Freshwater

Freshwater lacks a proper harbour or sufficient beach front to support a large fishing industry. It was for this reason that early settlement at Freshwater, which took place near the cove, was restricted. According to records of early settlers at Freshwater it suggests that local tradition names the first settlers as the Kelly family. Lovell's Newfoundland Directory (1871) lists, John, Michael, and Patrick Kelly as resident fishermen of Placentia in that year.

Until World War II, Freshwater was a tiny fishing settlement which relied on the small-boat, inshore cod fishery. Freshwater was composed of three families, named Kelly, Hilliard, and O'Neill. Early census reports indicate that a sizable portion was Irish-born, and it is likely that Freshwater was settled by immigrants brought to Newfoundland by way of the merchant houses in Placentia. The population, wholly Roman Catholic until 1941, was also engaged in farming, probably from the early 1800s. The settlement first appeared in the Census of 1836 (with the Northeast Arm) and was recorded in the Census of 1845 for the first time as a seperate entity, with a population of eighteen. Until 1945 the population of Freshwater did not exceed 100 and generally stood at about sixty.

Because of Freshwater's large tracts of sloping but suitable land and its location just off the road to Argentia, the small fishing village of Freshwater soon accommodated a large portion of this influx of people in temporary shacks on what was called Settlement Hill West or Old Settlement Hill until permanent homes were built. The size of the Base guaranteed salaried employment, economic prosperity and stability. Thus many of the people who moved to Freshwater, initially on a temporary basis, made the community their permanent home. American families, many of whom had to wait up to six months for Base housing, were also accommodated at Freshwater, Dunville, Jerseyside and Placentia. In 1945 the population of Freshwater stood at 595; by 1956 it had reached 1,048.

The years 1941 to 1964 were a boom period in the ecomony of Freshwater, and the growth in the town was reflected in the great increase in its size and services. In 1944 a Roman Catholic church was erected, and by 1945 a larger house, replacing a temporary one built the previous year, was constructed to accomodate the first resident priest. In 1950 the first town council was formed and water and sewerage systems were installed. The priest's previous accommodation was used as a school until Holy Rosary School was completed in 1953 through community labour.

From 1961 to 1971 Freshwater's population had grown as the smaller Placentia Bay communities were resettled to the Placentia area, mainly because of the strength of the services and jobs available there. The Electric Reduction Company of Canada (ERCO) plant at Long Harbour provided a source of alternative employment, as did the construction of the oil refinery at Come By Chance for a period of time. Fishing and employment in area service industries and fish plants were other sources of work, but the phase-down of the Base left a gap that had not been filled by the 1980s.

Today Freshwater is part of the incorporated town of Placentia. The communities of Jerseyside, Dunville, Freshwater, and Placentia share common histories and modern services.