The earliest settler at the present location of Makkovik was Torsten Andersen of Norway. Born in 1834, Torsten was offered a job in Labrador with the Hudson Bay Company which took him first to Rigolet and then to what is now Postville. He married Mary Thomas, a Labrador woman, and settled in Makkovik. Makkovik was the site of a small radar station built as part of the 'Pine Tree Defense Line' in 1952, but it is no longer in use.