Our Community

Logy Bay

[Logy Bay] The term "logy" means heavy and sluggish, and may have been applied to this community to refer to cod made "lazy" from eating caplin. The community had a population of 200 people in 1869, with 21 farming families and 10 engaged in the fishery. Farming was initially done on a haphazard, subsistence basis, but by the late nineteenth century people were selling milk and vegetables door to door in St. John's. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries fishing rooms were built at the base of the cliffs, and in summer entire families moved into these temporary dwellings along with their farm animals. Catches had to be hauled with winches as much as 300 feet up the cliffs.

In the mid-1800s a freshwater spring high in iron concentrates was discovered and won some recognition for its supposed medicinal qualities. Advertisements appeared in local papers in 1888 inviting the public to visit a spa built at the spring, but the venture soon collapsed. In 1942 an American artillery battery was built and manned for the duration of the war at Red Cliff and during the Korean War a radar station was erected at the site. In 1967 Memorial University's Marine Sciences Research Laboratory was built in Dyer's Cove.

Middle Cove

[Middle Cove] This community was smaller than its neighbors, the 1869 census listing 80 residents. At that time Middle Cove had eight farming and three fishing families, although it is unlikely that people relied on just the one occupation. Prior to World War II there were three commercial dairy farms and 15-20 fishing stages at Middle Cove. When the U.S. armed forces arrived in the 1940s fishing activity ceased as the older men worked on the American base in Pleasantville, while many of the younger men from the area went to bases in Greenland and Frobisher Bay. Following the War, farming largely died out, although a daily farm operated by the Kelly family was still active in 1991. In 1979 Middle Cove beach became a Provincial park. It is a favorite site for the annual Caplin Scull, attracting thousands of people each June.

Outer Cove

In 1836 there were 58 houses and 62 boats in Outer Cove, and a population of 305 -- the majority of the people being Roman Catholic. The population was 246 in 1869, consisting of 32 farming and three fishing families. Locally produced fresh milk was sold in the 1830s according to members of the Pine family whose ancestors still raised dairy cattle in 1991. Outer Cove has gained a degree of fame for its rowing crews. A men's crew established a record at the 1901 St. John's Regatta on Quidi Vidi Lake which lasted until 1981.