Norris Arm: Located at the bottom of the Bay of Exploits on the southeastern side of an inlet of the same name, the community is said to be named after the first settler, a man by the name of J. Norris who took up residence as early as the 1700s (Brooks, 2013).

The information presented in the ENL does not mention a Mr. Norris by name and maintains that settlement occurred in the late 1800s, however, the town's website is clear in stating that the founder was J. Morris, and the correct date of settlement was the 1700s.

Two communities, Norris Arm South Norris and Arm North, on either side of the estuary, remained as named until the 1930s when Norris Arm North officially became Alderburn (however on the Provincial map it remains listed as Noris Arm North Side).

The main industry in the area is lumbering (hence the name of the alter tree being "honored" in the town's name), as opposed to fishing. According to the NL Heritage Webpage that traces the history of "land based-industries", throughout the 1890s, operators built mills or established logging communities at Botwoodville (now known as Botwood), Norris Arm, Glenwood, Millertown, Terra Nova, Benton, and various other locations along the railway.

For an interesting summary of the history of the lumbering industry in Newfoundland the reader should look at the article on the Heritage Website, where this synopsis is found: By 1901, Newfoundland and Labrador boasted close to 200 sawmills that employed 2,400 workers.

The country was exporting up to 50 million board feet of lumber each year, much of which was white pine. Years of intense harvesting, however, caused white pine to become depleted before the First World War and the sawmilling industry fell into decline.

Fortunately, a burgeoning pulp and paper industry, which used black spruce, balsam fir, and other varieties of softwood, created much employment for loggers and millworkers. Like sawmilling, the pulp and paper industry expanded after the railway made previously unexploited forests accessible to logging operations.

In 1909, the Anglo-Newfoundland Development (AND) Company opened a pulp and paper mill on the northwest bank of the Exploits River. It established the paper town of Grand Falls to accommodate mill workers and by 1911, 1,634 people lived at the site.

The company also acquired rights to forest lands at Badger and began logging operations there to supply the Grand Falls mill with lumber. As a result, Badger also experienced rapid growth in the coming years.

Today, Norris Arm is a town of over 600 people. In the 2016 there were a total of 666 residents, however, that reflects a dramatic decrease of 19.2% from the 912 recorded five years previously. Norris Arm should not be confused with Norris Point (see below) on the Great Northern Peninsula.

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/NorrisArm