It is located about 90 kilometres (56 mi) northwest of the provincial capital,St. John's. The town has a population of 2,796 (2021), engaged primarily infishing andfish processing. The alternative spelling ofHarbor Grace was current at one time.[2]
The town was named after theFrench city ofHavre de Grâce, which is now known asLe Havre.[3] Harbour Grace was an importantport and fishing centre from the earliest days of European exploration ofNorth America. The town was a thriving seasonal fishing community by 1550. The first resident known by name was Robert Tossey of Dartmouth in 1583.[4]
In 1610,piratePeter Easton made Harbour Grace his headquarters, and established a fort overlooking the bay. Although it was attacked by the French the following year, the early settlement survived throughout the 17th century, with a permanent, year-round population numbering a few dozen, swelling to several hundred during the fishing season.
Over the coming years, control of Harbour Grace became a point of contention between the English and the French. The town, with a population numbering about 100, was razed by the French in 1697,[6] again in 1700, and captured briefly in 1762. Nevertheless, between these attacks, the population grew by 50%. By 1771, the population was close to 5,800. By then, however, other colonial towns along theAtlantic coast had surpassed Harbour Grace in population and influence.
TheSpirit of Harbour Grace and monument toAmelia Earhart
The town continued to grow and peaked in population in 1921, when the census was taken at 11,458 residents.[7]
As trans-Atlanticaviation became more popular in the 1920s and 1930s, many aviation pioneers, among themAmelia Earhart andThor Solberg chose to make their crossing from the nearbyHarbour Grace airfield due to its proximity to continental Europe. Altogether, some twenty flights left Harbour Grace from 1919 to 1936 in their attempts to cross the Atlantic.[7]
In July 1941, theRoyal Canadian Navy established a High Frequency Direction Finding wireless station on the airfield. Consisting of an Operations Building and a Direction Finding shack, the station had an uninterrupted sweep of the northern Atlantic sector and was able to provide bearings on U-boat transmissions and to intercept enemy radio traffic.[7]
Harbour Grace was one of the first sites that the Royal Canadian Navy was solely responsible for after war broke out. On May 21, 1945, the Canadian Naval Service approved closing down and disposing of its facility at Harbour Grace.[7] There is no evidence of the station today. Following WWII, the airstrip was left to deteriorate. In 1977, through the efforts of the Harbour Grace Historical Society, it was restored to a usable condition. In 1999, after years of being considered abandoned, the airstrip was reinstated to official international airdrome status under the designator of CHG2.[7]
Today, Harbour Grace continues its tradition as a fishing and fish processing centre. In addition, because of its rich history and many historical buildings, including the 1870 customs house, now theConception Bay MuseumArchived 2018-10-03 at theWayback Machine, a smalltourist industry is emerging. The Gordon G. Pike Railway Heritage Museum and Park (c. 1881–1884) was designated a Municipal Heritage Building in 2006.[7]
In the2021 Census of Population conducted byStatistics Canada, Harbour Grace had a population of2,796 living in1,307 of its1,483 total private dwellings, a change of-6.6% from its 2016 population of2,995. With a land area of 33.71 km2 (13.02 sq mi), it had a population density of82.9/km2 (214.8/sq mi) in 2021.[8]
Handley Page flyer preparing to cross the Atlantic in Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, 1919
The first English account of the capture of St. John's by the French came from Harbour Grace Island in 1708.[citation needed]
Laurence Coughlan, credited as the founder ofMethodism in Newfoundland, laid the foundations of Newfoundland's first Methodist movement when he served as an Anglican priest in Harbour Grace from 1766 to 1773.[citation needed]
The Harbour Grace Court House, constructed in 1830, is the oldest surviving public building in the province and aNational Historic Site of Canada.[12]
St. Paul's Anglican Church in Harbour Grace was built in 1835, making it the oldest stone church in Newfoundland and Labrador.[13]
The Harbour Grace Regatta, held annually since 1862, is the second-oldest continuing sporting event in North America.[14]
Built around 1867, the Masonic building of Lodge Harbour Grace No. 476 A.F. & A.M. S.C., is the oldest wooden Masonic meeting house in Canada.[15]
The first railway line in Newfoundland was completed to Harbour Grace in 1884.[16]
The first flight by a Canadian from North America to England embarked October 9, 1930, in the planeMaple Leaf (akaColumbia), piloted by Capt.J. Erroll Boyd (1891–1960) and was navigated by the American, Lieut. Harry Connor. This flight was also notable for transporting mail bearing a surcharged stamp as a commemorativeoverprint.[17] The aviators borrowed aWebley & Scott flare pistol to carry during the flight from Edward Langdon Oke, a former Sergeant with theRoyal Newfoundland Regiment in World War I. The aviators had the gun engraved to mark the historic flight and it resides in the collection at the Conception Bay Museum.[18]Amelia Earhart took flight from Harbour Grace on May 20, 1932, to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. The early transatlantic flights from the Harbour Grace airfield were designatedEvents of National Historic Significance.
The hand-operated, iron "Washington" press, manufactured byR. Hoe & Company, was used in Harbour Grace for more than a century—1850[19] to 1962. The press was purchased from Munn & Oke, Ltd by Memorial University, now named "Pitcher Plant Press", and is on display in theQueen Elizabeth II Library (Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador).[20]
Daniel Cleary (born 1978) is a formerNHL winger, notably for theDetroit Red Wings. In 2008, he became the first player from Newfoundland and Labrador to win theStanley Cup.[21] Danny Cleary Arena is named in his honour.
George Webber (born 1820) was a newspaperman and poet.
Robert John Parsons (1802–1883) was a journalist and politician in Harbour Grace. He was the owner of theNewfoundland Patriot newspaper.
ProfIan Maclaren Thompson FRSC FRSE (1896–1981), anatomist. Founder and first President of the Canadian Association of Anatomists and President of theManitoba Museum.[22]
Robert Oke (1794–1870) was the first Chief Inspector for the Newfoundland Lighthouse Service and served from 1855 to 1870. He published several books, including two books of early Newfoundland lighthouse designs in 1860 and 1861, with a revised edition of the latter in 1865.[23][24][25] Oke installed the first light mechanism (fromBell Rock Lighthouse) at theCape Bonavista Light in 1842, and installed the famousIsle of May light mechanism at theCape Pine Light in 1850, which was later moved to Harbour Grace Island and finally to Cape Bonavista, where it can be viewed today.
^William Barker,"Hayman, Robert (bap. 1575, d. 1629)",Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, September 2004; accessed January 31, 2018.
^Fitzgerald, Jack (4 August 2015). "Harbour Grace regatta operates since 1862". St. John's: The Telegram.{{cite journal}}:Cite journal requires|journal= (help)
^Staff (March 23, 1963)."History of Press to be Taught".The Muse.13 (18). St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador: Memorial University: 14, 20. RetrievedJune 21, 2017.
^Oke, Robert (1854).A Rudimentary Treatise on the History Construction and Illumination of Lighthouses. St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Oke, Robert (1865).Plans of the several light houses in the Colony of Newfoundland. Attributions and conjectures. Taken from authentic documents by G.F. Baillairge at St. John's NF from 23 to 30 Oct 1865. St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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