Kippens

Kippens, NL, incorporated as a town in 1968, population 1815 (2011c), 1739 (2006c). The Town of Kippins is located on the west coast of Newfoundland to the west of STEPHENVILLE and overlooking St George's Bay. Opinion is divided on the origin of the town's name. Some claim it is named for George Kippen, an English sea captain who frequented the area, while others claim it is a corruption of "Keeping," the surname of an early settler. French, and later English, fishermen used the area by the 1700s, and Mi'kmaq and Innu had fished in the area from at least the early 1600s.

Originally a French-speaking settlement, its early inhabitants included both Acadians from Nova Scotia and French sailors who jumped ship to marry local women and settle in the area. The early economy of Kippens was based on fishing and agriculture. This changed in the 1940s with the construction of a United States air force base at STEPHENVILLE, which quickly became the area's largest employer. The base closed in 1966 but a paper mill built in Stephenville in 1981 provided employment in the region until closing in 2005. Today Kippens is a residential town with the majority of its residents employed in nearby towns.