Whiteway: Located south of Cavendish, the community of Whiteway is in a large open cove, with the odd name of Witless Bay.

A prominent landmark in the bay is a large rock, which according to information contained in the ENL was known, as early as 1775 as a shipping hazard. It appeared on early English map as "Witless Rock".

The community, until the carly 1900s, was known as either Witless or Witler's Bay, but because there is another "Witless Bay" (yes, there are two bays with the same strange name) in the southern section of the island, it was renamed Whiteway, to honor the former Prime Minister, William Whiteway, who was a three-time Premier of NL, from 1878 to 1885, 1889 to 1894, and 1895 to 1897.

According to ENL sources, Whiteway "is chiefly remembered for his efforts to diversify the Island's economy through a "policy of progress", especially through his advocacy of the construction of a trans peninsular railway".

According to the ENL.com website, there is a large "rock formation" known as "Shag Rock" and is described as a "famous landmark".

One would surmise that this 'large triple-horned rock, jutting sharply out of the water in the middle of the harbour" is the same rock known in the past as Witless Rock, but research did not confirm that speculation. On the Rock's of Newfoundland website comes the following:

Throughout the world, there are many rock formations, called shag rock. Apparently, the name comes from a bird, called the shag, which is a species of the cormorant. Those birds roost on those rock formations. Is this why this rock formation is called shag rock?

Because the community was further away from lucrative fishing grounds of Trinity Bay, Whiteway was not settled until around 1850.

Local family history has suggested that a man by the name of Burgess, who was known to have deserted the ship the Royal Gazette at Crocker's Cove in about 1847, and when he arrived in Witless Bay and set up "camp" he became the first permanent settler in the area.

The fishing industry has been the main employer in the area with some fishermen being part of the Labrador fishery, and others finding a living by fishing closer to home as part of the cod shore fishery.

According to material presented in the ENL entry, salmon and lobster were prized from the early 1900s on.

The logging industry was also a major employer at the turn of the century. In 2016 the population of Whiteway was recorded as consisting of 373, reflecting a significant increase over the 5-year period from 2011, when there were only 293 residents enumerated.

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/Whiteway