Grand Bank

Grand Bank, NL, incorporated as a town in 1943, population 2415 (2011c), 2580 (2006c). The Town of Grand Bank is located on the west side of the Burin Peninsula. Grand Bank first appeared in the French Census of 1687 and was likely used as a fishing station by the French as early as 1650. English settlement began when the HICKMAN family and others moved from the nearby island of St Pierre (seeSAINT-PIERRE AND MIQUELON), which was ceded to France by the 1763 TREATY OF PARIS. For most of the next century the community survived by fishing the inshore and near offshore banks. The fishery expanded to the offshore banks in the 1880s and the community grew, becoming a major commercial centre early in this century. By the mid-1950s the salt fish era ended and a frozen processing plant opened in 1955 supplied by trawlers.

Present Day
In 1992 with the depletion of ground fish stock, the plant was converted to a shellfish operation. A company building emergency shelters, supplying a world wide market, is now the second largest employer in town. Grand Bank is interesting because of its unique collection of Victorian architecture. The Seaman Museum, George C. Harris House, which houses the Mariners' Memorial Interpretation Centre, and the waterfront are points of interest.