Brief History of Baie Verte, NL
Baie Verte is a small town located in White Bay. It found its wealth through the resources around it which include fishing, forestry and especially mining. Today the population is approximately 1500. Its past contains good and prosperous times, struggles and hardships through economic downfall, but most importantly people built with the will and endurance to survive. Baie Verte has slowly evolved throughout the years. The area was first used by French fisherman after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Following the Seven Years' War, the English regained fishing rights. Finally, both parties reached an agreement in the Treaty of Paris in 1763, which moved the French Shore, allowing both to fish here.
Baie Verte Collegiate serves the following communities:
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Baie Verte
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Seal Cove
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Wild Cove
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Woodstock
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Coachman's Cove
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Ming's Bight
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Pacquet
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Fleur-de-lys
The French controlled the area until about 1904. In the 1870's English settled here to farm and fish. in the 1850's, a copper and sulfur mine was opened, a mile and a half inland (the area currently across the river from Trailer Court) which was located on bodies of chalcopyrite, pyrite, and pyrotite. The copper ore was exported after some processing. It was taken to the present Government Wharf by locomotive and shipped out. The sulfur was used in sulfuric acid, mainly for the electrical industry in the United States. At its height, two hundred men were employed there. This operation known as the Little Bay Mines, was the main source of income for early Baie Verte. Settlement grew very slowly. By 1891, only thirteen people lived here. The private forestry caused the first boost in population. Saw mills were established and began to export spruce as railway ties. By 1911, the population had reached sixty-eight.