Baytona:

Located off of ROUTE 340, which runs from Lewisporte to Twillingate Island, Baytona is quite unique in terms of its history.

The following information, provided by the Community Council of Baytona, for the Greenwood Academy website outlines the history in some depth:

Most Newfoundland communities had their first settlers much earlier than 1901.

It seems Baytona is one of the newest communities on the island. Some settlements may be proud of being old, but problems such as: not being able to trace early settlers, old buildings being run down, etc... are some of the disappointments that exist.

Another factor making this community very unique is that after only a short period of time after settlement (1958) the old name was Birchy Bay North was changed to Gayside and then later (1985) the name was changed from Gayside to Baytona.

Across Canada, as well as across the world, areas are growing so fast that nearby owns are combining and renaming the joint places by one name.

Here the opposite was done. In the early days more people lived on the Birchy Bay side. When some moved across the bay it was called to the North Side of Birchy Bay or Birchy Bay North.

In 1958, however, the name of Birchy Bay North was changed to Gayside. The main reason for this change was because the mail would go Birchy Bay instead of Birchy Bay North.

By the time it went back to Lewisporte and came back again a week or more would be passed. The people were upset about this and as a result changed the name to Gayside.

Another reason for the name change is because the population was large enough for a name of their own....

In 1985, the name was changed from Gayside to Baytona. The reason for this change was the people from other communities would laugh at the name. The younger people were teased, and this caused a lot of embarrassment....

Every settlement starts for some reason. Here, it seems several had winter tilts. Fishing and lumbering were the main attractions. The first settler to move here was Mrs. Jessie Mews in 1901....

The first baby born was Stella Lewis in 1915. The first horse was owned by Silas Lewis and Sons in 1916. The first amalgamated school was done by volunteer work in 1920.

It received a loan of $200.00 from the United School Board. However, due to the war in 1939 this loan was never paid off.

The first person to die was Patience Blake in 1922. She was buried in Birchy Bay. The first marriage was Dorothy Blake and Roland Lewis. They were married by Reverend Stanley Tiller in the school.

It is unknown who suggested the name "Baytona" and in term of the toponomy classification system outlined earlier, the name really doesn't fit into any of the "typical categories", however, the name is very similar to the well known town of "Daytona" in the United States, the home of the Daytona International Speedway and the DAYTONA 500, one has to wonder if the town chose the name because of the similarity.

The population of Baytona in 2016 was 262 (a 0,8% decrease from the 264 or 2011), whereas Birchy Bay, located across the bay is quite a bit larger, 550 in 2016 (a 2.8% decrease from the 566 of 2011).
It is safe to assume that Birchy Bay was named for the proliferation of birch trees: the first sawmill was opened by 1911

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/Baytona