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Newfoundland Tourism Region : Avalon
Spaniard's Bay: Located north of Bay Robert, the community of Spaniard's Bay is on a large bay by the same name which is separated by land from Bay Roberts to the south.
According to material presented in the ENL, the town consisting of smaller communities, including Vokey's Shore, Northern Cove, Mint Cove, Green Head and the neighbourhood of Goddenville, just inland.
The northern shore of Spaniard's Bay was settled given the safe harbour, however, the southern shore was not settled due to "rough seas and poor anchorage". Although the bay is exposed to "high seas", particularly at time of easterly gales, "shoreline between Northern Cove and Green Head provides relatively safe anchorage".
The history of "Spaniard's Bay" is very similar to Biscay Bay in terms of timeline and fishing interests. In those early days, cod was the fish that was of most interest, but later in the 1800s and early 1900s salmon and seatrout were prized catches in the Bay and in the Biscay Bay River, both for sport fishing and as a commercial fishery.
The area is still known as one of the finest sport fishing areas in the Province.
From the ENL:
Spaniard's Bay would appear to have been frequented by Basque and Portuguese fishermen (referred to as "Spaniards" by English fishermen) in the 1500s and 1600s.
In 1610 John Guy noted a path leading from Spaniard's Bay to Trinity Bay, suggesting at least seasonal occupation of the area. At the time of a French raid in 1705, the Smith and Barrett families occupied Bread and Cheese (Bishop's) Cove, the Smiths claiming to have been in possession of the land since 1625.
Gradually, other English fishermen and their families settled in Spaniard's Bay. American traders made frequent visits to fishermen in the area before 1776, exchanging salt, rum and tobacco for salt fish.
Initial settlement of Spaniard's Bay was concentrated at Mint Cove and Northern Cove....
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/SpaniardsBay