Glenburnie-Birchy Head-Shoal Brook
Town

Phone : (709) 453-7220
Your Host(s) : Municipality

Glenburnie-Birchy Head-Shoal Brook, NL (Nearby: Woody Point, Norris Point, Rocky Harbour, Trout River, Cox's Cove)

GD
Glenburnie-Birchy Head-Shoal Brook, A0K 1K0


Newfoundland Tourism Region : Western


Glenburnie: Located near the head of the South Arm of Bonne Bay, 8.9 km (5.5 mi) south of Woody Point, since 1978, Glenburnie is part of an incorporated community that goes by the name Glenburnie - Birchy Head - Shoal Brook.

While one might assume the town of Glenburnie was named to acknowledge the first settlers who were of Scottish origin (Glen Burnie, Glen Burnie Heights and Glen Burnie Park and Glenburnie are all places in Scotland), however, very little is actually known about who named it, when the name was chosen or why the name was selected.

It is known that the community was not settled until the 1880s or 1890s, which compared to others nearby communities was considerable later than most (most likely because it was far from the fishing grounds that were popular to the fishermen who plied the waters off the more southerly coast of the island) and that one of the first settlers was a Scot.

According to Mills (1971, cited in the ENL), Glenburnie was established by four different setders, one of whom was a Scot - Hugh McKenzie who came to Bonne Bay in 1883 from the Bay of Chaleur in New Brunswick to "cut wood" and that it was "only later that he realized the agricultural potential of the area and decided to begin farming the land."

The other original settlers included Samuel Simmonds who Mills described as "an English youngster.... primarily to fish"; Robert Janes from Carbonear [presumably an Englishman] "who used land in Glenburnie for agricultural purposes only" and William Goosney, also most likely an Englishman, who moved into the area from Birchy Head in 1912, reason not given.

According to ENL sources, the communities of Shoal Brook and Birchy Head take their names from "geographical" features. Two other towns, located in the same area, Silverton and Silver Point are said to be similarly named "for the silver colour of the many birch trees which were prominent in the area, although it is possible that these two communities were named for an early trader".

The population of Glenburnie-Birchy Head-Shoal Brook was 224 in 2016, a fairly large decrease of 13.2% from the 258 from five years earlier (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/GlenburnieBirchy



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