The inshore cod fishery was the primary occupation that gave birth to this settlement. However, 105 schooners were also built here to capture seals at Baccalieu Island and later at Cape Bonavista.

Soon after this settlement was established, the people turned to the cultivation of the soil and raising of livestock.

The largest religious denomination in the nineteenth century was Roman Catholic, it had missions there twice a year.

From a high of 516 in 1884 the population declined during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The churches and schools closed and the farming and fishing had all disappeared.