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The Klondyke and the Coish

The Klondyke is a causeway between the Bay Roberts Peninsula and the Coley's Point Peninsula.


The Klondyke
Looking from
Coley's Point to Bay Roberts

The Klondyke
Looking from
Bay Roberts to Harbour

The Klondyke
Looking from
Bay Roberts to Coley's Point

The Coish, which comes from the Gaelic, is name the area at the bottom of the harbour, inside the Klondyke. It was named by the early Irish residents who settled there.


Park Bench
On the Coish

The Coish
Bottom of Harbour

The Story behind the Klondyke Causeway

The Klondyke was once considered a "gold mine" to local families that were paid to complete it in 1897. Before the construction of the Klondyke, passengers and freight were ferried from Water Street in Bay Roberts to Coley's Point. In the 1890's, a petition sent to government for the construction of a causeway was turned down due to lack of funds. Two Coley's Point women went from door to door with a petition and a public meeting held shortly thereafter resulted in the decision that the residents would build the causeway themselves. Construction began in the winter months. Rock and gravel were carried to the site in hand-barrels, by horse and sled, and by hand. Men cut a channel through the ice and dumped the rock into the open water.

When the Labrador fishery failed in 1897 and many families faced severe hardship, the government agreed to pay the men, women and children who worked on the construction of the causeway $1 a week to finish the work. Their wage was enough to buy one barrel of flour or one keg of molasses - a welcome relief for people facing a winter of hunger. One store owner in the area (reportedly Mrs. Bursell) likened the project to the Klondyke Gold Rush and, thus, the causeway got its name - The Klondyke.

Since 1996, Bay Roberts has celebrated the construction of the Klondyke and the unique bond between the two communities in the annual Klondyke Days festivities.


Telephone: (709) 786-2126 Fax: (709) 786-2128
E-mail: info@bayroberts.com
© 2002, Town of Bay Roberts