Mount Carmel-Mitchells Brook-St. Catherine's: Located along the northern bank of Salmonier Arm in St. Mary's Bay, the community of Mount Carmel-Mitchell's Brook-St. Catherine's is most often referred to as Mount Carmel.

Some of the early settlers came from Ireland and made a living from fishing and lumbering.

Who gave the community Mount Carmel its name is unknown, however one assumes it was named by some of the Irish Catholic settlers, after the part of Palestine where Mount Carmel is located and where the Carmelite nuns and friars established a Catholic religious order as far back as the 12th century.

The somewhat convoluted history behind the community's name is well documented in the ENL: The communities were first recorded with 78 inhabitants in the 1845 Census and were referred to collectively as Salmonier (which also included St. Joseph's, Newtown and Forest Field).

By the time the area had been divided into Salmonier North and Salmonier South in 1901, the population had rapidly expanded to a total of 761 settlers, 388 of whom were residing in the north (Mount Carmel, Mitchell's Brook and St. Catherine's).

In 1911 part of Salmonier North was renamed Salmonier, which was divided into Mount Carmel and Mitchell's Brook by 1935.

Another area of settlement, known as the Head of Salmonier in 1911, later became St. Catherine's. After 1935 the population of the three communities continued to rise until the 1960s, after which time it remained relatively stable between 650 and 750.

Taking advantage of the availability of cod, salmon and lobster, families of Irish origin settled along the sloping banks of Salmonier Arm, planted vegetable gardens, and set up sawmills.

While all the different names are known, why they were chosen still is mystery. Most likely Mitchells Brook was named after a settler, but usual sources for information do not confirm that link and similarly why St. Catherine was chosen in unknow, maybe someone had a particular fondness for that saint.

According to information that is included in the Wikipedia website "Catherine of Alexandria, or Katharine of Alexandria, also known as Saint Catherine of Alexandria, Saint Catherine of the Wheel and The Great Martyr Saint Catherine, is, according to tradition, a Christian saint and virgin, who was martyred in the early 4th century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius".

The three communities were incorporated in 1970, at which time the population obviously would have increased, in fact by the 1980s the population was recorded as being more than 650.

The population of Mount Carmel-Mitchells Brook-St Catherine's in 2016 totaled 349, a slight decrease (2.5%) from that recorded in 2011 (358).

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/MountCarmelNL