Baccalieu Trail

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This section talks about the Baccalieu Trail portion of 'Round da' Bay. That latter term designates as any area outside St. John's. It doesn't actually matter if you live near the water or not. If you come from the hills of inland Newfoundland, you're still considered a bayman. The term Townies refer to people who come from the capital city of St. John's; people from all other communities (outports) are considered Bayman. Depending on the tone of voice, this may be a derogatory term or just a distinction.

Some of the oldest communities in Canada are Newfoundland outports. They were established from the 1500s to the 1800s by fishermen and whalers who were Portuguese, Spanish, Basque, French, and English. Typically, these towns feature small wooden houses and associated outbuildings and fishing stages clustered around the water's edge. Often built up the side of the mountains, the buildings or towns would often slide into the Atlantic during wet weather.

After joining Canada in 1949, the Newfoundland government under the leadership of premier, Joey Smallwood, pursued a policy of forced resettlement from outports to central inland communities where provision of schools, health care and other government services could be achieved more cheaply. Joey Smallwood swore he would "drag Newfoundlanders kicking and screaming into the twentieth century." And, in a bitterly ironic way, that's just what he did through forced resettlement of over 250 villages in twenty years. The promised jobs often did not materialize leaving people worse off then prior to moving; at least in their old homes they could survive with a meager income by chopping wood, whale oil for light, farming, fishing and hunting for food. A policy change in the 1990s required a community to have 100% agreement of the residents prior to resettlement.

This section will feature a few of the remaining outport communities on the Baccalieu Trail section of the Avalon Peninsula.