Channel-Port Aux Basques Newfoundland And Labrador

Port aux Basques is the oldest of the collection of villages that make up the present-day town, which consists of Port aux Basques, Channel, Grand Bay, and Mouse Island. Amalgamation took place in the 1970s.

1 History

The community received its name from whalers hailing from the Basque region of the Pyrenees of France and Spain who sailed in the area during the 1500s. Permanent settlement came from French fishermen who overwintered on this, the "French shore", using rights given under the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht which saw France cede Newfoundland to England in exchange for right of use of coastal lands for the fishery. With the fishery being the economic mainstay for both French and British settlers in the area, Channel-Port aux Basques appeared destined to remain a collection of small fishing villages.

1.1 Telegraph cable

In 1856, an undersea telegraph cable was successfully laid between Newfoundland and Cape Breton IslandCape Breton Island (French: le du Cap-Breton Irish/Scottish Gaelic: Eilean Cheap Breatuinn Mi'kmaq: U'namakika is a large island on the Atlantic coast of North America. It is part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada, although physically separated from, making landfall nearby. This was the first step in the race to complete a trans-Atlantic telegraph cableCyrus Field was the instigator of the laying of the first transatlantic telegraph cable between North America and Europe August 5th 1858. It was not particularly successful or long-lasting. A later attempt in 1866 was more successful. Compare to the later.

1.2 Railway

In the 1880sEvents and Trends About 300 000 Swedes emigrate to the United States. First Boer War First commercial production and sales of phonographs and phonograph recordings. First steel frame construction "sky-scrapers" The New Imperialism Science and technology J, the Government of Canada erected a lighthouse at nearby Cape Ray which, despite being in the then-separate British colony of Newfoundland, was considered a navigation hazard for vessels bound for Canadian ports in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

In 1893Events January 1 Japan accepts the Gregorian calendar January 2 Introduction by Webb C. Ball of the General Railroad Timepiece Standards in North America: Railroad chronometers January 13 The Independent Labour Party of the UK has its first meeting. Janua it was decided to extend the western terminus of the Newfoundland RailwayThe Newfoundland Railway was constructed from 1881 to 1897 and operated until 1988. To reduce expense in construction and operation, narrow guage (3. 5 feet) track was used. However, the disadvantage was slower speeds, more frequent derailments, and incom, then under construction west from the Avalon PeninsulaThe Avalon Peninsula is a large peninsula (9,270 km²) that makes up the southeast portion of the island of Newfoundland. The peninsula is home to forty percent of Newfoundland's population, and is the location of the capital, St. It is connected to the ma by Robert G. Reid , from St. Georges to Port aux Basques harbour. By 1897Events January 1 Brooklyn, New York merges with New York City. January 4 A British force is ambushed by Chief Ologbosheri, son-in-law of the Oba of Benin. This leads to a Punitive Expedition against Benin. February 2 The Pennsylvania state capitol is dest the tracks reached Port aux Basques, although the harbour facilities had not been built at that time to handle the steamer Bruce which had been built in Scotland and had arrived in Newfoundland several months earlier. Instead, while Port aux Basques harbour was having docks built, the Bruce operated from October, 1897 until June, 1898 between Little Placentia to North Sydney, Nova Scotia .

1.3 Ferries

On June 30, 1898, the first passenger train arrived in Port aux Basques and the Bruce departed for North Sydney shortly afterward. Over the years, the Newfoundland Railway expanded both the number of trains and vessels which called at Port Aux Basques. In 1925 the steamer Caribou began service but was attacked and sunk by a U-boat on October 14, 1942. On March 31, 1949 Newfoundland entered into Confederation and the railway was transferred to Canadian National Railways.

Under CNR, Port aux Basques was expanded in the 1950s with the construction of new dock facilities and the arrival of newer and larger ships such as the William Carson. Extensive blasting of rock created large railyards with extensive dual- gauge trackage. This rock was then used as fill to create the required docks. By the mid- 1960s, new railcar-capable ferries such as the Frederick Carter permitted the exchange of railcars requiring further expansion at Port aux Basques terminal facilities.

The mid-1960s also saw the completion of the Trans-Canada Highway across Newfoundland, an event that forecast the death of the railway which would be abandoned by 1988, but which made Port aux Basques into an even more important gateway to the island of Newfoundland for increased number of tourists visiting the province, and the rising amount of truck traffic. New Ro-Pax (roll-on, roll-off, vehicle/passenger) capable vessels were commissioned and/or chartered during the 1960s-1980s to meet the growing demand, such as the Marine Nautica, Marine Atlantica, Marine Evangeline, Ambrose Shea, and John Hamilton Gray.

With the abandonment of the railway, extensive rebuilding of Port aux Basques terminal resulted in expansive marshalling areas for waiting motor vehicle traffic. A plant disease inspection station is located near a modern rebuilt railway station which is now used as a passenger terminal for the ferry service operated by Marine Atlantic, which was renamed from CN Marine in 1986. Port aux Basques harbour hosts the arrival of the two largest icebreaking ferries in the world, the Caribou and Joseph and Clara Smallwood, as well as other passenger and cargo vessels.

Newfoundland and Labrador communities

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