St. Anthony

Wilfred Grenfell, an English doctor, arrived on this coast in 1892 and spent decades building hospitals, nursing stations, schools and cooperatives across northern Newfoundland and Labrador, in communities that had no medical care at all; St. Anthony was his base and the Grenfell mission still shapes the town, with his house preserved and an interpretation centre. Fishing Point at the harbour mouth gives a headland walk with iceberg and whale viewing; the shelf here grounds bergs coming down the Labrador Current, and humpbacks arrive with the capelin. L'Anse aux Meadows, the Norse site, is about forty minutes away.

History

French and Basque fishermen used the sheltered harbour as a seasonal station from the early 16th century, and Jacques Cartier reported in 1534 that it was called St. Anthony Haven. Settlers came in the mid-19th century, with 71 people in 10 families in 1857, and the town grew after the doctor Wilfred Grenfell, who had come to the Labrador coast in 1892 for the Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen, made it the centre of his mission, which ran health care for northern Newfoundland and southern Labrador until 1981 (Wikipedia, St. Anthony, Newfoundland and Labrador).

The main sights

• The Grenfell mission sites - his house and the interpretation of the medical mission.
• Fishing Point - a headland walk with iceberg and whale viewing.
• The grounded icebergs - ice from Greenland stranded on the shelf in spring.
• The northern setting - the tip of the peninsula facing Labrador.

When to go

June and July for icebergs and whales together; iceberg numbers vary greatly year to year. The Grenfell sites are seasonal. Winter here is severe and services thin.

What to expect

Iceberg seasons vary and some years bring almost none. The drive up the peninsula is long with sparse services. Most attractions close outside summer.

Nearby

L'Anse aux Meadows lies north; Port au Choix is south.

Key facts