Birchy Bay is a small community found in
Notre Dame Bay
Notre Dame Bay is a large bay in Newfoundland, Canada. To the south it adjoins the Bay of Exploits.
The name, French for '' Our Lady Bay'', dates to at least 1550, and is possibly a French translation of an earlier Portuguese name.
Trump Isl ...
in the province of
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
.
History
The name Birchy Bay is derived from the many birch trees which were found on its shores many years ago. Birchy Bay was first home to the native people of the Island which would have used the river which flows through the community as a source of fresh water and also to procure salmon and trout.
Tradition shows that there was a European fisherman shot at but not killed by a
Beothuk
The Beothuk ( or ; also spelled Beothuck) were a group of Indigenous peoples in Canada, Indigenous people of Canada who lived on the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland.
The Beothuk culture formed around 1500 CE. This may have been ...
man who used a decoy to lure the man within shot. The local lookout as known today was also recorded to have been used by the Beothuk and a large pine tree which grew at its summit was relieved of all its bark from the natives climbing to watch over the surrounding land.
The first recorded family to come and stay in Birchy Bay was Andrew Canning Sr. a man with unknown origins but came from Barr'd Islands to salmon fish. The family lived on the tilt and latter returned to Fogo Island when his sons died he returned to Barr'd Island. The grandson of Andrew Sr., John Canning returned to Birchy Bay with his wife in 1886 along came his adoptive sister Amelia Diamond Mews and James Mews. They began to farm in the community after the agriculture act of 1886. Soon after families such as the Quinlans, Osmond's and Popes came to settle in Birchy Bay. Birchy bays chief income was the logging industry in the early 1900s the French family of Summerford opened a steam-powered sawmill procuring lumber from the country and driving it down the streams and brooks. Also the lobster fishery along with trapping was another means of income in the early days.
Demographics
In the
2021 Census of Population
The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...
conducted by
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...
, Birchy Bay had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of .
With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Services
While the town has a council and small volunteer fire department, consumers are limited to a seasonal museum on local history, a seasonal restaurant named Nick's, a small convenience store boasting a single fuel pump, and numerous churches. There has also been construction done at a popular swimming area called 'Deep Hole' to allow for easy family gatherings and summer activities.
References
{{Subdivisions of Newfoundland and Labrador, towns=yes, ICG=yes
Populated coastal places in Canada
Towns in Newfoundland and Labrador