This small cache was placed approxiately 200m from the park where you will find the S.S. Kyle still remaining, the Spirit of Harbour Grace and the tribute to Amelia Earhart. Should be an easy P&G to pick up after your visit to the park. We had a nice visit there today and will post some pictures we took. Be sure to check out the Kearney Tourist Chalet and Otterbury Schoolhouse in the same area. Personalized trackables of each attraction will be added when we visit again in the summer of 2021 but a cute camera trackable has been left with the cache at the time of hide for the ftf, what most do when they visit the area, take pictures!
S.S. KYLE
The S.S. Kyle was built in Newcastle-on-Tyne, England, by Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson from 1912-13. The famous steamship is 220 feet (67m) in length, 32 feet (9.8m) in width, and 18 feet (5.5m) in depth. Its gross tonnage is 1,055 tonnes.
Under the direction of its first captain, Lorenzo Stevenson, the Kyle arrived in St. John’s on May 20, 1913, for coastal service. Originally part of the Reid Newfoundland Company’s Alphabet Fleet—a fleet of ships each named after Scottish towns—the Kyle was primarily used as a transport ship, bringing people and goods from the island to Labrador. The steamship also did the Port aux Basques-North Sydney ferry run for several years. Though strengthened for ice and nicknamed the “Bulldog of the North,” the ship was not the strongest in Reid’s fleet, but it was the fastest; at top speed, the Kyle could notch 19 miles per hour (19 knots).
In 1923 the Canadian National Railway acquired the ship from Reid Newfoundland Company.
In 1927 the Kyle gained international recognition, discovering the wreckage of the Old Glory aircraft in the Atlantic. Attempting to fly across the Atlantic, the Old Glory crashed 500 miles off the coast of Cape Race, Newfoundland. (Notably, an aircraft that left Harbour Grace airstrip around the same time, the Sir John Carling, was never recovered.)
As the first regularly scheduled ferry between Newfoundland and coastal Labrador, the Kyle is often fondly remembered in twentieth-century stories of the latter.
In 1958 the Kyle was sold to Arctic Transport Limited, who changed its name to Arctic Eagle.
However, this ornamental change was only brief. In 1961 a Carbonear firm, Earle Brothers Ltd, purchased the ship and returned her original name, SS Kyle. Under Captain Guy Earle, the Kyle was converted to a sealing ship, bringing sealers to the ice floes for several successive springs.
On one sealing expedition, the ship was damaged and tied up in Harbour Grace for future repairs. However, on February 4, 1967, a storm and strong northeast wind blew the Kyle from its moorings, carrying her to the mussel bank in Riverhead, Harbour Grace, where she has remained ever since.
The Newfoundland government purchased the Kyle for $4,000 in 1972.
In 1997 the exterior of the ship was repainted through federal and provincial funding.
The SS Kyle remains a marquee tourist attraction in Harbour Grace, attracting hundreds of international visitors each year. In the nearby Kearney Tourist Chalet, one can find artifacts from and pictures of the famous vessel in the ‘Kyle Room’. A boardwalk along the beach offers a spectacular view of the Kyle.
SPIRIT OF HARBOUR GRACE
The Douglas Aircraft Corporation developed a prototype aircraft, the DC-1, in 1931. The DC-2, a new and more advanced aircraft, was developed and went into service in 1932. The DC-3, the model of the Spirit of Harbour Grace, went into commercial service in 1935. The DC-3 is considered “as the aircraft that changed the world,” with more than 11, 000 of its type produced in the United States alone.
The Spirit of Harbour Grace was manufactured in 1943 by the Douglas Aircraft Company in Santa Monica, California, on charge to the United States Air Force. The aircraft served in North Africa until the end of World War II, when it was purchased by Resort Airlines in the United States. Later it was purchased by Leeward Aeronautical Service Lake Central Airlines, where it was used as a C47 cargo aircraft. In 1951 Quebec Air purchased the plane, modifying it as a DC-3 Douglas.
In 1977 Roger Pike, a native of Harbour Grace, bought the aircraft. Pike used the airplane to transport food and dairy products from Stephenville to Goose Bay under private registration. In 1983 Pike acquired ownership of Labrador Airways Ltd. The DC-3 was then based out of Goose Bay, transporting mail and cargo. The aircraft was retired in 1988 and restored close to its original condition.
The wingspan of the Spirit of Harbour Grace is 95 feet, with a total length of 64 feet, five inches long, and standing at a height of 16 feet, 5 1/2 inches. The aircraft weighs 26,200 pounds and contains two Pratt and Whitney R-1830 engines, which allow the plane to fly at 135 kts, or 150 mph.
In 1993 the Spirit of Harbour Grace was donated to the town by the Pike family. This historic landmark now stands at Riverhead, Harbour Grace, forever commemorating the town’s rich past in aviation. Roger Pike sincerely wishes that Harbour Grace will always receive the rightful recognition for its part in the history of international aviation.
AMELIA EARHART
Ever since her transatlantic crossing as a passenger in 1928—the first for a woman at the time—from Trepassey, Newfoundland, to Burry Point, Wales, Earhart wanted to conquer the Atlantic Ocean as a pilot, without any help at the controls. On May 19, 1932, she, Ed Gorski, her mechanic, and Bernt Balchen, the prestigious Norwegian aviator, left Teterboro, New Jersey, at 3:15 p.m. and headed to Saint John, New Brunswick. Balchen did most of the flying and even registered Earhart’s Lockheed Vega in his own name, to avoid press attention.
Their eventual destination? Harbour Grace, from which many famed and ill-fated flights had taken off to “challenge the Atlantic.” At 2:00 p.m. local time, Earhart’s single-engine monoplane landed at the airstrip. From there, Earhart went to the Cochrane Hotel for a short rest; Balchen and Gorski stayed at the airfield to prepare the Lockheed Vega for takeoff. At the hotel, Earhart met the proprietress of the iconic establishment, Rose Archibald, whose gifts of tomato juice and a thermos of soup have become legendary in the town’s aviation history and lore.
Local Arthur Rogers then took Earhart and her company back to the airstrip, where she would leave at 7:20 p.m.
Four hours out from Harbour Grace, the plane’s exhaust manifold broke, and for the next ten hours flames shooting from the vent threatened the success of the flight. Soon the altimeter malfunctioned, which resulted in Earhart flying blind for five hours. And if that wasn’t enough, she dealt with thick clouds and ice developing on the wings of her aircraft.
Unable to make it to Paris as Lindbergh had in 1927, Earhart landed in a cow pasture belonging to the Gallagher family, just outside the small hamlet of Culmore, north of Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The record-breaking flight took fourteen hours and fifty-six minutes after her departure from Harbour Grace.
She became the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic and the second person to accomplish this feat, after Charles Lindberg in 1927.
The Gallaghers offered Earhart a room for the night, which the aviatress accepted, so long as they “didn’t mind her clothes.” Famished, she told Mrs. Gallagher that “tomato juice” had been her only meal since leaving America.
The flight established Earhart as an international hero, making her the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. For her bravery, Earhart won many honours, including the Gold Medal from the National Geographic Society, presented by United States President Herbert Hoover, the Distinguished Flying Cross from the U.S. Congress, and the Cross of the Knight of the Legion of Honor from the French government.
OTTERBURY SCHOOLHOUSE
Early survey maps indicate Otterbury as the area roughly between the beginning of Water Street, Harvey Street, and Lee’s Lane. Interestingly, there are three areas called Otterbury in Conception Bay – one in Harbour Grace, one in Clarke’s Beach, and one northeast of Carbonear. The term refers to an abandoned fishing community. Originally, the word may have been named for Ottery St. Mary, in Devon, England, or a corruption of “otter burrow.”
Built as early as 1884, Otterbury Schoolhouse was a traditional, one room educational institution for Roman Catholic youth in Riverhead and the Otterbury area. The school was located on Water Street West, in the Otterbury district. In 1884 there were 45 students registered. Like other schools of its era, it was heated by a wood-burning stove, and the other students, especially the boys, took turns getting the firewood. There was an outdoor bathroom and all students were responsible for helping keep the school clean.
In the 1930s, Ms. Helena Power was the teacher at the school. Power had previously taught in the United States before coming to Newfoundland. Although Latin was taught in schools at the time, she taught French to the students of Otterbury. (Power later published a book, More Stories from Dickens [1961], which retold the famous author’s stories for children.) During the 1930s an average of 50-60 students attended the school each year. Other official statistics are as follows. In 1919 Kathleen Lynch was teacher, with 17 boys and 13 girls registered. In 1955-56 20 boys and 23 girls were registered.
The school officially closed in 1969. Gordon G. Pike and the Harbour Grace Historical Society helped remodel the deteriorated structure in the late 1990s. However, years later, repairs were needed again; the schoolhouse was then moved to its current location, near the Kearney Tourist Chalet and the SS Kyle, under the direction of Albert (Bud) Chafe. The exterior was repainted in fall 2017.
Otterbury Schoolhouse has aesthetic value due to its vernacular architectural style. This one room building has a steep, gable roof and is built with narrow wooden clapboard. The school also features wide corner boards and a wide water table. The windows, of which there are three on the main façade, are 6/6 double hung type. They have plain moulding with a small, eared raincap over top. The main door is wood plank construction and the trim is comprised of plain, flat mouldings with a small, eared raincap above the door. A small porch once extended from the rear of the building.
Otterbury Schoolhouse was designated a Municipal Heritage Site by the Town of Harbour Grace due to its historic and aesthetic value on January 10, 2006.
KEARNEY TOURIST CHALET
The Kearney Tourist Chalet was built in 1995 and is designed as a replica of the Beacon Light, erected at Point of Beach in 1850. The Beacon Light was built by Michael Condon Kearney, after whom the tourist chalet has been named. Our Town Seal remembers Kearney’s original lighthouse.
The Chalet operates from June to September each year, providing visitors with information about Harbour Grace and its history. Souvenirs, postcards, and maps are also available for purchase. In 1998 a ‘Kyle Room’ was added, which contains artifacts and information about the SS Kyle, the famous steamship grounded in Riverhead.
LINKS:
Town Of Harbour Grace