Argentia, Newfoundland
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Argentia Little Placentia |
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|---|---|
| Unincorporated community | |
 Argentia
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| Coordinates: 47°18′11″N 53°59′19″W / 47.30306°N 53.98861°W | |
| Country |
 Canada
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| Province |
 Newfoundland and Labrador
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| Population (2001) | |
| • Total | 450 |
| Time zone | Newfoundland Time (UTC-3:30) |
| • Summer (DST) | Newfoundland Daylight (UTC-2:30) |
| Area code(s) | 709 |
Argentia is a commercial seaport and industrial area on the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is situated on the southwest coast of the Avalon Peninsula and defined by a triangular shaped headland which reaches northward out into Placentia Bay creating a natural harbour 3 kilometres in length. Argentia is located within the municipal boundaries of the Town of Placentia.
Originally settled by the French in the 1630s that fishing settlement was called Petit Plaisance, meaning "Pleasant Little Place". The name was retained in English (Little Placentia) when the French lost control of the area following the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The census of 1706 records 149 individuals in 14 habitations. The community adopted its present name (unofficially in 1895 and officially in 1901) for the presence of silver ore near Broad Cove Point on the east side of the harbour. The name "Argentia" is Latin, meaning "Land of Silver" and was chosen by Father John St. John, the parish priest at Holy Rosary Parish from September 18, 1895 to February 11, 1911. The Silver Cliff Mine operated until the early 1920s but was never profitable. Through most of the 19th century, the fishery was the lifeblood of the community; the Commission of government built a herring factory at Argentia in 1936.
The first church and school were established by Father Pelagius Nowlan in 1835. He was from Ireland and moved to Newfoundland as a missionary priest. In 1836, population was made up 484 people in 76 houses.
Construction started on a branch line to nearby Placentia from the Harbour Grace Railway mainline near Whitbourne (what would later become part of the Newfoundland Railway) on October 14, 1886 and the 26 miles of track were completed by October 1888. This line became known as the "Placentia Branch" and it served as a key route to Placentia and the nearby port and anchorage of Little Placentia where coastal ferries would run to outports along the south coast of the island.
The Newfoundland Railway chose Port aux Basques to be its western terminus in 1893 and a new ferry intended for service to North Sydney, Nova Scotia was built in Scotland. In October, 1897 the new vessel named the SS Bruce arrived but the docks at Port aux Basques had not been completed. As a result, from October until June, 1898 (when it reverted to Port aux Basques), the Bruce operated first from Placentia and then from Little Placentia to North Sydney.
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