From the United States Hydrographic Office (1884) comes the following description of Hare Bay: Hare bay is nearly 5 miles wide at the mouth between Goose cape and Fishot islands, and is 18 miles deep east and west, containing several good harbours but little frequented.

The depth of water is great and the sea often very high in the bay, affording no anchorage till within the line of How harbour and Brent islands, where 16 fathoms water will be found, but no shelter.

According to M.F. Howley (n.d.) and W.B. Hamilton (1978), both cited in the ENL, the name Hare Bay, refers to the presence of the Arctic hare, Lepus americanus, more commonly known as the "snowshoe hare".

The NL Government website describes this particular hare as a large-footed animal that is dark brown in summer and turns white in winter.

Its large feet help the hare to stay on top of the snow in winter and its white fur works as a camouflage to protect it from predators. Native to Labrador, this species was introduced to Island of Newfoundland around 1860.

The snowshoe hare still is an important food source for many residents Newfoundland with 1.5 million hares being consumed annually.

The "rabbit", however, is more correctly referred to as a "cottontail" as in the Eastern Cottontail and the Mountain Cottontail. It is of the same order but is a different species.

It is smaller, have smaller hindlegs, and its fur remains grey/brown all year. Local legend maintains that in 1867 a trapper named Mr. Binister came to the area to trap "rabbits".

Each day he set out snares but one day, instead of finding his usual rabbits, he found hares instead.

According to an ENL contributor, it "is said that from that time on, this area was called Hare Bay".

Hare Bay: Located in Hare Bay, the town of Hare Bay is 16.4 km (10.2 mi) north of Gambo. The town, according to material included in the ENL, was settled in the late 1800s by people from "scattered island settlements of Bonavista Bay who realized in the rich timber stands of Hare Bay an opportunity to participate in the nascent but growing timber industry".

The logging industry was the main economic factor in the growth of the town until 1961 when a major forest fire decimated the area "destroying homes and large stands of valuable timber and with them the main source of employment.... At one stroke Hare Bay was finished as a logging town".

According to the 2016 census, there were 969 residents in the community, a 6.0% decrease from the 1,031 reported in 2011.

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/HareBay