Historic Wabana
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    • Blog Introduction
  • History
    • Mining History >
      • Time-line of Wabana Mines
      • Bridges of Wabana
      • Commuting Miners >
        • Miners Path
      • Company Housing >
        • Housing Introduction & Contents
        • Saddle-Roof Style
        • Gable-to-street style
        • Bungalow Style
        • Bunk & Mess Houses
        • Shacks
        • Staff Boarding Houses & Main Offices >
          • The Staff House
        • Company Family Houses for Management & Staff
      • Company Names Timeline
      • Company Payroll
      • The Company Whistle
      • Dams & Other Mining Water Bodies
      • Fatalities Related to Mining >
        • Accounts of Employee Fatalities
        • Mining Accidents Generally
      • The Messrs. Butler of Topsail
      • Miners Brass / Check / Cheque Numbers
      • Miner's Working Life
      • Mining Equipment >
        • Euclid Trucks
      • Mining Operations >
        • 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
      • No. 3 Mine
      • No. 4 Mine
      • No. 6 Mine
      • Patrick Harrison Co.
      • Royalties
      • Scotia & Dominion Piers
      • Shipping Season at Wabana
    • Bickfordville
    • Businesses >
      • Bank of Nova Scotia
      • Bell Island Co-Operative Co. Ltd.
      • Shipping Companies
    • Churches >
      • Anglican / Church of England
      • Pentecostal Chapel
      • Presbyterian Church
      • Roman Catholic
      • Salvation Army
      • United Church / Methodist
    • Community Organizations >
      • Bell Island Poultry Association
      • Boy Scouts
      • Boys & Girls Club of Bell Island
      • Caribou Athletic Club
      • Catholic Cadet Corps
      • Church Lads Brigade
      • Clift Masonic Lodge
      • Elks
      • Girl Guides
      • Independent Order of Odd Fellows
      • Kiwanis Club
      • Knights of Columbus
      • Life-Saving Guards
      • Lions Club
      • Loyal Orange Association
      • Motor Association
      • Royal Canadian Legion, Br. 18
      • Society of United Fishermen
      • Sporty Few
      • Syrian Benevolent Society
      • Tennis Club
      • Wabana Literary Institute
    • DOSCO News (CJON Radio)
    • Education >
      • Anglican Schools >
        • Academy - St. Augustine's
        • St. Aiden's
        • St. Mary's School
        • St. Stephen's School
      • Boys Home & Training School
      • Methodist / United Church
      • Roman Catholic Schools
      • Salvation Army
      • Vocational Education
    • Electric Power
    • Entertainment >
      • Wabana Little Theatre
    • FIRES >
      • St. Augustine's School Fires
      • Staff House Fire
      • Town Square Shops Fires
    • Health >
      • Company Surgery
      • Death Practices in the Mining Years
      • Doctors Timeline
      • Epidemics in the Mining Years
      • Hospital
      • Midwives
      • Red Cross >
        • Junior Red Cross
    • Lance Cove
    • Maps & Diagrams >
      • Insurance Plan of Wabana 1954
    • Military Activity >
      • Military Service Other Than WWI & WWII
      • World War I
      • World War II >
        • Caribou Sinking-Bell Island Connections
        • NFLD Militia
        • Torbay Airport/St. John's Airport
        • U-Boat Attacks >
          • Ratcliffe Winn's Story
        • WW2 Veterans
        • WW2 Veterans Group Photos
    • Monuments & Murals >
      • The Murals Project History
      • Brian Burke Sculptures
      • Lance Cove Seaman's Memorial
    • Municipal Government
    • Operation Toxin
    • Parsonsville / Freshwater
    • Population Statistics
    • Settlement of Bell Island: Fact & Folklore
    • Sports - A Brief History >
      • Arena History
      • Bowling
      • Curling
      • Tennis
    • Telephone Service
    • Timeline of Amenities, Public Services & Utilities
    • Today in the History of Bell Island
    • Transportation >
      • Beach Tramway
      • Ferries & The Tickle >
        • Elmer W. Jones
        • Ice in The Tickle
        • Kipawo
        • MANECO
        • Timeline of Ferries & Freighters
        • Tragedy in The Tickle 1940
      • Transport & Shipping Companies
      • Motorized Vehicles
    • 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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  • About This Site
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​This photograph, c.1902, entitled "Horse and Cart," was taken by William B. Ford, who came to Bell Island as a civil engineer with DISCO in 1902. He was manager for DISCO during 1903 and married Matilda Rees of Lance Cove that year. They left Bell Island for Ontario in 1911. The mining was all above ground at the time this photo was taken. Photo courtesy of Brian Rees.

HISTORY

This page will feature articles on the history of Bell Island, NL, with particular emphasis on the Wabana mining operations. Below you will see some books that are available on aspects of life on Bell Island. To read the history articles, hover your cursor over "History" in the menu above, then select from the drop-down menu. This is an on-going project, so articles will be added as time allows.

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Company Houses, Company Towns: Heritage and Conservation is now available from Cape Breton University Press and Amazon.ca. The Kindle edition is available for download from Amazon.ca.  

Chapter 3, "Company Housing at Wabana Iron-Ore Mines, Bell Island, Newfoundland," is a history of the housing built by the Scotia and Dominion companies for their staff and miners, and the streets and neighbourhoods where they were built. It also tells the stories of some of the people who lived in those houses. The top photo on the book's cover is of two Dominion houses that were located at Dominion No. 1, Bell Island.

​The Miners of Wabana, ​Breakwater Books, 2006, is still available in paperback and can be purchased at the Bell Island Community Museum gift shop and at Amazon.ca.​

The Miners of Wabana, by Gail (Hussey) Weir, describes in vivid detail the working lives of the Wabana miners as told in their own words. Their stories reveal their individual histories, challenges, resourcefulness, hopes, fears, superstitions, camaraderie and wonderful sense of humour. This book explores the conditions in the mines, the inevitable tragedies, what it was like working with the mine horses and alongside the ever-present rats. There are tales of ghosts, fairies and heroes. It also tells the history of the mines and the companies that ran them, the workers' unions, strikes, ferry and ore-boat sinkings in the Tickle, the eventual shut down of the mines, and the effect on the people of Bell Island.

​This 2006 edition is an update of the original 1989 edition. It features a summary of many of the literary and artistic works that have been produced since the mines closed in 1966, including the Murals Project of the 1990s, with details and photographs of each mural. As well, it highlights the monuments to the Island's history, including the Bell Island Community Museum and No. 2 Mine Tour.
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For the history of Bell Islanders who served in the First World War:

From Miners & Fishers to Soldiers & Sailors by Paul James Dwyer

Paul Dwyer has put together a well-researched and wonderfully-detailed account of the men and boys of Bell Island who enlisted to serve in World War One. From Miners & Fishers to Soldiers & Sailors not only tells their stories but also includes letters from parents seeking news of their sons, and correspondence from the military to parents and loved ones. The book is a treasure trove of information and will be a valuable reference tool and genealogical resource. It is a 2016 publication available from DRC Publishing. Contact staceypj@nl.rogers.com.
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