Lewisporte: Located near the head of Burnt Bay in the Bay of Exploits, Lewisporte (note the "e") has had a number of names over time.

Originally it was known as Burnt Bay (one assumes after the bay by the same name, but then again which came first the bay or water or the name of the town?), but in 1891 it was changed to Marshallville to honour the Methodist missionary William Marshall, who served his "flock" in Newfoundland in the 1830s and 40s.

According to information contained in the entry in the ENI, the next change came in the eary 1900s: About 1900 the Reid Newfoundland Company chose the harbour as the site for a railway terminal and a branch line was built from Notre Dame Junction.

Around the same time Scottish lumberman Lewis Miller began using the port as a shipping yard for his sawmills at Millertown and Glenwood, enhancing the town's growth to such an extent that it was renamed Lewisporte in his honour.

With the completion of the branch line Lewisporte became a major transportation and communication link to northern Newfoundland and Labrador....

Between 1906 and 1908 Lewisporte's economy was again boosted by the construction of the Anglo-Newfoundland Development Co. mill at Grand Falls, construction materials and heavy machinery for the project passing through the port.

(When construction was completed the company chose Botwood as its shipping terminal.) By 1911, with a population of 514, 45 people were engaged in the lumbering trade and 24 in fishing, while there were 17 tradesmen, 9 government workers and 6 farmers.

In the late 1930s Lewisporte also received considerable business from the development of Gander Airport and during World War II it became an important base of operations for the Canadian forces.

Aviation fuel for Gander passed through the port which was considered of sufficient "Military importance that guns were installed to defend against possible Nazi U-boat attacks.

Three military sites were located there: one in the east end by Hann's Point, one called Bowater's Site on the back of the town, and another in the town's centre.

The population count in 2016 recorded a total of 3,409 residents, a 2.1% decrease from the 3,483 enumerated 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/Lewisporte