Outport town of Crocker's Cove, Newfoundland
Photos and history from Carbonear Hertitage Society public Facebook pages

Crocker’s Cove was once a separate community from Carbonear and it also helped settle the town of Victoria (info from Dr. Frank Clarke , Victoria). It is not know for certain when Crocker's Cove was first settled but it is known that the Clark family came from Dorset, Devon or Poole and lived there as early as 1675. There is some speculation that they may have come by way of Trinity, though this has not been confirmed.

The community stood near Carbonear but was identified as a separate village for more than three hundred years. Crocker's Cove, believed to have been named for its first settler, a man named Crocker who came from Devon. The cove is quite old and is shown on maps of Newfoundland as early as 1675.

The Plantation Book reveals that by 1775 there were about 60 houses there. More than likely it was about this time that some settlers looked to the valley north of them. The large valley was approximately five miles long and about two miles wide with a large river system. There was an abundance of wood used as fuel, building material as well as for use in the fishing trade.

Overcrowding at Crocker's Cove due to subdividing family property left little land available for crops and cultivation. As a result, settlers cleared land in the Victoria valley and planted crops during the summer. According to one local "the people from Crocker's Cove would go to Victoria to cut fire wood and to grow vegetables." Since it was only about a mile from Crocker's Cove they could easily walk into the valley in the morning and return at the end of the day. Most likely, they used the trail between Carbonear and Heart's Content that had been used for centuries.  

About 1900 at Crocker's Cove with fishing stages, homes and fishing boats moored in the cove

1940s Crocker's Cove

1930s Crocker's Cove panorama.

On the water, a fisherman hoists the sails on his boat near the shoreline.

About 1912 stages on Crocker's Cove

To prevent rot, each fisherman carried a fishing net to an open area on the hillside to spread out and dry in the sun.

According to locals, Crockers Cove had two schools. The Roman Catholic school "was across the road from the Dave Murphy house and the Protestant school was where Herman Greening built his house. The two schools were alike outside and they could seat 32 students." Another resident reported "A Catholic school on Jackie Boys Hill and a Methodist school near or on Barteau lane."

Telephone poles line Water Street. The Noel family lived in the house on the far left at Burke's Lane and later the Oates family. One residents remembers "I love Crockers cove. My grandma Butt lived there on Butts lane. I think there was a store there close by. I think it was call Pottles. The house burned down many years ago. It was an old house they couldn’t save it. They built her a little bungalow house after. I spent many a time in Crockers Cove playing with all my cousins."

Trees and telephone poles line Water Street.

Holes were cut into the rocks for wooden stage supports. From The Archaeology of Historic Carbonear, 2013 Survey, Preliminary Report, by Dr. Peter Pope & Bryan Tapper Dept. Of Archaeology, Memorial University. December 2013

From The Archaeology of Historic Carbonear, 2013 Survey, Preliminary Report, by Dr. Peter Pope & Bryan Tapper Dept. Of Archaeology, Memorial University. December 2013

From The Archaeology of Historic Carbonear, 2013 Survey, Preliminary Report, by Dr. Peter Pope & Bryan Tapper Dept. Of Archaeology, Memorial University. December 2013

In Facebook post, Chuck Ash states "I grew up in Crocker’s Cove in the 50’s/60’s and spent a lot of time on that beach and "across the rocks." We had a lot of freedom in those days. My father’s family came from Kent, England, I was told." Chuck also remembers "I remember George Ash as a very hard working man." Photo from From The Archaeology of Historic Carbonear, 2013 Survey, Preliminary Report, by Dr. Peter Pope & Bryan Tapper Dept. Of Archaeology, Memorial University. December 2013

Lockmont's at Crocker's Cove with Carbonear Island in the distance. MUN photo

Plantation records for Crockers Cove