The History of Stephenville,...

The History of Stephenville, Newfoundland

Grade 8 Social Studies

Heritage Fair

Stephenville Middle School

Submitted by: Mason Dawe

Submitted to: Ms. Judy Lavallée-Dunphy

Date due: March 25, 2013


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Table of Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................1

Location .......................................................................................................1

Early Days of Stephenville ..........................................................................2

Harmon Air Force Base ...............................................................................4

Labrador Linerboard Mill ............................................................................6

Abitibi Price Paper Mill ...............................................................................7

Economy ......................................................................................................7

Recreation ....................................................................................................9

Flood of 2005 .............................................................................................10

Present Day ................................................................................................11

Interview with Paternal Grandmother, Loretta Dawe ................................12

Interview with Previous Town Manager, William MacNeil .....................19

Conclusion .................................................................................................28

Summary ....................................................................................................28

References ..................................................................................................30

Appendices


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Introduction

This report shall cover the major events that have impacted Stephenville. From Stephenville’s

founding, the Air Force Base, the Labrador Linerboard and Abitibi mills as well as the 2005

flood. It will also look into Stephenville’s economy, recreation and where we are today. Two

interviews are also highlighted within this report. One interview, with my grandmother, Loretta

Dawe, gives a more personal outlook into how Stephenville has changed over the years. The

second interview is with the former town manager, Mr. William MacNeil, to give a more

informed and inside look into the inner workings of the Town of Stephenville and Stephenville’s

economy.

Location

Stephenville is located 48°33’ north latitude and

58°33’ west longitude. This translates to

Stephenville being located the middle of the Saint

Georges region on the west coast of Newfoundland,

Canada. The town is actually further south than

some of the towns within the United States, the

country south of Canada, as the 49th

parallel

separates the two countries.


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Early Days of Stephenville

There is some confusion as to who founded the

Town of Stephenville.

It is known that William and Susannah Hunt and

James Penny were living in Margaree, Cape

Breton, Nova Scotia. To escape the poverty and

conflict they were living in, Hunt and James moved their families to the west coast of

Newfoundland near the Blanche (White) River on May 18, 1844. They founded what was then

known as the Acadian Village due to the existence of the bountiful farmland and fishing grounds.

The Acadian Village covered 7 miles, from the present day towns of Kippens to Seal Cove. Two

years later they (or possibly just the Penny family) moved to the Port au Port Peninsula.

In 1845, Felix Gallant moved his family from Margaree, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia into the

region near Blanche (White) River (Brook). When the Gallant family moved into the area they

apparently found no traces of either the Hunt or Penny families. They stayed in an abandoned

fishing hut while Felix Gallant was building the family’s home. On September 3, 1845 Stephen

Gallant was born. The Gallant’s went back to Margaree, Nova Scotia to have Stephen baptized in

1846. While in Margaree, Felix let others know how good the farmland and weather were. More

families moved into the area. Mrs. Gallant apparently only met Susannah Hunt after the Hunts

were living in the Port au Port area.


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In addition to the confusion over who founded Stephenville there is also confusion as to how

Stephenville got its name. As mentioned above, the area was once known as the Acadian Village.

From 1848 -1879 the area was also known as Indian Head. The first time we find record of the

area being called Stephenville was in 1874.

Some believe that Stephenville was named after Stephen Gallant, the first child born in the area.

While others believe that Stephen LeBlanc was the first child born in the area, but there is no

clear record of a Stephen LeBlanc prior to 1848. There is also a possibility that Stephen LeBlanc

was an adult that moved into the area with his family.


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Harmon Air Force Base

In January 1941, U.S. military personnel and

engineers arrived in Stephenville to start

construction on an approved Air Force base.

Stephenville was to become the largest military

airport of the United States Army Air Force outside

of the continental United States of America.

The town was chosen for its strategic location and climate as it was virtually fog free. This meant

that flying conditions were excellent 90% of the time. The population of Stephenville grew as

more than 1,500 Newfoundlanders worked on the construction of the base. Stephenville Air

Force base was established in April 1941.

On June 23, 1941 the name of the base was changed to Harmon Field in honour of Capt. Ernest

Emery Harmon, a pioneer in the U.S. Military aviation history, who had been killed while flying

in 1933. Harmon Field was officially renamed Earnest Harmon Air Force Base in 1948.

Harmon Field’s construction was not fully completed when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour

on December 7, 1941. This did not stop the U.S. Army from sending more than 700 Army Air

Corps by military sea transport to Harmon Field. Their arrival created the largest tent city in

Newfoundland’s history to house the troops until construction was completed. The area that

housed 100 oversized tents was called Camp Morris.


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Earnest Harmon Air Force Base purpose changed over the years, but had always remained a

forward base of the U.S. Air Force. Initially the base was a refueling station where all planes

landed before continuing on to Europe to fight in World War II. Earnest Harmon Air Force Base

became an important part of North American Aerospace Defence Command (NORAD) when

Strategic Air Command wanted the bomber airplanes going to Europe to be in the air 24 hours a

day, and 365 days a year. In 1957 refueling tanker aircraft were introduced to the Earnest

Harmon Air Force Base. The base supported three Air Defense Command units, had a squadron

of fighter planes and about 20 refueling tanker aircrafts. Fighter planes traveling to Europe were

refueled while they were in the air. In the 1960’s, during the Cuban missile crisis, the number of

refueling tanker aircraft doubled as the U.S. Air Force feared that Florida would be attacked.

In 1947 construction began once again to replace the temporary buildings with permanent ones

to allow a permanent overseas U.S. Air Force Base. In 1948, Earnest Harmon Air Force Base

was home to 2000 U.S. military personnel. In 1953 the run way was extended so that it was over

two miles long. A $2 million dollar hospital with a 100 bed capacity was built along with other

buildings. The number of jobs that were required to support the base exceeded the town’s

population. People from various parts of Newfoundland moved into the area with this availability

of work. There were economic, social and cultural changes in the town because of the base.


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On December 16, 1966 Harmon Earnest Air Force Base was the last U.S. Air Force Base to close

in Newfoundland when technology, such as jet-engine tankers, made use of the base redundant.

Stephenville’s population decreased once again as people moved on to find work.

Labrador Linerboard Mill

The construction of the Labrador Linerboard Mill began in 1971,

and completed in July of 1972 and began operations in 1973. The

mill was built east of the Stephenville airport. The linerboard

machine was the third largest in the world being 500 feet long.

Lasting five years, the mill closed in 1976 due to the debt of $200 million. From the start it was

plagued by the great cost of the materials. The first feasibility of the plant was based on materials

being available at $27 a log but this grew to $80 a log and at one point $105 a log. An editorial in

Corner Brook Western Star, 15 December 1975, guessed the mill was costing The

Newfoundland people $2 million a month. From 1974 to 1975 the mill lost $21 million which

grew to $34 million in 1975-76, adding up to 41 million in 1977 was costing the coporation$565

a ton to make while U.S. mills were making it for $130 a ton. This all resulted with the closure of

the plant in 1977.


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Abitibi Price Paper Mill

Around 1979 Abitibi Price bought the Labrador Liner

Mill from the Newfoundland government. They

converted it to an ultra-modern newsprint mill. The

Abitibi Price Paper mill opened in 1981. Abitibi

operated for 24 years before it closed its doors in

December 2005. In addition to the 300 mill workers,

1,500 spin-off workers also lost their jobs. Again, the

mill closed because it became too expensive to keep in operation.

Economy

Before 1941 Stephenville was a quiet

little village. The older ways of farming

and fishing were the main jobs of the

population of around 500 people. This

soon changed when the U.S.A decided

that Stephenville would be a very important refueling stop for American aircrafts on route to

Europe.


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The economic impact of the base on the area while it was being constructed was amazing. Before

the Earnest Harmon Air Force Base was built, Stephenville had one bar and two stores. The

roads were unpaved and there was no electricity.

The community was turned into an enormous festival practically overnight. The population grew

to over 7,000 people as people moved into the area to fulfill the jobs that were required to

support an Air Force Base with 2000 military personnel. A lot of buildings were built and an

ingenuis infrastructure for servicing the base’s development grew. The base offered many

benefits to area residents, such as training to hundreds of Newfoundlanders, a $2 million

hospital, paved roads, airport, seaport, and electricity. The base didn’t offer long-term economic

stability because in 1966 the airbase closed. The airport was a valuable part of the American

Legacy. Today, owned and available to the public, Stephenville Airport is an alternate stop for

flights from other parts of Eastern Canada.

Then, on February 1, 1973, the Labrador Linerboard Mill opened in Stephenville, with 103 staff

personal and 416 union employees. The mill included the latest advances in mechanization,

process, technology and process control. In 1981 Abitibi Consolidated bought the mill for the

production of newsprint, and operated until October 2005.

Also, the administrative headquarters of the College of the North Atlantic is located in

Stephenville. The three C.N.A. campuses within the town limits provide employment to the area

residents. It offers traditional programs and is a leader in Information Technology.


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Supporting these revenues are banks, retail and wholesale business, restaurants, hotels, recreation

facilities, all of that provides jobs for many in Stephenville and fuel the vibrant economy of the

whole region. Stephenville has become the hub of the economic activity in the Port au Port – Bay

St. George region.

Recreation

The small town of Stephenville had

lots of things to do. Stephenville’s

climate is affected by the waters that

surround it. The waters are warmer

than on the east coast by 1°C - 3° C.

Winters are milder with an average

temperature of 0°, and summers are moderate with an average temperature of 20°. Stephenville

has very little fog and a high number of sunny days. This climate means that area residents could

skate, snow shoe, ski, play hockey and go sledding in the winter months. In the summer months

they could swim, hike, play golf, ride bikes, and play outdoor sports. There is also the

Stephenville Cinema (a 3D movie theater), the Arts and Culture Center (a performance theater),

multiple gyms, two soccer fields and camping parks.


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Flood of 2005

Tuesday, September 27, 2005 was a devastating

day for the town of Stephenville. Within a 24

hour period a 152mm of rain fell on the town

causing Blanche Brook to flood. The news had

spread quickly as the disaster forced 153

families out of their homes which lead to 132

households seeking a new place to live.

There were no deaths, but there were some minor injuries. During this disaster, the people’s

natural kindness was practically glowing out of them as they helped the people in need. There

was a lot of work done to Blanche Brook so there wouldn’t be any more floods. The cost to build

additional infrastructure, reinforce Blanche Brook, and relocate residents rose to $21 million.

One of the areas that had been flooded was declared a flood zone and residents were not allowed

to return to their homes. Some homes in that area were used to train police, or set on fire to train

firefighters, and fire investigators. The area which was damaged the most is cleared of all

structures and has been turned into a park.

Some people say that the flood helped revitalize the town’s economy as the residents that were

displaced had to buy homes, furniture, vehicles and clothing.


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Present Day

Since the first recorded census in 1844 that

showed a population of 103 people in the

surrounding area. Stephenville has grown to

8000, and supports an additional 25,000 people

that live in surrounding communities.

Stephenville is no longer a community of Farmers and Fishermen. The establishment of the

Earnest Harmon Air Force Base changed Stephenville forever with the infrastructure that it built.

Stephenville became industrialized with the various mills. The technology in machinery

advanced making jobs easier and requiring less physical labour. This also meant that not as many

people were required to do the same job. Stephenville’s economy is now a service one, with jobs

available in health care, education, retail and food services.

Many industries have come and gone, and Stephenville no longer can offer a choice of three

movie theaters but the Stephenville Airport is still operational. We do have a new 44 bed

regional hospital, a 3D movie theater (the only other one in Newfoundland is in St. John’s),

library, Dome, Swimming Pool, playgrounds and soccer fields and Curling Club. There are a

variety of restaurants, including three pizza houses and three Chinese restaurants.

All of these places have a major impact on the present day of Stephenville. Stephenville is a

town of endless possibilities and we are very fortunate to live here.


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Interview with Paternal Grandmother, Loretta Dawe

Question: How was it like growing up in Stephenville back

when you were a child?

Answer: Well when I was growing up, the Earnest Harmon Air

Force Base was already here. So… on the base, you weren’t

allowed in on the base unless you had an American to sign you in

you had to be accompanied by somebody. So it was like a

community to itself, and Stephenville was also its own

community. But the children on both sides of the community

would get together and play together. And on the base they had their own school but some of

them attended our school too. And on the base there was a theater, they had a BX store, they had

all there entertainment, all the clubs, whatever they needed was on the base. But they also came

into Stephenville ‘cause there were lots of stores on our Main St. There were clothing stores and

shoe stores, and hotels and you name it was on our Main St. Plus we had two theaters, it was

called the Dome Theater and the Page Theater. I must say that the combination of the Americans

and the Stephenville people, they got together very well. And back then when I was growing up

we only had dirt roads, but gradually because of the American base the streets got paved, a lot of

homes were built, more stores were built, so the economy grew really well and there was lots of

work for the people around.


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Question: Has the town changed much since you were a child? If it has, how so?

Answer: I feel it has changed since I was a child. Because as a child, as children, we would all

gather outside after school in either my yard or a friend’s yards, we got together and played

games. Like playing ball, you walk by and you’d see a crowd of children in a field playing ball

or playing soccer or any of the games. Nowadays, with the new technology that is out, children

are not outside playing, they are inside playing games on their computers or TVs or gaming

systems or whatever. And back then when I grew up everybody walked. So you met people

every day that you stopped and had a chat with them. And now just about everybody has vehicles

so everybody rides now. So the interaction is not the same. And as I remember you could walk

downtown and there were shoe stores and clothing stores, and whatever you wanted was there.

Especially different shoe stores, now we only have Byrnes Shoe store and or down to Wal-mart.

But it made a big difference to Stephenville when the mall came into Stephenville then it made

the business on Main St weren’t getting as much so the stores started closing up. So it had its

advantages and disadvantages before and after.

Question: Were you ever in the Air Force Base when it was around?

Answer: I was only in there once. A couple of us girls were taken in by friends of ours just to

give us a tour around the base. So that’s the only time I was in. But you had to have an American

person bring you in and bring you around. You just couldn’t go in by yourself.


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Question: Were you at any major town events?

Answer: Yes, the one that really sticks very well in my memory is when Queen Elizabeth II and

her husband, Prince Phillip, came to visit Stephenville. So all the school children, which was just

up here on West St. And the schools are almost in the same place where they used to be years

ago and the church is in the same spot where the old church used to be. And we all had to get out

and line up on both sides of the street with a Canadian flag in our hand and wave it. And the

Queen and her husband were riding in a convertible. So, as we were waving the flags, they were

waving like this as if to say we are glad to be here. And we were so excited. That is the major

one that sticks in my memory.

Question: Where were you during the flood of 2005?

Answer: During the flood of 2005, Derrick and I were driving home from St. John’s because he

had been in St. John’s at the Health Science Center getting treatment for cancer. We were

listening to the radio, and we heard the announcement that Stephenville was flooded in the area

that we were living in. We couldn’t believe it, we said to each other can’t be we will wait till we

get home to see if it is as bad as what the announcer is saying. When we did get home we

couldn’t believe the drastic change that was there, water everywhere.


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Question: What affect did the flood have on your life?

Answer: I feel that it had a major effect because we lost our home. And that was the home we

raised three children. And we felt that we were very happy there, and we didn’t want to leave our

home. But we were told we had to leave, because it wasn’t a healthy place to live there anymore.

So we, like many other families, had to move out of our home and go find a new place to live.

We eventually got used to it, and things did turn out ok, but, we all felt very hurt by losing the

home that we loved so dearly.

Question: Going back to the fact that you said there were actually three theaters in the

area. One on base and two in Stephenville town limits, were both theaters on Main St.?

Answer: Yes, the Dome Theater was right by the traffic light now, it’s an appliance store now,

furniture store, that where the Dome Theater was. And the Page Theater was… I believe right

across from where Hartery’s restaurant is, in that area. The Page Theater burnt down.

Question: How much would it cost you to go to a movie when you were young?

Answer: 10 cents… that is what we paid to go into the movie. Five cents for a bar and five cents

for a bag of chips.

Question: What types of stores do you remember?

Answer: We had a clothing store down by the corner of where the Georgian is. That was called

Rothman’s store, it was a clothing store... all clothing. Right next to that was a shoe store, next to

then there were five-star restaurant, the Bank of Montreal, Arlims… Arlims was there as far as I


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can remember. Oh…the drug store was Ben’s Pharmacy which is still there and then it was

Arlims. And then it was the Shang Hi restaurant, and down below that there was Silvers store

which was a clothing store and a shoe store and then it was Irving Store, it seems like the original

building I do believe, and that was a clothing store. Then it was the Dome Theater, and then it

was houses just below that, then it was a building supply store ABM, then it was the bridge that

connected to the base. On the other side there was a taxi stand, when you got past the light there

was a club, down further it was the Candlelight restaurant. And then from that it was another

store, Kearney’s store another clothing store, and then we had Marben’s that was a ladies dress

store. The shopping was really good when I was growing up. You could go anywhere and get

what you wanted. I could buy a dress or a suit for $5.00. So that was the big difference in the

cost of things back then. Then it was the Little York hotel, and then it was the Page Theater

before the New York hotel. And it kept… my I can’t remember the other names of the stores

going down the street. But like I say... our main street were on both sides. There were stores

there were businesses on both sides. And it was very very busy back then because of the

American base, and the influx of people for jobs from the base.

Question: So when you were a kid, what types of things did you do to be entertained?

Answer: There was very few organized sports. But then again, for the boys there was Tumbling.

And then there was a band, we had a band leader and he would teach music to anyone who was

interested in music. And we had school choirs, we were taught by the presentation sisters, so

there was always a sister there who would teach music.


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Question: Were you taught solely by nuns?

Answer: Yes, when I went to school it was all taught by the Presentation sisters.

Questions: How many schools did you have? How many grades did the schools encompass?

Answer: We had the Elementary and the High School. Elementary was from grade one up, we

didn’t have kindergarten back then. High School was from grade from 7 up.

Question: What grade did you graduate with?

Answer: Grade 11

Question: Did each class room have their own separate grade?

Answer: Yes, each classroom had one grade in it, because of the population with the people

from Stephenville and the Americans.

Question: What types of subject did you learn?

Answer: English, math, science, geography …religion. ‘Cause religion was taught in schools

back then.

Question: What if anything was done to take care of the dusty or muddy roads?

Answer: When the roads were dusty they would put water on the roads to cut the dust down,

there wasn’t anything to help with the mud.


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Question: Was there anybody in town that had noticeably more vehicles or was everybody

equal?

Answer: When I was growing up it was more or less people who could afford it would have a

vehicle. But back then people were almost all the same. They didn’t have too much. And going

to school we all wore uniforms …so you couldn’t tell the poor from the ones that had more

money. My father also had owned a business on West St. It was a grocery store… a convenience

store really, because he sold everything, from groceries to anything you wanted in your home or

kitchen. He also owned a cow, so we always had fresh milk to drink. But once Stephenville

became a town in 1952, you weren’t allowed to have animals in the town. So he had to move his

cow to Noel’s Pond. He owned land back that, so that is where he had to put his cow.


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Interview with Former Town Manager, William MacNeil

Question: When did you become Town Manager?

Answer: Hmmm…. That is a good question. I am not sure if it

was 1990 or 1991 somewhere around there. I think 1991.

Question: How long were you Town Manager?

Answer: 9 years as manager

Question: What was your job like?

Answer: My job was actually Municipal Administrator which means that I was responsible for

total operations of the Town of Stephenville. And I would report to the Municipal council, that

be the mayor and councilors. I be responsible for the budget, formulating the budget,

recommendations to all of the council, capital works project, human relations activity… it is the

general overall operating. Same as in any company as the CEO. The only thing I would report /

make recommendations to the council. So I had the authority on a day to day basis on the

maintenance and operation of the town. The council itself would set policies and I would have to

follow them. Even in the development of the policies, I could make recommendations but they

didn’t have to follow it at all. The same with the municipal regulations like your town plan and

stuff like that. There is a basic town plan that actually every so many years you have to send into

the provincial government. The provincial government looks it over. There is a time period

where the people, the citizens of the community have input into it. We would have input into it


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as well, to make any changes, for example if there was a conflict between a residential zone and

a commercial zone this would be the time to rationalize it out a little, be more to the satisfaction

of all concerned.

Question: Where did you work?

Answer: I worked out of the town hall, in the administration. I had my own separate office with

the resources of all of the town’s people at my finger tips.

Question: What was Stephenville like when you were Town Manager?

Answer: Considering it was around 1990, I think that frame. Prior to that, I had spent a term as a

member for the House of Assembly for the district of Stephenville. That was from ’75-’79, and it

was after that period where I was also in private business. I had my own real estate company – I

had done some land development and housing development things of that nature. But it was

around 1990 when the position became vacant, I applied for it and I was successful in getting

that position, and I held it until 9 years when I resigned. When I resigned at that time I went back

to further my education, I went back to Memorial University.

Question: Is Stephenville much different now from back when you were Town Manager?

Answer: When I first went with the town there was a lot of the old system. They weren’t into ….

Technology development was just coming up. So for example, a lot of the things that we did, we

did it manually as opposed to on a computer. For in my time there, we upgraded in our

computers…all our computers so we got basically state of the art stuff for that time. For


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example, we never had a sewer truck. I was the first to bring one in town, same as the sweeper.

These were new pieces of equipment I brought into the town ‘cause we never had them before.

And the reason why I had brought in the sewer cleaner is that we had a … in the winter …we

had a major sewer where the sewer was coming out of the top of a person’s vent in the house.

And we tried before, we used to do it manually with a snake and go through the pipe, and then

you gotta have a half a dozen men forcing themselves into it, and tearing themselves to pieces. In

order to clean it, we tried it and couldn’t do it manually. So I had rented a truck from St. John’s,

so the truck came from St. John’s, cleaned it out in a matter of a few hours. And at that time

convince the council to upgrade to get a piece of equipment. It was expensive but as time has

proven it is worth its weight in gold, in terms of saving time, manpower time. Plus the struggle

the guys used to go through as well, as it is very hard backbreaking work when you are down

pushing on the snake for several hundred feet. There’s been changes going from an old system

to a newer system, and even with the streamlining of employees as well, right, as you got new

equipment you had less employees. For example, you see the sweeper truck going through town

on a regular basis. Well prior to that, they use to only sweep the main street about maybe twice,

if possible, but at least once a year in the spring they hire a whole crowd of men. And they would

take about a month or so to sweep down the street and that would be the only cleaning you got.

But with now with the sweeper truck it is continually going, and you can see a big difference

with the cleanliness of the community. So there has been things like that has been brought in. I

brought in during my term, as well,…it was brought in before they tried to plant more trees in the

community and beautify the community that way. But in my term when I was there, all the trees

around the town hall and the gardens? It was through my initiative, and through our employees


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that we got a professor from Agricultural Development to help me out in terms in planning some

trees and different types of trees, and stuff like that to grow in the community. And as things

caught on people started putting trees and take more pride in their properties. So there is a lot of

little things you do at an initial stage that don’t come to fruition until years down the road. The

town hasn’t changed much in terms of population wise; it is pretty well roughly the same.

Industries came and went. The biggest one is definitely Abitibi Price, it is definitely gone, and

they even tore it down to make sure it wouldn’t start again. Fishery plants closed, we had a

couple of plants here and they closed. So there has been a lot of industry kinda left, so we

hopefully now as time goes on it will come back. The educational institutions, like the College of

the North Atlantic and the Marine Institute, they’ve come into the community in a bigger way

and are probably helping stabilize the community in an economic way as well. And schools

themselves have gone through a consolidation period over the last several years, as the student

population decreases everything else will decrease in their turn. That’s employment with

teachers and buildings and whatever.

Question: What are some of the industries that have come into the town and have left the

town?

Answer: In the past couple of years there is the fish hatchery down at the port that looks very

promising for the future. That is what we refer to as a bright star there because he is looking to

be the biggest supplier in North America of fish eggs for fish stock. They would grow the initial

eggs and get them to the “smelt”, certain size, and then they will transfer them out to a farm.

Then the farm will take it from there and supply the market as they grow. One of the reasons that


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the hatchery came here is that they are taking their water from the bog. The bog is a good

filtration and there is pure water. When they get the water it is not treated or anything like that, it

is treated naturally through the bog process. So the quality of the water is very good for that type

of an industry. This is current, not going back to my day. In my day, the airport was growing. A

little bit more activity there when I was the airport manager. But we recognized troubles there

when the federal government changed its policy. It started the process of devolution. All the

airports in Canada were owned and operated by the federal government. So what the federal

government do, they identified 26 major airports which would be the capitals of each province

and the major ones like Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax and St. John’s and stuff like that. That was

one tier that they called national that the federal government still owns, but don’t operate. They

have what they call a local airport authority that does it and they operate it for the federal

government. Then you have the other ones which is a local regional, which ours would be a local

regional airport. That was given from the federal government to the community, and the

community basically set up a Stephenville Airport Corporation. So I was at the town when we

did that, so we formed that company. I guess my name would still be there on the incorporation

of the Stephenville Airport. For the purpose of running it, taking it over and running it. Now the

biggest problem that the Stephenville Airport had it always ran, even with Transport Canada, it

always ran with a deficit. It never did make money on its own, as a matter of fact when it went

into private hands it came closer to breaking even. But even now we are still struggling to make

it break even. So the biggest challenge in the future is to make it a viable operation. Because

when you look at it, any community if it is going to develop, it develops around transportation

modes, be it rail, road, and air. Any growth of any place you see its transportation helps it


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grow… be it the sea, all forms of transportation. Here we have all of it. We have a big airport

that has been given to us by the U.S. government, which in my belief we never did take

advantage of it because of some politics. We don’t have to explain why, but anyway. So it never

developed to its full potential. And when you look back at the history you can see it because the

airports were regulated during those times and as time went on it went deregulated, and we got

caught in that change over. And the airlines, for example, in the early days when Air Canada

serviced here they blocked everybody else from coming in. But when deregulation happened

anybody could come in, and during that period you got Air Canada going to Deer Lake in and

setting up its operations there. But when Air Canada then decided to move with its policy - to use

local regional airlines operating in more of the smaller communities in Canada - Air Canada, the

national carrier, pulled out (of Stephenville) and never replaced with a regional carrier like Air

Nova. Air Nova at that time was their regional carrier that they bought lock, stock and barrel. So

there are all kinds of forces outside of our control that cause us to be where we are today. Now

hopefully, we can last long enough that the asset that we have can be proven that it is still a

worthy asset, and we can still develop it, and help that it be an economic tool to develop the rest

of our economy. For example, if there was oil and gas found here, mineral development, then the

airport becomes, takes on another new roll, and then you see some activity happening, and then

with that I think you would see a success of the airport as one industry. Also during that period

when Bay Despair Power was being developed, there was a plant set up here for making cables.

That is now closed, it’s gone. You also now see another one that was with the paper mill. The

corers, you used to put the corer for the paper, ‘cause they rolled the paper around to ship

internationally. Well, that corer plant was set up directly behind the police station. I forget the


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name of the company… Suncor… no… well it’s now closed. But it only closed early this year.

Even after the mill closed it still operated and provided cores for say Corner Brook mill. It was to

supply all three mills in Newfoundland at that time, but now we only got the one mill and it is

not operating at full capacity anymore. It is closed. It is gone the way of the Dodo bird.

Question: What forms of transportation does Stephenville have?

Answer: We have a seaport, an airport. You got your road transportation, but we are off the

Transcanada a bit. Our road needs to be improved coming on Whites road, that access needs to

be improved. The port itself is, again, the mill use to provide most of the operation, so if you had

minerals and oil that would take on a life again, right. Same as if they were doing any off shore

drilling, the airport then takes on a brand new life cause it is needed for the crews to go back and

forth. To go on helicopter to the rig out in the sea.

Question: Is our seaport good?

Answer: Our seaport is a manmade port, it was built by the Americans as well. So the channel

coming in that was all blasted in. Like the part of Indian Head, if you look at it, it was all were

the channel comes up, it was all part of a mountain. So that was all blasted away when they built

the channel. But there is another concept actually that is… like the airport and the port is close so

you could have what they call an aquaport. Where you can take stuff from a ship and bring it to

an aircraft that takes it elsewhere. But that concept has been around a long time but it’s never

developed because you need deep pockets. You need a lot of bucks in order to develop that. But


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there are only a couple of places in the world that has it. There is a lot of potential, but you don’t

have the bucks or the people. If it was a bigger center, we are so split up geographically. When

you look at the whole island’s population, we are only a little over a half million. So St. John’s is

about the only viable city actually when you look at it, they have the industry turn over, they

have a lot of activity. Here, if you pull all the government services out of here we’d collapse as

most Newfoundland communities would. If it wasn’t for our education intuitions here…they’re a

big lifesaver for the community. We have a regional hospital here, a new hospital that has been

developed, which is good. We operated for years with the old American hospital, which was a

good hospital in its day and served its purpose. New technologies and everything else come into

play. It’s going to be interesting for future what’s going to happen.

Question: How was being a representative Stephenville in the House of Assembly in the

1970s different then being the Town Manager in the 1990s?

Answer: The management experience was more hands on where you were at the grass roots

level. Basically, when you look at the whole line of things, the importance of it when you are

looking at your whole society, your family unit is the most important unit in your society, then it

becomes your community unit, and then you look at your provincial and national. Well, when I

was at the community as the Town Manager. You were very much at the front line dealing with

water and sewer, garbage pickup, day-to-day living activities. When I went to the provincial

government it was more … and I was sitting in opposition so we never the experience of running

a department or things of that nature… but you were there in terms of the policy development

and seeing how it works that way. So you are a little bit more removed from the day-to-day stuff,


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but you get to see the bigger picture, and you realize, and then it goes onto the national level. But

the most important is your family unit, your community unit – which is at your municipal level,

your provincial unit – which takes care of, if you understand your governance you have your

BNA Act, that who thing is divided into provincial responsibilities and federal responsibilities.

Like for example, municipalities are a creation of the province, the province created

municipalities in order to give the bread and butter issues to the… like water and sewer and road

plowing in the winter, things like that. Your provincial government would take care of your

Transcanada Highway, you highways out on the larger basis. But municipalities are a creation of

the province, and under the Municipalities Act, the province – writes this Act, and on the Act

you can only do the things that it is giving you the authority to do. You can’t go beyond and do

things outside of that.


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Conclusion

Stephenville is an amazing town. So many things have happened to this community like the air

base, the linerboard mill and afterwards the Abitibi-Price mill, the flood of 2005 and the events

of the present day. This town has and still is going through these events as your reading this. But

though much has happened, in my eyes it has made this town, and its people stronger.

Summary

While doing this report I have learned that Stephenville was founded by William Hunt and James

Penny in 1844 to escape poverty in Nova Scotia. One year later Felix Gallant and his family

settled in Stephenville after William Hunt and James Penny along with their families moved to

the Port au Port Peninsula. Three months later, Stephen Gallant was born, because Stephen was

the first to be born in the area most people think the town was named after him. Years after the

founding, a United States Air Force base was built in 1941, for the sole purpose of refueling

planes for the U.S. troops during World War II. Thanks to the airbase jobs opened up, causing

the population to grow larger. When the airbase closed, people had to move away to find work

elsewhere. Afterwards a Linerboard Mill began to be built in 1971 and opened for business in

1973. People came from all around just to get a job at the mill. A few years later in 1977 the mill

closed because it was too expensive to keep running. This like the air base resulted in people

finding new places to work. Exactly four years later the Abitibi-Price paper mill opened in the


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same building as the previous mill. After operating for 24 years, Abitibi closed on December

2005 for the same reason as the last; it was too expensive to keep operational.

Before 1941 Stephenville had more basic jobs like farming and fishing. When the US Air Force

Base came more modern jobs opened up. This helped the economy grow a lot.

In the past things to do in Stephenville were simpler and less structured. Kids would play

together in the fields, whether it was a game of tag, or a ball game, and swim in ponds in the

summer. In the winter they would skate or play hockey on frozen ponds, make snowmen or have

snowball fights in the fields. They only had to pay 10 cents to go to a movie. Now things are

more structured, we skate and play hockey in the Dome, swim in a swimming pool, concerts in at

the Arts and Culture Center, a movie theater that can play 3D movies and the Whaleback Nordic

Ski Club for skiing.

September 27, 2005 was the day of the worst flood that Stephenville has ever faced thus far. 153

families were forced out of their homes which led to 132 households moving somewhere else.

The flood of 2005 is something this town may never forget.

Today, Stephenville is now more advanced in the technology that it uses from the street sweepers

and garbage trucks, to the smartboards that are used in schools. The technology is forever

advancing. Industries have come and gone but there is still a great promise that this town has to

offer. In the last 20 years the population has remained roughly the same, but it has increased


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greatly from the first census with 103 people to the most recent with 8000. This project has

taught me many things about my town’s past and its present, giving me a better understanding of

my home.


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Works Cited

Dawe, Loretta. Interview with Paternal Grandmother Mason Dawe. 23 February 2013. Video.

MacNeil, William. Inverview with Previous Town Manager Mason Dawe. 23 February 2013. Video.

Memorial University of Newfoundland. "Stephenville." DECKS awash Volume 13, Number 4 July-August

1984: 3-70. Magazine.

"The Early History of Stephenville." The Evening Telegram, St. John's, NL 22 May 1973: 6. Newspaper.

The Town of Stephenville. Come home to Stephenville. Stephenville: Transcontinental, 2007. Booklet.

Tulk, Sterling. http://www.townofstephenville.com/. 2011. Internet. 17 February 2013.

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