Historic Wabana
  • Home
  • History
    • Mining History >
      • Brief History of Wabana Mines
      • Bridges of Wabana
      • Company Housing >
        • Housing Introduction & Contents
        • Saddle-Roof Style
        • Gable-to-street style
        • Bungalow Style
        • Bunk & Mess Houses
        • Shacks
        • Staff Boarding Houses & Main Offices
        • Company Family Houses for Management & Staff
      • Company Names Timeline
      • The Company Whistle
      • Fatalities Related to Mining
      • The Messrs. Butler of Topsail
      • Mining Equipment
      • 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 Article >
          • 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
      • Miners Brass / Check / Cheque Numbers
      • No. 2 Mine
      • No. 3 Mine
      • No. 4 Mine
      • Scotia & Dominion Piers
      • Shipping Season at Wabana
    • Businesses
    • Churches >
      • Salvation Army
      • United Church / Methodist
    • Community Organizations >
      • Boy Scouts
      • Boys & Girls Club of Bell Island
      • Catholic Cadet Corps
      • Church Lads Brigade
      • Clift Masonic Lodge
      • Girl Guides
      • Life-Saving Guards
      • Lions Club
      • Loyal Orange Association
    • DOSCO News (CJON Radio)
    • Education >
      • Anglican Schools
      • Roman Catholic Schools
    • Electric Power
    • Entertainment >
      • Wabana Little Theatre
    • Health >
      • Epidemics in the Mining Years
    • Maps & Diagrams >
      • Insurance Plan of Wabana 1954
    • Monuments & Murals >
      • The Murals Project History
      • Brian Burke Sculptures
    • Municipal Government
    • Operation Toxin
    • Population Statistics
    • Sports - A Brief History >
      • Curling
      • Tennis
    • Telephones
    • Timeline of Amenities, Public Services & Utilities
    • Today in the History of Bell Island
    • Transportation >
      • Beach Tramway
      • Ferries & The Tickle >
        • Elmer W. Jones
        • Tragedy in The Tickle 1940
      • Motorized Vehicles
    • The Women of Wabana, Part 1: Women's Work & Social Life
    • World War I
    • World War II >
      • Caribou Sinking-Bell Island Connections
      • NFLD Militia
      • Torbay Airport/St. John's Airport
      • U-Boat Attacks
      • WW2 Veterans >
        • WW2 Veterans Group Photos
  • Publications
    • Arthur House Article
    • The Book of Newfoundland >
      • "Bell Island Was Exciting For a Growing Boy"
    • Books About Bell Island
    • F.F. Jardine Article
    • Maclean's Magazine
    • A Mine Dead - A Town Stricken
    • 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
    • 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
  • People
    • A
    • B
    • The Messrs. Butler of Topsail
    • C
    • Chinese Community
    • D
    • E
    • F
    • G
    • H
    • J
    • K
    • L
    • M
    • N
    • O
    • P
    • R
    • S
    • T
    • W
  • Extras
    • Amazing Coincidences
    • Animal Stories
    • The Brighter Side - Poem
    • Buried Treasure
    • Calendar Customs >
      • Bonfire Night
      • Christmas
      • Easter
      • Hallowe'en
      • Labour Day
      • Memorial Day / Canada Day
      • Remembrance/Armistice Day
      • St. George's Day
      • St. Patrick's Day
      • Thanksgiving
      • Valentine's Day
      • Victoria Day
    • Great Dinosaur Fossil
    • Jail Break
    • Personal Experience Stories >
      • Dave Careless "Around the Block"
    • Unusual Occurrences
    • Woman In White
  • Photo Gallery
    • Archibald
    • Artifacts
    • Built Heritage >
      • Lighthouse
    • Careless
    • Dawe
    • Hussey-Weir
    • Lance Cove
    • Lawton-Murphy
    • Library & Archives Canada
    • Lindsay
    • Miners
    • O'Neill
    • Rees
    • Southey
  • About This Site
  • Contact Information

​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.

Picture
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.
Picture
​


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.
Picture


Proudly powered by Weebly