Historic Wabana
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  • History
    • Mining History >
      • Time-line of Wabana Mines
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        • Housing Introduction & Contents
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        • Arthur House Article >
          • Part 1 of "Early History of Bell Island Mines," March 1, 1939
          • Part 2 of "Early History of Bell Island Mines," March 2, 1939
          • Part 3 of "Early History of Bell Island Mines," March 3, 1939
          • Part 4 of "Early History of Bell Island Mines," March 4, 1939
          • Part 5 of "Early History of Bell Island Mines," March 6, 1939
          • Part 6 of "Early History of Bell Island Mines," March 7, 1939
        • F.F. Jardine Articles >
          • Fortieth Anniversary of Wabana Mines, Bell Island
          • Part 1 of "Forty-Fourth Anniversary of Wabana Mines"
          • Part 2 of "Forty-Fourth Anniversary of Wabana Mines"
          • Part 3 of "Forty-Fourth Anniversary of Wabana Mines"
          • Part 4 of "Forty-Fourth Anniversary of Wabana Mines"
      • Mining Terminology
      • No. 2 Mine
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      • No. 6 Mine
      • Patrick Harrison Co.
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    • Education >
      • Anglican Schools >
        • Academy - St. Augustine's
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      • Wabana Little Theatre
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      • St. Augustine's School Fires
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      • The Murals Project History
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      • Arena History
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    • Today in the History of Bell Island
    • Transportation >
      • Beach Tramway
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        • Elmer W. Jones
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        • Timeline of Ferries & Freighters
        • Tragedy in The Tickle 1940
      • Transport & Shipping Companies
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    • The Women of Wabana, Part 1: Women's Work & Social Life
  • Publications
    • Arthur House Article
    • The Book of Newfoundland >
      • "Bell Island Was Exciting For a Growing Boy"
    • Books About Bell Island
    • Early History of Bell Island
    • F.F. Jardine Articles
    • "Where Canada's Iron Comes From"
    • "A Mine Dead - A Town Stricken"
    • Morris, I.C.
    • Newfoundland Quarterly >
      • "Bell Island," V. 1, No. 1, July 1901
      • "Belle Island Boyhood," Part 1, V. 85, No. 2, Fall 1989
      • "Belle Island Boyhood," Part 2, V. 85, No. 3, Winter 1990
    • Newspapers (Bell Island) >
      • Bell Island & Conc. Bay Reporter
      • Bell Island Examiner
      • Bell Island Miner (Newspaper)
      • Bell Island Miner 1965
      • Bell Island Reporter
      • Bell Island Times
      • Bell Islander
      • Wabana Star
      • Wabana Weekly
    • Notes on Belle Isle by Mrs. B.B.E.
    • Place Where the Sun Rises
    • Submarine Miner >
      • 1954 Issues >
        • Submarine Miner, V. 1 # 1, June 1954
        • Submarine Miner, V. 1 # 2, July 1954
        • Submarine Miner, V. 1 # 3, August 1954
        • Submarine Miner, V. 1 # 4, September 1954
        • Submarine Miner, V. 1 # 5, October 1954
        • Submarine Miner, V. 1 # 6, November 1954
        • Submarine Miner, V. 1 # 7, December 1954
      • 1955 Issues >
        • Submarine Miner, V. 2 # 1, January 1955
        • Submarine Miner, V. 2 # 2, February 1955
        • Submarine Miner, V. 2 # 3, March 1955
        • Submarine Miner, V. 2 # 4, April 1955
        • Submarine Miner, V. 2 # 5, May 1955
        • Submarine Miner, V. 2 # 6, June 1955
        • Submarine Miner, V. 2 # 7, July 1955
        • Submarine Miner, V. 2 # 8, August 1955
        • Submarine Miner, V. 2 # 9, September 1955
        • Submarine Miner, V. 2 #10, October 1955
        • Submarine Miner, V. 2 # 11, November 1955
        • Submarine Miner, V. 2 #12, December 1955
      • 1956 Issues >
        • Submarine Miner, V. 3 # 1, January 1956
        • Submarine Miner, V. 3 # 2, February 1956
        • Submarine Miner, V. 3 # 3, March 1956
        • Submarine Miner, V. 3 # 4, April 1956
        • Submarine Miner, V. 3 # 5, May 1956
        • Submarine Miner, V. 3 # 6, June 1956
        • Submarine Miner, V. 3 # 7, July 1956
        • Submarine Miner, V. 3 # 8, August 1956
        • Submarine Miner, V. 3 # 9, September 1956
        • Submarine Miner, V. 3 #10, October 1956
        • Submarine Miner, V. 3 # 11, November 1956
        • Submarine Miner, V. 3 #12, December 1956
      • 1957 Issues >
        • Submarine Miner, V. 4, # 1, January 1957
        • Submarine Miner, V. 4, # 2, February 1957
        • Submarine Miner, V. 4, # 3, March 1957
        • Submarine Miner, V. 4, #4, April 1957
        • Submarine Miner, V. 4, #5, May 1957
        • Submarine Miner, V. 4, #6, June 1957
        • Submarine Miner, V. 4, #7, July 1957
        • Submarine Miner, V. 4, #8, August 1957
        • Submarine Miner, V. 4, #9, September 1957
        • Submarine Miner, V.4, #10, October 1957
        • Submarine Miner, V.4, #11, November 1957
        • Submarine Miner, V.4, #12, December 1957
      • 1958 Issues >
        • Submarine Miner, V.5, #1, January 1958
        • Submarine Miner, V.5, #2, February 1958
        • Submarine Miner, V.5, #3, March 1958
        • Submarine Miner, V.5, #4, April 1958
        • Submarine Miner, V.5, #5, May 1958
        • Submarine Miner, V.5, #6, June 1958
        • Submarine Miner, V.5, #7, July 1958
        • Submarine Miner, V.5, #8, August 1958
        • Submarine Miner, V.5, #9, September 1958
        • Submarine Miner, V.5, #10, October 1958
        • Submarine Miner, V.5, #11, November 1958
        • Submarine Miner, V.5, #12, December 1958
      • 1959 Issues >
        • Submarine Miner, V.6, #1, January 1959
        • Submarine Miner, V.6, #2, February 1959
        • Submarine Miner, V.6, #3, March 1959
        • Submarine Miner, V.6, #4, April 1959
        • Submarine Miner, V.6, #5, May 1959
        • Submarine Miner, V.6, #6, June 1959
        • Submarine Miner, V.6, #7, July 1959
        • Submarine Miner, V.6, #8, August 1959
        • DOSCO World
    • Victor Southey Article
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PHOTO GALLERY
BUILT HERITAGE

GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS


1st Court House (1900-1942)
​Court House Hill, The Front

Picture

Subject: Bell Island's first Court House, with the Constable's Residence behind
Location: East side of Court House Hill, The Front
​Construction material: Wood
Date of Construction: Fall 1900
Dates of operation: 1901-1942
Date of Destruction: Fall 1942

History:

The Court House:
In September 1900, Bell Island's first court house and constable's residence were being erected on what would become known as Court House Hill. In 1907, Bell Island's main Post Office was located in the Court House building. 


In 1925, a new public building was being advocated as the building on Court House Hill was considered inadequate to house the Customs, Magistrate and Police offices. On September 2, 1942, the Daily News reported that "The old Court House building at the Front [Bell Island] has been sold to Michael Stoyles of Lance Cove who will have it dismantled and removed. Application was made by the Society for the Protection of Animals (SPA) for the outhouses belonging to the Court House... the Government has given a deed of gift for these to the SPA, and they will be used as a pound for stray animals."

The Constable's Residence:
In the Fall of 1900, Constable J. Fitzgerald was stationed on the Island as police officer. (He was not the first policeman to have served on Bell Island, however, as a Government memorandum of November 21, 1814 noted that Martin Dwyer was then the Head Constable of Belle Isle.) Sometime before April 1935, there was a second police residence, which was located at "The Mines," ie. the business district that was located at the north side of the Island near the mines. The newspaper report read, "Head Constable Seward moved into the police residence in the Court House building [sic: "next to" the Court House building] at the Front after the departure of Head Constable William Martin (retired), and Constable H. Strange moved into the police residence at the Mines."

2nd Court House (1942-post 1984)
​Bennett Street

Picture

Subject: Bell Island's 2nd Court House.
Location: North side of Bennett Street, 2nd floor of the Government Building (2nd building east of the intersection with Petrie's Hill). 
Construction material: Wood with concrete base.
Date of Construction: 1942?
Dates of operation: 1942-?
Date of Destruction: the Government Building is still standing in 2021.
​History: The cream-coloured building second from the left in the above photo is the Goverment Building that houses the Welfare Offices on the east side and the Public Library on the main floor of the west side. The Public Library opened in 1958. Between 1942 and 1958, what is now the Public Library was occupied by the Post Office. It also housed Bell Island's 2nd Court House (east side, 2nd floor) from 1942 until Bell Island lost that service (sometime after 1984). The east side main floor housed the RCMP offices and quarters from 1950 until a new RCMP Headquarters was built on Memorial Street.  The dark red building in the left of the photo is the former Bank of Nova Scotia, now housing an ATM machine and craft shop. The light-coloured building across Bennett Street was the DOSCO Main Office, with the DOSCO Staff House, built in 1957, on the far right. The DOSCO buildings are no longer standing.

Below is a photo of the Public Building taken in 1983 by Lydia Bennett. The Post Office was on the left main floor from 1942-58. Those who had a mail box in the building entered through the middle door. That was also the entrance for the Court House, which was upstairs. The third door, on the right end of the building, was the Police Station, with officers residence upstairs and jail in the basement.

Picture

Post Office and Postal Telegraph Office (1935-1942)
​Bennett Street just east of Dominion East Track

Subject: The "Mines" Post Office
Location: North side of Bennett Street a few doors east of intersection with Steve Neary Boulevard which, at that time, was the Dominion East Track; in the early 1960s, this site was occupied by Bowring Brothers Department Store.
​Construction material: Wood
Date of Construction: Winter 1935
Dates of operation: March 12, 1935 - 1942
Date of Destruction: Is this the same building still standing in 2021, now a warehouse?

History: Built by James Case, it occupied the space where Bowring Brothers' Department store was located in the early 1960s. A Post Office was still in operation at The Front in 1935, managed by Marjorie Davis. When this new building was opened on March 12, 1935 by W. Bellamy and J.H. Small of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs, it housed the "Mines" Post Office and Postal Telegraph Office. It measured 45' x 25' and "replaced the old Post Office on Town Square which had been the subject of many protests and complaints because of its size."

​In the photo above of the "2nd Court House," the location of the 1935 Post Office is where the flat-roofed white building in the center distance is now located.

Post Office and Postal Telegraph Office (1958-present)
No. 2 Road, south side, at bottom of Petrie's Hill

​​Subject: Bell Island Post Office
Location: No. 2 Road, south side, at bottom of Petrie's Hill
Construction material: Wood frame construction with brick facing and stucco panelling.
Date of Construction: 1957
Dates of operation: 1958-present
Date of Destruction: Still standing in 2021
​History: It was announced by the Federal Department of Public Works in late July 1957 that a contract for $86,847 for the construction of a federal building at Bell Island had been awarded to the Newfoundland Engineering and Construction Company of St. John's. The specified completion date was December 1957. The new building would provide accommodation for the Post Office Department, the Department of National Revenue, Customs and Excise Divisions, and Canadian National Telegraphs. The building would have a frontage of 68 feet and a depth of 76 feet, and would be serviced from trucking yard at the rear. It is a one-storey building, without basement.
Source: The Evening Telegram​, July 25, 1957, p. 3.


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