Port Burwell, Labrador

Port Burwell, located on Killinek Island (Lat 60 25'N Long. 64 50'W) off the northern tip of Labrador, was named after Herbert M Burwell, a meteorological observer who was stationed there in 1885-86. Since that time, Port Burwell has gone through several cycles of abandonment and re-occupation: a Newfoundland trading company in 1898; the Moravian Missionaries in 1904; the Hudson Bay Company in 1916; the RCMP in 1920; the federal government in the fifties and finally, the Government of the Northwest Territories (GNWT) in the 60's and 70's. In 1936, the RCMP closed their detachment at Port Burwell and moved it to Port Harrison, Quebec. Shortly thereafter, in 1939, the Hudson Bay Company also closed down. Little is known about the occupation of this area between 1939 and into the fifties, other than that there were a few families who occasionally resided there over the years.

The United States Army Air Forces, Navy and Coast Guard used the site as a stop over during the construction of their Arctic airfields in Northern Quebec, Baffin Island and Greenland during the Second World War. In 1951-52, the federal government established an experimental fishing station on the west side of Jackson Island, in an attempt to take advantage of the rich fish stocks in the area. In 1965, the settlement was re-located from the west side of Port Burwell, about 1.4 kilometers to the northwest at a new location at Fox Harbour. The government constructed an electrical generating plant, warehouses, a school and a nursing station, to serve the community. In 1968, a fish plant and a handicraft shop were built at Mission Cove next to the former site of the Moravian Mission, a few hundred yards from the main village. For a time, the village thrived, and by 1970, had a population of 92. Port Burwell was the most isolated community in the NWT, in terms of both geography and transportation links. The community did not have a permanent landing strip; nor could one be built due to the rocky terrain. This was exacerbated by the fact that the weather in that region is notoriously foul.

Stories of visiting government officials being stranded there for a month at a time, abound in the anecdotal recollections of the people who lived and worked at Port Burwell. In 1978, the GNWT closed down the community for reasons which to this day, are steeped in controversy. There have been no permanent residents at Port Burwell since it was abandoned; only seasonal visitors.

The Cape Chidley area, on Killinek Island, was initially selected as the location for Pinetree Line Site N-30 in the 1950-1952 time period. One can only speculate how the settlement at Port Burwell would have developed - had the radar station been constructed at Cape Childley.