P.O. Box 99 |
Newfoundland Tourism Region : Avalon
Cupids: Located in the southwestern section of Conception Bay, approximately 80 km west of St. John's, Cupids has also gone by a number of names: Cupers Cove, Cupurts Cove, Cubitts Cove, Coopers Cove, Cupids Cove.
How it became known as "Cupids" is unknown, but a number of theories have been put forth. Some think that the name comes from the fact that the town was a site of "coopering", a term used to describe the business of making barrels and casks; others have suggested that it comes from the surname Cowper or Cooper.
Other possible derivations include the Latin word for copper, cuprum, and the Dutch word kuyper meaning cooper. The actual community was first settled in 1610 by John Guy, a venture of the" Company of Adventurers and Planters of the City of London and Bristol", and by 1613 at least sixteen structures had been built by the settlers, including a fort, a sawmill, a gristmill and a brew house.
But, as mentioned above, Bristol investors withdrew in 1617 and started Bristol Hope colony and it was not long (1620s-1630s) before Bristol company began to lose interest, most likely because of lack of financial return to the shareholder.
Eventually around 1700 the colony was abandoned. Today, archeologists are working the dig site at the original cove plantation. The Cupids Cove Plantation Provincial Historic Site (PHS) is open to the public.
According to the PHS website, "excavation since [1995] have uncovered the remains of four early 17th-century buildings and more than 135,000 artifacts - each one adding a new piece to the picture of these early settlers' lives.
One thing is clear - Canada's first settlers were building a community and they intended to stay". In 2016 there were 743 residents (a decrease of 2.4% from 2011) when there were 761.
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/Cupids