildo Run, given the island of "Dildoe" mentioned earlier that was known as far back as 1711 by various surveyors, is many miles south in Trinity Bay was not confirmed, however, the team was able to find out a bit of information about the Run.

According to a website dedicated to kayaking in Newfoundland, it was determined that there are 365 areas in the area known as "The Run". The following is from that site:

Dildo Run has humpback and minke whales (off the east end of Dunnage Island) as well as loons, bald eagles, osprey, black ducks, Greater and Lesser Yellowlegs and other shorebirds, mink, and moose.

Aquatic life includes jelly fish, star fish, sea urchins, kelps, and grasses, etc. The area may be a nursery area for cod and other fish species. Given the relatively shallow nature of the Run, the water warms up enough in July and August to permit swimming comfortably.

Local residents of Dildo Run have many place names for the area which do not appear on the official government NTS [National Topographic System] maps.

These include Wigwam Tickle, Curtis' Pond, Coaker's Island, Yellow Fox Island, Fair May's Lookout, Chinneyville, Black Head, Goose Tickle, Rattling Tickle, and Gooseberry.

Many of the residents also have cabins on several the islands in the Run.

Wigwam Tickle, which is close to Parkview, is a popular place for cabins.... The distance from Dildo Run Provincial Park to the far east end of Dunnage Island (pronounced Denage Island) is about 12 kilometres [7.4 miles] while the distance to the southern limit of the area at Boyd's Cove is about 9 kilometres [5.6 miles].

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/VirginArmCartersCove