The communities of Point La Haye and Gaskiers were incorporated as Gaskiers-Point La Haye in 1970. Point La Haye appeared in the first official census of Newfoundland taken in 1836 with a population of twenty-five Roman Catholics. Gaskiers didn’t appear in the census until 1857, and at that time it had a population of 100, while Point La Haye had eighty-four residents. Most of the local men pursued the inshore cod fishery, and the welfare of the inhabitants rose and fell with the catch. In 1857, a total of 189,484 kilograms of cod were caught, while in 1874, the catch fell to 122,682 kilograms, and in 1884 it was only 4,979 kilograms. The residents planted hay, potatoes, turnips, and cabbages and raised livestock for sustenance, but in particularly poor years in the fishery, they were reportedly forced to eat their seed potatoes.
Point La Haye is located on the east side of St. Mary’s Bay, and a long barachois or sandbar, behind which is found Point La Haye Pond, extends from the community out to the point, where in 1883 a lighthouse commenced operation. In 1860, a Mr. Delaney had presented a petition from John Yetman and others of St. Mary’s in the Newfoundland House of Assembly calling for a lighthouse on Point La Haye, but it wasn’t until another petition from Patrick Nowland and other residents in the area was presented in 1881 that funds were allocated for the lighthouse.
An 8.5-metre-tall, cast-iron tower was fabricated in 1882 and shipped to Point La Haye where it was erected later that year along with a wooden store. The illuminating apparatus, however, didn’t arrive until the following spring. The tower was painted with three red and two white horizontal bands, which continued around the flat-roofed store attached to the landward side of the tower.
In 1893, Inspector John T. Nevill noted that the only thing lacking at Point La Haye was about 400 metres of road to connect the station to the main line. Keeper Patrick Mooney completed the road during 1896 and 1897 using funds provided by the government.
This container is a small DIY screwtop container, pretty much in plain view!
Happy hunting!!