Indian Bay

This article is about the town in Newfoundland and Labrador. For the body of water in Delaware, see Indian River Bay.

Indian Bay Parsons Point, Northwest Arm
—  Town  —
Country	Canada
Province	Newfoundland and Labrador
Population (1961)
– Total	285
Time zone	Newfoundland Time (UTC-3:30)
– Summer (DST)	Newfoundland Daylight (UTC-2:30)
Area code(s)	709

Indian Bay (Parsons Point) is located in Newfoundland, Canada.

Geography

Situated on the northwest arm of Bonavista Bay, Indian Bay was once the only mainland community located between Salvage and Greenspond until the late 19th century.^[1]

History

Indian Bay was once called Parsons Point, after its first settlers, and Northwest Arm. Europeans first came to Indian Bay in the 18th century to fish for salmon. In 1720 George Skeffington was salmon fishing there and by 1786 there were eight salmon operations in the area. Permanent settlement began after 1800. The 1836 Census of Newfoundland records Indian Bay as having a population of five, William Parsons and his family. The population was slow in growing, and in 1901 there were 40 people living there. The main source of employment were three sawmills, and a lobster factory was established before 1911. In 1921 the "International Power and Paper Co." arrived in Indian Bay and that same year a school was constructed. The peak of Indian Bays population was in 1961 with 285 people, afterwards the population began to decline.^[1]

Census Information

	1845	1869	1874
population	6	5	4
inhabited houses	1	1	1
number of families	-	1	1
Church of England	6	5	4
people catching/curing fish	-	2	2
seamen/fishermen	-	-	1
children who can read/write	-	2	1
fishing rooms in use	-	1	-
oxen/cows	-	3	-
total boats	-	1	-
nets and seines	-	-	12
salmon caught/cured	-	-	8 tres
barrels of potatoes produced	-	-	6

Directory

- Hutchinson's Newfoundland Directory 1864-1865 lists:

• Joseph Osmond, ship carpenter
• Phillip Parsons, ship carpenter

- Lovell's Newfoundland Directory describes Indian Bay as a small fishing community on the west side of Bonavista Bay, distant from Greenspond by 15 miles on boat. The 1871 population was 5. The directory lists one person:

• Adam Parsons, Fisherman.^[2]

See also

• List of cities and towns in Newfoundland and Labrador

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador
2. ^ Lovell's Newfoundland Directory, 1871.

External links

• http://ngb.chebucto.org/
• http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~hrollman/index.html
• http://www.rootsweb.com/~cannf/bbnor.htm

Coordinates: 49°01′59″N 53°52′01″W / 49.033°N 53.867°W / 49.033; -53.867