Ship Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador

Ship Harbour is a community in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada best known as the site of the 1941 meeting between Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt. While the H.M.S. Prince of Wales and the U.S.S. Augusta were secretly anchored in the entrance off Ship Harbour two dignitaries discussed the terms of the Atlantic Charter.

Ship Harbour has a population of about 200 people. It is 140 kilometers west of St. John's and can be reached on the TransCanada Highway and exiting at the Argentia Access Road. At the posted speedlimit the ride is about one and one-half hours from St. John's. At Dunville, turn right on Dawe's Hill to Fox Harbour and then on 12km (or 7 miles) to Ship Harbour.

The fjord-type harbour is surrounded by wooded hills. Sugarloaf Hill is 800ft.asl and Lookout Hill (or as the locals like to call it 'The Lookout') is about 200ft.asl. A magnificent view of the bay and islands can be seen from the top of Sugarloaf Hill. A fairly easy hiking trail leads to the top. A 25-30 minute walk will take you to the top and you can walk back down in only 15 minutes.

Those who visit gain a new appreciation of the splendor of Newfoundland's ruggedness. While visiting Ship Harbour you can't help but admire the beautifulscenery. There are colorful place names like Sugarloaf Hill, The Ice House, TheRed Scrape, The Knife Box, The Blue Cliff, Big Folks Pond, Little Folks Pond,Folks's Barrens and Seal's Cove Pond.

History

Ship Harbour was a separate community in the census of 1874 with 33 people and in 1884 it boasted 53 people. Before that time it was included in the census with Great Placentia.

The population grew steadily until the late sixties when people started to move away to find work. Possibly the greatest number of people lived there around the early 1960's when the population was around 300.

Early family names included Darmody,Fitzpatrick, and Bruce. Family names in Ship Harbour today include Griffiths, Griffin, Meade, Murphy, Power, Norman, Follett, Newman, Ledwell, Traverse and Upshall.