P.O. Box 56 |
Newfoundland Tourism Region : Central
Millertown: Located on a site known as Mary March Point on Red Indian Lake, the town was founded by Lewis Miller (and named by him).
He was a Scottish entrepreneur who opened a sawmill there in 1900, making it one of the earliest (or even possibly the first logging town in NL). Interestingly, according to the ENL sources, Miller, hired loggers from Sweden to work in the mill and in the 1901 Census 87 of 147 residents were reported as being "foreigners".
Unfortunately, the quality of the timber was poor, and the mill failed. Miller sold it to Harry J. Crowe in 1903 and most of the Swedish staff left. Logging has continued to be important to the town throughout its history, however, in 2016 there were only 61 people living in Millertown (an 18.2% decrease from the 99 recorded in 2011).
According to Brooks (2013) there had been a settlement at the same site long before "Millertown" was established. He reported that in 1768, John Cartwright was exploring the area with his Beothuk guide, Tom June and when June reported that his father had once lived there, Cartwright recorded the town as having the name of June's 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/MillertownNL