Fox Harbour, Labrador

Arrival of the Americans

It was early June in 1955 and the weather had been fine for a week or more. Most of the snow had disappeared from the land, except for patches on the hills and stubborn drifts that remained in the valleys. The heavy Arctic ice had moved offshore but numerous pieces of loose ice remained in the bay and harbour. Most of the fishermen had their motor boats and punts in the water and some were bringing their firewood out of the bay, while they waited for the salmon fishery to start.

These past few days something unusual was happening at Fox Harbour. For a week or more a large plane would come and circle the harbour and then head off north again. Everyone was wondering what was going on as the sight of a plane in those days was quite unusual, especially at that time of the year. Finally the plane landed one afternoon, in the bay and taxied to the mouth of the harbour. This caused some excitement and commotion and soon there were boats heading out to the plane to see what was up. The plane appeared large, with twin engines, pontoons down from each wing and it sat heavy in the water. The boats soon returned with large packages and strange men. They landed at my grandfather Arthur Poole’s wharf on Fox Harbour Point and the mystery was soon over as it was learned that the Americans had arrived and they were in to survey Fox Harbour Hill for some sort of Radar Site. They had been coming for a week but could not land because of the loose ice.

From then on that summer the large planes landing in the harbour became a common sight as the survey work got underway. I was only eight years old when the survey crew flew into Fox Harbour. The survey crew were housed in tents by the bottom brook and began cutting lines all across the hill. Later that fall, probably in October of 1955 the ships started to arrive and prefab buildings were set up at the camp site as construction work was started. Most of the men of the community went to work on the construction that fall and for the next couple of summers there was very little fishing from the community. The fishermen liked the good wages paid by Drake Merritt, the contractor, all in American currency. I remember after a year or so it was odd to see a Canadian dollar. One of the unforgettable things that I remember was seeing a large tractor being driven down from a ship on planks onto a barge. It was soon landed and construction of a road around the bottom of the harbour began. These were quite exciting times for young boys and we spent many hours up around the "camps" as we called them.

They built a temporary road from the landing site up along the shore to their construction camp site and started to set up their camp. They continue to work until just before Christmas of 1955 when the construction crew was flown out by bush plane, leaving only a caretaker.

The next summer (1956) everyone seemed to return and continued work as if there had never been any stoppage in progress. The Corps of Engineers had personnel on site as I can remember their large sign and some armed guards. Once the site was constructed the Corps of Engineers moved in and erected the dome on the tower and two large antenna dishes, then followed the American servicemen in April 1957. The site was part of the Pinetree Radar defense line and also a weather station. I remember going to the great Christmas parties on the site and also to the weekly movies. It brought many new things to the community. One spring, part of the American Air Force Brass Band arrived at the site and the whole community was invited up to a concert. Can you imagine a brass band playing in Fox Harbour in the late 1950’s? Yes, it happened. During the summer large supply ships would come and barges containing trucks would float out of the stern of these ships, then come ashore and truck their supplies up the hill to the site. During the winter the site was serviced by helicopter and these large twin bladed machines would always come in twos.

What did this do to the community? It brought it into the Twentieth Century, it brought cash, good jobs for a short while and an end to the isolation. However the site was short lived as technology was advancing in great strides and soon the site was obsolete and closed during the early 1960’s, but it put Fox Harbour on the map!