Harbour Grace

---

Click on Photos for larger view.

The Kyle was built in 1913 by Shawn Hunter and Wigham Richardson, Ltd., to become part of the fleet for Reid Newfoundland Company. The ship provided the first regularly scheduled service to Labrador. Eventually the S. S. Kyle toiled as a ferry between North Sydney and Port aux Basque. In 1960, Earle Brothers purchased the ship for use in the seal hunt. In 1967, after an accident with an iceberg, the boat was moored at Harbour Grace. During a storm, she broke her moorings and drifted to Riverhead and ran aground. In 1972, the provincial government purchased the vessel for $4,000. In 1996, thirty years after finding her final resting place, Harbour Grace and the provincial and federal governments signed a partnership to restore the vessel.

After a long and somewhat diverse career, the "Spirit of Harbour Grace" was purchased by Mr. Roger Pike in 1977. In 1983, Mr. Pike acquired Labrador Airways, Ltd., and the plane was used to transport mail and cargo. She was retired in 1988 and restored to her original condition. The plane was donated to Harbour Grace in 1993. It has a wingspan of 95 feet (29 meters) and is 64 feet 5 inches (19.6 meters) long and weights 26,500 pounds (12,020 KG).

The Kearney Tourist Chalet was built by Michael Condon Kearney in 1995. The design of the chalet is the same as Beacon Light, which was the lighthouse at Point of Beach. It operates during summer tourist season providing information on the town and history. It has an S. S. Kyle room that has information and artifacts from that ship.

Harbour Grace's population was 3,740 in 1996; by 2001, it had fallen to 3,380. In 1610, Peter Easton, a pirate, erected a fort which overlooked the bay and mustered his pirating enterprises from there. In 1628, Robert Hayman wrote Quodibits which is the first book written in the New World. In 1927 to 1936, twenty flights left Harbour Grace in attempts to cross the Atlantic. On May 20, 1932, Amelia Earhart left Harbour Grace at dusk and landed 15 hours later in Ireland. She was the second person, and first woman, to fly across the Atlantic Ocean alone. More information on Harbour Grace is available at http://www.hrgrace.ca.