P.O. Box 40 |
Newfoundland Tourism Region : Western
Cow Head: Located on the west side of the Great Northern Peninsula, north of St. Paul's Inlet and the Western Brook Pond, this "head" is unique, particularly as its derivation is well known.
According to ENL sources, Cow Head was originally named Cap Pointu (Pointed Cape) by Jacques Cartier who visited there on June 16, 1534.
"This Cape is all eaten away at the top, and the bottom towards the sea is pointed, on which account we named it the pointed cape" is why he gave it the name; however the name was later changed (date unknown) to "Tete de Vache" or as the English refer to is as "Cow Head" because of a rock formation that was there at the time (and since washed away) that had the appearance of a cow.
That boulder and another near by was referred to by fishermen as the "Cow and Bull".
The first census, taken in 1857, showed that there were 55 residents; by 1873 it had grown to 67. Close to the lucrative fishing grounds the town continued to steadily grow in size.
At first it was herring, cod, capelin and salmon that were fished; later it became know for its lobster fishery. By the 1930s there were at least 20 factories processing the catch.
While fishing was always number one, the discovery of oil in near by Parsons Pond, and later the development of a number of sawmills, continued to provide a source of employment and through the 1900s the town grew to have as many as 450 residents.
In the 1970s with the formation of Gros Morne National Park, tourism became important to the residents of Cow Bay. The most recent census indicated that the population had decreased from 475 in 2011 to 428 (a decrease of 9.9%) in 2016.
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/CowHead