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Newfoundland Tourism Region : Avalon
Small Point-Adam's Cove Smith's Harbour-Blackhead-Broad Cove: Located on the North Shore between Kingston (formerly Upper Small Point) and Western Bay, this community is composed of a number of contiguous fishing communities that were settled in the mid to late 1700s.
Because the area is not known for very good shelter for large boats, smaller boats were able to land in some of the smaller coves but because of the rocky cliffs that rose from the ocean there was little room to build houses, and according to ENL sources, "as the population of the North Shore boomed in the nineteenth century, settlers built their homes and gardens on the banks above the sea, and the various communities soon 'ran together".
The most northerly of the communities is Adam's Cove, and one of the early settlers was James Adams, who the town was most likely named after.
Directly south of Adam's Cove is community of Blackhead, which of the group offered the best moorage. Why it was called Blackhead, and who named it is unknown, however since a "head" simply a high piece of land, it probably refers to what the head looked like, particularly in stormy weather.
Next in order is Broad Cove, followed by Small Point.
It is most likely that Broad Cove was named to describe the "width" of the cove and according to information included in the ENL. listing, Small Point was so named "because it was small in comparison with nearby Sugarloaf Head".
Originally when the independent fishing communities were incorporated to form the larger community in 1968, Kingston (slightly further south) was included but it withdrew in 1976.
While at one point the area had a considerably larger in population (as many as 1600 in 1911) with the decline in the local shore fishery the community began to "retreat' from the ocean, so that by the 1970s most homes were located along the highway".
The most recent census, conducted in 2016 recorded a population 387, almost the same as 5-years before when 389 townsfolk were enumerated (0.5% decline).
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/SmallPointAdamsCove