The middle of the end - Cape La Hune 1953 - from the Newfoundland Fisheries Survey that year!

"CAPE LA HUNE

1. Position: 47° 33' N. 56° 53' W.

2. Population: 1951 census 96. 21 or 22 families. In the past 5 years about 10 families have moved away to larger centres. Several others are planning to move.

3. - Description: The settlement is located on a gravel bar joining a granite island to the steep, rocky coast. (See sketch map). Cliffs rise precipitously from the water at both ends of the bar to a height of about 350 feet. The bar is roughly triangular. On the east it borders a deep fiord called locally the Bay. On the west it borders a smaller and shallower bay called the Harbour.

The settlement is tightly nucleated. Almost every available inch of the gravel bar has been utilized. The pond behind the breakwater marks the lowest point on the bar. The houses are all of frame construction and most are two stories high. All are kept well in good repair and painted. Each house has its garden. Most have small adjacent storage sheds.Property lines are marked by picket fences. The community numbers 27 houses, 2 stores (both of which are also dwellings), a small church and cemetery.

Cape La Hune is an extremely crowded but neat settlement. The people are hard working fishermen. The village site shows their energy - for the houses are all painted, the gardens well tended and the whole place relatively clear of garbage and papers."

The authors probably suspected the settlement was passed its prime but would probably not have expected that within 10 short years, Cape La Hune, like many other small isolated coastal fishing would entirely collapse. Ironically, the collapse happened at the same time as the Newfoundland Cod catch neared its peak in the late 1960s.

The decline had of course begun in the first decade of the 20th Century and was driven by a mixture of social, cultural, economic, public policy and technological changes, that together, rendered traditional isolated fishing communities unsustainable. I'll examine these trends in more detail in my full account which I plan to publish in 2026, but the fact is that a community and a way of life that had hardly changed since the early years of the 18th Century, could simply not compete with the increasing domination of 20th Century western civilization. For romantics like me and no doubt the mystery artist, A. Dominie, it was a very sad end to a noble, simple life. For the mums of Cape La Hune, struggling to put a decent meal on a table that had a tendency to float away at high tide, it must have been a blessed relief!

Were you one of the last people to live in Cape La Hune? Or perhaps your Mum, Dad, Auntie or Uncle were? If so please do get in touch to via the Contact page to tell me your story.