While touring Newfoundland's magnificent Bonavista Peninsula, Steven and I stayed three nights in the charming town of Trinity at the Trinity Cabins, built in 1948. They were built to accommodate the town's travelers, most of whom came from the nearby Avalon Peninsula. Because there was no restaurant in the area, the cabins were equipped with cooking facilities. The cabins were heated by wood- and coal-burning stoves, which were also used for cooking. With the increase in vehicular traffic in the early '50s, a hand-pump gas pump was added in 1953.
As Steven and I headed south toward the Newfoundland capital of St. John's, the first city we'd see in ages, we passed the peaceful and serene Cape Cove.
Fishing lines strung out in the cove:
I may well be biased, but I think Newfoundland has hands down the most number of adorable place names we've come across anywhere. Goobies, Heart's Desire, and Come by Chance were just a few of those as we drove north up the Baccalieu Coastal Trail that traces the long finger of the Avalon Peninsula between Trinity Bay and Conception Bay.
I don't think lupines were the province's flower, but they should be judged by how many we saw!
Steven almost joked that he missed the pothole-filled back roads as we neared Dildo, best known, as you might imagine, for its risque name! The gorgeous, fog-covered Dildo Arm:
Dildo's name was thought to have been bestowed by Captain Cook because of its phallic offshore island. The community was less well known for being home to the first commercial codfish hatchery in Canada.
Tiny Dildo's attempt to copy the famous Hollywood sign!
Shag Rock in Dildo Arm:
A short distance away was the community of Heart's Content, which was "discovered" when John Guy sailed into Trinity Bay in 1612. However, according to his journal, the harbor was already known to English fishermen. Some believe the harbor was named after a ship, while others point to its lovely heart-shaped harbor. By 1675, there were 19 permanent residents, although some were winter caretakers for the English migratory fishermen who arrived each spring and left in the fall.
A stone pillar marked the dawn of global communications when the first transatlantic telegraph cable was installed between 1858 and 1866. When it landed in Heart's Content from Valentia Island on the west coast of Ireland, it was a spectacular engineering achievement and marked a major advance in communications. Subsequent transoceanic cables owed their successful completion to this courageous endeavor over the uneven ocean floor. It revolutionized the technology and speed of communications over great distances.
Across the street was Heart's Content Cable Station, one of several buildings constructed by the Anglo-American Telegraph Company to support cable operations. The site is currently on Canada's tentative list for UNESCO World Heritage Site designation.
The Heart's Content Registered Heritage District was the surviving late 19th-century townscape associated with the cable operations. The district featured homes for cable employees in cottage, Southeast, and Victorian styles.
The following images, however, were what caught my eye this time, not the homes.
Close by was the hamlet of Winterton, whose chief attraction was its Wooden Boat Museum. If it had been open, I'd have liked to see the kayaks, one of the oldest crafts built by the Thule people, and the punts and dories, the iconic Newfoundland fishing boats.
According to a historical marker, in 1996 Winterton had a population of only 622, most of whom were descendants of fishing servants brought over from villages near Poole, a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the 1700s. Some day, I'd like to visit Poole, as my mum was enamored with its signature Poole Pottery.
Thank goodness we weren't hungry that morning, as there wasn't a single restaurant anywhere to be found, let alone open, on the entire west side of the Avalon Peninsula! We then drove across the peninsula to begin our southward route toward Harbour Grace, once the second-largest town in Newfoundland, before suffering a series of setbacks, including seven fires in less than a century. Named Havre de Grace by the French in the early 16th century, the lovely town boasts a long history of pirates and aviation!
The town's impressive Gothic Revival-style Roman Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was completed in 1899 from local quarried stone, granite from Scotland, marble from Italy, and bricks from Germany. The church's design was modeled after St. Peter's in Rome, reflecting the town's importance in the fishing industry. Its twin spires stood as a visual beacon and landmark to all who entered Harour Grace by rail, road, or sea. It was easy to understand why the imposing edifice was considered an important cultural and historic landmark in the area. However, after its last Mass in 2014, it was deconsecrated and sold, with plans to convert it into a hotel, spa, and brewery. How sad that sounded to me.
For four centuries, Harbour Grace has been an important port for fishermen and bringing in supplies. Bristol merchants settled here in 1618, and it remained Bristol's port in Newfoundland until well into the 1880s. The British military fortified and protected the town in 1768, demonstrating its importance to the British.
Across the street was the handsome, Georgian-style Hampshire Cottage from 1815.
Rothesay House was built in 1855 in nearby Brigus for Captain William Azariah Munden. His grandson and wife dismantled the lovely home and shipped it by schooner in 1906 to their hometown of Harbour Grace. The home, named for the Scottish town the descendants sailed from, was typical of the Queen Anne style, and "speaks to the wealth and status of the original owners." The home was now an inn.
The substantial, Queen Anne-style Maples, named for its profusion of maple trees, was the summer residence of a prominent local businessman, Willis Davis, who lived in Boston during the winter months. The home's location suggests his wealth and social status within Harbour Grace's prosperous area at the turn of the 20th century.
The original Ridley Hall, a historic site that was largely destroyed by a fire in 2003, was built circa 1834 of local stone and brick with a slate roof for merchant Thomas Ridley. Ships were known to salute Ridley as they sailed past! The home contained 17 rooms, including a ballroom at the rear. There are reports of glamorous balls held there in 1855 and 1866, the latter for the American firm that retrieved the transatlantic cable lost between Heart's Content and Halifax.
One of the few remaining stone structures in the area, it was designated a heritage structure in 1994. The building remained vacant for many years before the fire, and only the outer walls were intact when we visited.
One block up from the harbor was the Gothic Revival-style St. Paul's Church of England. The church's cornerstone was laid in 1835 on the same site as the original wooden church built in 1764. The church's first bell came from Liverpool, England. In 1955, the faith's name changed to Anglican. It was the oldest Gothic Revival-style church in the province and one of just a handful of surviving stone churches.
During the 19th century, Harbour Grace was an important center in Newfoundland, and for much of this period, it boasted one of two courthouses in the British colony. Its Courthouse was designed and constructed in 1830 by Patrick Keough, who came to Newfoundland as a child from Ireland. Support for its construction came from the British government and pledges from every business in Conception Bay of one pound Sterling for every 112,00 pounds of fish shipped! Keough placed a time capsule in a corner of the four-ft. walls in 1830.
This was the oldest public building in the province. Its large central window and solid masonry construction make it typical of other Canadian courthouses of the era. However, its attached residence for a jailer, used until 1963, was not a common practice in either Britain or Canada. The courthouse and jail were in use until 2016. The building was then sold to a private enterprise.
The jail:
The airstrip at Harbour Grace, one of Canada's earliest operating airfields, played a role in shaping world aviation in 1927. That year, Stinson Aircraft Corporation and Waco Oil Company sponsored an around-the-world flight. Newfoundland was strategically located, but it didn't have an official airstrip. That was quickly remedied after a public town meeting was held in Harbour Grace on July 27, and land was purchased. Work began on August 8, was completed just 18 days later, and the first pilots took off on August 27!
Harbour Grace continued to attract international aviation, including Amelia Earhart, who completed the world's first transatlantic, solo female flight after taking off from here in May of 1932. A historical plaque noted, "The daring pioneers who used the Harbour Grace airfield wrote a glowing chapter in the history of early aviation and directed attention to Newfoundland as the crossroads of North Atlantic air routes."
Before her famous flight, Earhart stayed at the red-brick Hotel Harbour Grace.
One of our enduring memories of Newfoundland will always be its red, white, and blue chairs, strategically placed in scenic spots throughout the province.
We spotted the wreck of the steamship SS Kyle, which broke free from its moorings during a storm in February 1967 and was pushed into the mudflats at Riverhead, Harbour Grace. Built in 1913, the Kyle was a passenger and cargo ship known as the fastest in the Reid Newfoundland Company's "Alphabet Fleet." It was used for general transport and even transported infantry to Canada during World War II.
In 1610, when plantation owner John Guy established Cuper's Cove (now called Cupids) in Conception Bay, it became the oldest British settlement in Canada. Guy became the province's first governor, then mayor, Member of Parliament, and master of the Society of Merchant Venturers of Bristol. The monument was a gift from the citizens of Bristol and their society.
On Cupids' waterfront was Cupids Cove Plantation Site, the site of an ongoing dig unearthing the remains of Guy's plantation.The settlers cleared the land, fished, farmed, explored for minerals, and tried to establish fur trading with the Indigenous Beothuk.
When Sir John Berry, one of Newfoundland's founding fathers, led England's fishing convoy to the island in 1675, he was thrust into the middle of a dispute between English merchants and local settlers. He persuaded the king not to expel the colonists and collected the first existing census of Newfoundland, known as Berry's List. Think of the 17th-century portraits as reflecting the era's portraiture, in which men were powerful, and women were beautiful.
The rocks were used for drainage, according to the guide.
The forge had been in the light colored sand area on the left. The colonists were thought to have arrived in August of 1610 and camped in a shallow pit before moving into a dwelling house.
Volunteers had planted peas, lettuce, carrots, parsnips, and radishes in the period garden.
Some artifacts found around one house included an English clay tobacco pipe made in London between 1590 and 1610, an amber bead that John Guy mentioned trading for with the Beothuk Indigenous people, and a James I silver tuppence minted in either 1603 or 1604, found by the nail.
Though Cupids was normally a migratory fishing ground, three cannon mounts were found, suggesting that they were needed for possible defense against anyone who might possibly invade. The threat of pirates was a constant concern for people living along the coast.
Even though we'd come across the term 'plantation' previously in Newfoundland, the guide stressed that this was a plantation of people, not a cotton plantation, as was common in the southern states.
In mid-1995, an archaeological crew from the Baccalieu Trail Heritage Corporation conducted a survey of Cupids and uncovered the settlement on this terrace. The guide mentioned that Cupids was considered a likely site to begin excavations because of its proximity to nearby bodies of water.
The remains of a 120-ft.-long post with a dark stain were found. Altogether, 11 post holes were found. Historians knew there were tradespeople present, including a blacksmith, because 100 pounds of slag were found.
Nearby were the remains of two settlers' gravestones who died from smallpox at Cupids Cove between December 11, 1610, and March 11, 1611. A priest arrived in the colony in 1612.
One of the recreated dwelling houses in its original location:
The footprint from an original post included the rocks in their original location that were used to store provisions. Nearby, we saw a cobblestone floor that was likely used for animals to prevent hoof rot.
The guide said the red chimney bricks were brought from England. Broken ceramic vessels, a burnt wooden mantel, the head of an axe, and other items were found in front of the fireplace.
Volunteers had planted peas, lettuce, carrots, parsnips, and radishes in the period garden.
Some artifacts found around one house included an English clay tobacco pipe made in London between 1590 and 1610, an amber bead that John Guy mentioned trading for with the Beothuk Indigenous people, and a James I silver tuppence minted in either 1603 or 1604, found by the nail.
A Henry VII silver half groat minted in Canterbury between 1493 and 1499 was also uncovered at the Cupids Cove Plantation site on September 10, 2021.
The painting depicted a dwelling house and storehouse as they might have appeared in the fall of 1612 based on documentary, archaeological, and architectural evidence. The first women arrived at the colony in 1612, and the first English child was born the following year in what is now Canada.
As I'm writing this post 3.5 years after our visit, I wonder how much more has been revealed in the intervening years at Cupids Cove Plantation!
We then headed further south toward the charming town of Brigus.
The historic Brigus Courthouse was constructed between 1883 and 1884.
Hawthorne Cottage was the 200-year-old childhood home of Brigus' most famous son, world-renowned Arctic explorer Captain Robert Bartlett, who accompanied Robert Peary on his 1908 North Pole expedition.
The Ye Old Stone Barn Museum, located in a beautiful stone building dating to the 1820s, was built for local businessman Charles Cozen.
St. George's Anglican Heritage Church, a landmark in the community and visible from both land and sea, was built in 1876 in the Gothic Revival style.
The Captain Robert Bartlett Memorial:
The Brigus Tunnel was built for Bartlett during the summer of 1860 to provide easy access to the Bartlett wharf, which projected into the deep water at its outer end. Since the holes into which the blasting charges were placed had to be drilled by hand, a special forge was constructed near the site to keep the drills sharpened. The tunnel was completed after four months of hard labor.
Next post: Exploring St. John's Jellybean Row and other sights!
Posted on January 28th, 2026, from our home in Denver, a few days after returning from our relaxing Caribbean getaway. As I mentioned in previous posts, the unseasonably warm weather that we have enjoyed in the city for weeks has been wreaking havoc in Colorado's high country, where the nearly $5 billion-a-year Colorado ski industry is struggling to salvage its season. As one local television weather forecaster said, "There's great skiing this year, as long as it's not in Colorado!"
