Cartwright, Labrador

I was born and raised in Cartwright, Labrador. The Fraser Brace Construction Company arrived at Cartwright in 1952 with a contract to construct a radar station which was to be a part of the Pinetree Line. I, and many other local people, simply applied for work on the site. Most of the outside workers came from New Brunswick as I recall. Initially, I hired on as a labourer, but after a week they put me in the "Stores" section. I worked the day shift when I was employed by Fraser Brace. The outside workers were flown in by Maritime Central Airways, probably from Moncton.

Cartwright was a Hudson's Bay Company Post for many years. The local people were primarily fishermen and trappers. The population in 1952 was about 300. Besides the Hudson's Bay Company, there was one other merchant store. The Grenfell Mission had a boarding school with a dormitory for children up and down the coast who had no schools, as well as a Hospital. The village itself had one church (Anglican) and a one-room all grade school with 36 students in 1951. There was no electricity, no phones, no running water; everybody kept dogs for working (hauling wood, water, and travel) as this was pre-snowmobile days. Travel in and out of the area was by boat, plane or dog-team. There was a small Church owned Parish Hall which was used for all types of community functions. The entire coast was frozen from early December through June, so it was totally isolated for that period. Mail was flown in during these months by a single engine airplane from Newfoundland. During the summer months, the mail arrived steamer from Newfoundland about every two weeks. For the most part people made their own entertainment.

There were no American military personnel at Cartwright until the summer of 1953. I recall that there must have been between 100 and 150 civilian personnel employed bt the Fraser Brace Construction group. Since I was a local civilian, I lived in Cartwright as opposed to the contractors barracks. I do remember that many of the outside workers mixed in very well with the local people. There was very little in the form of entertainment at the contractors camp. There were a few movies available, and I would assume that the outside workers probably established other forms of entertainment such as horse shoes or card games.

As can be expected, there was lots of snow and the temperatures were much colder than what would have been expected by the outside workers. I managed to move back and forth between Cartwright and Goose Bay during the early to mid 1950s. American military personnel played an important role in the Cartwright area between 1953 and the eventual closing of the radar station in 1968.