P.O. Box 89 |
Newfoundland Tourism Region : Avalon
Come By Chance was originally known as Passage Harbour, so named by John Guy, an early colonist, in 1612, who wrote, as cited in the ENL, that he had discovered it "by a way cut into the woods, which being prosequited, yet was found to lead directly to a harborough in Placentia Bay that is now called "Passage Harbour". It was later, in the early 1700s reported to be known as Comby Chance. In the early 1800s there was reference to the "Come By Chance River" and by 1836, the first census of the community, under the name "Come By Chance", which included the two adjacent communities of Arnolds Cove and Bordeaux, showed a total of 56 inhabitants. On the town website, the notion that ships would "rarely" stop in, is rebuked: there it is suggested that the town''''s name most likely came from the fact that the harbour was discovered "by chance" and not necessarily that mariners would be taking a "chance" to make it into the harbour safely. Come By Chance is not, at least nowadays, known for its fishery, but rather for its oil refinery.
Oil Refinery
Come by Chance gained national notoriety in the early 1970s with the building of a 16,000 cubic meter per day oil refinery. The $120-million petroleum complex included two 95,000 m3 crude-oil storage tanks, a railway spur track, a deep-water oil terminal, and the refinery itself, which produced its first oil in December 1973. However, after some malfunctions and the loss of its feedstock supply, the refinery went into receivership in 1976. The idle refinery was sold in July 1980 to Petro-Canada, which sold it for $1 to Newfoundland Energy Ltd. in 1986. The United States company, which was based out of Bermuda, reopened the refinery in August 1987 (Pitt, 2016). The refinery has changed ownership several times in the last two decades and is currently operating at North Atlantic Refining Limited. It remains a major employer in the Come By Chance area.
Come By Chance Estuary Conservation Area
According to the Stewardship Association of Municipalities (SAMNL) website, the Come By Chance Estuary Conservation Area located on the west side of the Town is "an important staging habitats for a variety of waterfowl species, including American black duck, Green-winged teal, and Canada geese".
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/22950.html