Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador
Encyclopedia
Happy Valley – Goose Bay (Inuit: Vaali) is a Canadian
town in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador
.
Located in the central part of Labrador
, the town is the largest population centre in that region. Incorporated in 1973, the town composes the former town of Happy Valley and the Local Improvement District of Goose Bay. Built on a large sandy plateau in 1941, the town is home to the largest military air base in northeastern North America, CFB Goose Bay
.
, selected a large sandy
plateau
near the mouth of the Goose River to build the Goose Bay Air Force Base. Docking facilities for transportation of goods and personnel was built at Terrington Basin.
Goose Air Base became a landing and refuelling stop for the Atlantic Ferry route. Soon after the site was selected, men from the coast of Labrador
began working on the base. With World War II in bloom, it took only five months to build an operational military airport on the leased territory.
The first settlers to the area came from coastal Labrador
to work with McNamara Construction Company, which was contracted to build the Goose Bay Air Force Base. Their first choice was Otter Creek, where they were told that it would have been too close to the base. A new location was chosen based upon the requirement to be at least eight kilometres from the base. In 1942, a new site was chosen that was first called Refugee Cove; it was not until 1955 that it eventually was renamed Happy Valley.
The information in the the Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, as stated above, needs to be corrected about when the name "Happy Valley" was used. According to the record of the minutes of the Newfoundland Conference of the United Church of Canada, in St. John's, for June, 1953: The Rev. Lindsay G. King (23 at the time)--now retired and living in Thornhill, Ontario--was appointed as the first resident United Church minister to serve in Happy Valley, beginning in July, 1953. He helped establish the first community council, which first suggested to the air base and government authorities that the are be made an official municipality. Eventually, it did happen.
Though the area was not an officially-registered municipality, the Rev. King remembers that the name commonly used was Happy Valley. Interestingly, the name over the Grenfell Mission Nursing station, at the time, was Hamilton River Settlement. Interesting also, the Rev. King's wife, Jean Turner, taught grades 1,2,3. at the first Anglican school in the community--opened in 1953. She had 53 students. Some of whom, today (2011) would be in their mid-sixties.
The first three families to arrive to work at the construction of the base were the Saunders
from Davis Inlet
, the Broomfields from Big Bay, and the Perraults from Makkovik
.
Happy Valley's first school was operated by a Mrs. Perrault from her home until 1946, when the Royal Canadian Air Force
donated a building. The old one room school was bought by Bella and Clarence Brown in the early 1962 and turned into a family residence. In 1949, the Air Force donated a second building which became the North Star School. Mrs. Perrault who also became Happy Valleys first librarian. Bella Butt Brown took over as Happy Valleys librarian when the North Star Schools second building was donated as the new library.
The Grenfell Mission operated the first medical facilities when it opened a nursing station in 1951. In 1963, the provincial government built Paddon Memorial Hospital
near the mouth of the Churchill River
. The town is located on the southern shore of a peninsula
created by Terrington Basin to the north and Goose Bay at the south.
(Köppen
Dfc), marked by long, cold, and snowy winters, and short and mild summers. Autumn and spring are very brief and last only a few weeks. The average high temperature stays below freezing for five months of the year and the low does so for eight months. Snowfall is very heavy, averaging nearly 460 centimetres (181.1 in) per year, and occurs in all months except July and August. Precipitation, at nearly 950 millimetres (37.4 in) is significant year-round and is heavy for the city's latitude.
personnel to fewer than 100 all-ranks. The last NATO nations to use CFB Goose Bay for flight training, Germany and Italy, did not renew their leases after terminating in early 2006.
The runway at Happy Valley–Goose Bay was also an alternative, but unused, landing site for the now-decommissioned NASA
space shuttle
, due to its size and length.
By 1945 the population of Happy Valley reached 229 people, mostly workers who serviced the base. According to records kept by the newly-organized United Church, in 1953 there were 116 families in the whole community, which had one UC school. About 50 families were United Church; 25 were Anglican, 25 Moravian, 14 Pentecostal and 2 Catholic. By 1956, the population was 1,145, and by 1961, it had risen to 2 861, then doubled by 1966 to 4,215. Before the community of Happy Valley amalgamated
with the Local Improvement District of Goose Bay, the population was 4,937 while Goose Bay's population was 496.
According to the Canadian Government's 2006 census
the community of Happy Valley–Goose Bay has a population of 7,572. This represents a 5.0% decrease from the 2001 population of 7,969. According to the same statistics, the median age of the community is 35.7 years, with 79.9% of the population being above the age of 15 (compared with the provincial median age of 41.7 and 84.5%).
At 65%, the majority of the population is of white ethnic (Caucasian) background. There is also a sizeable population of aboriginal
peoples, at approximately 35% of the population. Other ethnic groups present in Happy Valley–Goose Bay are Black and South Asian.
The community is largely Protestant, at 73.9%, with a Catholic minority at 20.1%. About 1% of the population claims other religions, and 5% claim "no religious affiliation."
with Labrador City and Baie-Comeau in Quebec. The road was extended south to link with an existing road from the Blanc Sablon-St Barbe ferry. It opened in December 2009.
Prior to 1954, hardly any licence plates were issued to Labrador communities except for Happy Valley and the Goose Bay area. A series of small plates were issued to help fund road development. It was not until the mid 1960s that all of Labrador
started using regular Newfoundland and Labrador licence plates.
service connects Happy Valley–Goose Bay with Cartwright, Labrador and Lewisporte, Newfoundland.
and Eastern Provincial Airways
were the first air carriers in the area to carry passengers from outside the area into CFB Goose Bay
. Labrador Airways Limited provided air transportation to local communities. Located at Otter Creek is a seaplane base that also provided airlifts to local communities and tourist lodges in the interior of Labrador.
Since 1992 the road from Baie-comeau to wabush was connected to an open route year round to Happy valley Goose bay.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
town in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
.
Located in the central part of Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
, the town is the largest population centre in that region. Incorporated in 1973, the town composes the former town of Happy Valley and the Local Improvement District of Goose Bay. Built on a large sandy plateau in 1941, the town is home to the largest military air base in northeastern North America, CFB Goose Bay
CFB Goose Bay
Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay , is a Canadian Forces Base located in the town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador....
.
History
In the summer of 1941, Eric Fry, an employee of the Canadian Department of Mines and Resources on loan to the Royal Canadian Air ForceRoyal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...
, selected a large sandy
Sandy
Sandy may refer to:* Characteristic of sand* Sandy , including a list of people with the name* Sandy brown, a shade of brown- Places :* Sandy, Bedfordshire, England* Sandy, Carmarthenshire, Wales* Sandy, Oregon, United States...
plateau
Plateau
In geology and earth science, a plateau , also called a high plain or tableland, is an area of highland, usually consisting of relatively flat terrain. A highly eroded plateau is called a dissected plateau...
near the mouth of the Goose River to build the Goose Bay Air Force Base. Docking facilities for transportation of goods and personnel was built at Terrington Basin.
Goose Air Base became a landing and refuelling stop for the Atlantic Ferry route. Soon after the site was selected, men from the coast of Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
began working on the base. With World War II in bloom, it took only five months to build an operational military airport on the leased territory.
The first settlers to the area came from coastal Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
to work with McNamara Construction Company, which was contracted to build the Goose Bay Air Force Base. Their first choice was Otter Creek, where they were told that it would have been too close to the base. A new location was chosen based upon the requirement to be at least eight kilometres from the base. In 1942, a new site was chosen that was first called Refugee Cove; it was not until 1955 that it eventually was renamed Happy Valley.
The information in the the Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, as stated above, needs to be corrected about when the name "Happy Valley" was used. According to the record of the minutes of the Newfoundland Conference of the United Church of Canada, in St. John's, for June, 1953: The Rev. Lindsay G. King (23 at the time)--now retired and living in Thornhill, Ontario--was appointed as the first resident United Church minister to serve in Happy Valley, beginning in July, 1953. He helped establish the first community council, which first suggested to the air base and government authorities that the are be made an official municipality. Eventually, it did happen.
Though the area was not an officially-registered municipality, the Rev. King remembers that the name commonly used was Happy Valley. Interestingly, the name over the Grenfell Mission Nursing station, at the time, was Hamilton River Settlement. Interesting also, the Rev. King's wife, Jean Turner, taught grades 1,2,3. at the first Anglican school in the community--opened in 1953. She had 53 students. Some of whom, today (2011) would be in their mid-sixties.
The first three families to arrive to work at the construction of the base were the Saunders
Saunders
Saunders is a surname of English and Scottish patronymic origin derived from Sander, a mediæval form of Alexander.People with the surname Saunders include:* Al Saunders, American football coach* Allen Saunders, American cartoonist...
from Davis Inlet
Davis Inlet, Newfoundland and Labrador
Davis Inlet was a Naskapi community in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, formerly inhabited by the Mushuau Innu First Nation.-Settlement:...
, the Broomfields from Big Bay, and the Perraults from Makkovik
Makkovik, Newfoundland and Labrador
Makkovik is a town in Labrador in northern Canada. It had a population of 384 persons in 2001. The main industry is fishing and there is a fishing cooperative....
.
Happy Valley's first school was operated by a Mrs. Perrault from her home until 1946, when the Royal Canadian Air Force
Royal Canadian Air Force
The history of the Royal Canadian Air Force begins in 1920, when the air force was created as the Canadian Air Force . In 1924 the CAF was renamed the Royal Canadian Air Force and granted royal sanction by King George V. The RCAF existed as an independent service until 1968...
donated a building. The old one room school was bought by Bella and Clarence Brown in the early 1962 and turned into a family residence. In 1949, the Air Force donated a second building which became the North Star School. Mrs. Perrault who also became Happy Valleys first librarian. Bella Butt Brown took over as Happy Valleys librarian when the North Star Schools second building was donated as the new library.
The Grenfell Mission operated the first medical facilities when it opened a nursing station in 1951. In 1963, the provincial government built Paddon Memorial Hospital
Geography
Happy Valley–Goose Bay lies at the southwest end of Lake MelvilleLake Melville
Lake Melville is a saltwater tidal extension of Hamilton Inlet on the Labrador coast in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Comprising 3,069 square kilometres, and stretching 140 kilometres inland to Happy Valley-Goose Bay, it forms part of the largest estuary in the province,...
near the mouth of the Churchill River
Churchill River (Atlantic)
The Churchill River is a river in Newfoundland and Labrador which flows east from the Smallwood Reservoir in Labrador into the Atlantic Ocean via Lake Melville. The river is long and drains an area of ; it is the longest river in the province...
. The town is located on the southern shore of a peninsula
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
created by Terrington Basin to the north and Goose Bay at the south.
Climate
Happy Valley-Goose Bay displays a subarctic climateSubarctic climate
The subarctic climate is a climate characterized by long, usually very cold winters, and short, cool to mild summers. It is found on large landmasses, away from the moderating effects of an ocean, generally at latitudes from 50° to 70°N poleward of the humid continental climates...
(Köppen
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
Dfc), marked by long, cold, and snowy winters, and short and mild summers. Autumn and spring are very brief and last only a few weeks. The average high temperature stays below freezing for five months of the year and the low does so for eight months. Snowfall is very heavy, averaging nearly 460 centimetres (181.1 in) per year, and occurs in all months except July and August. Precipitation, at nearly 950 millimetres (37.4 in) is significant year-round and is heavy for the city's latitude.
Canadian Forces Base
CFB Goose Bay has seen a reduction of NATO low-level tactical flight training in the past decade, and the town is facing an uncertain future as the federal government has reduced the number of permanent Canadian Forces Air CommandCanadian Forces Air Command
The Royal Canadian Air Force , formerly Canadian Forces Air Command, is one of three environmental commands of the Canadian Forces...
personnel to fewer than 100 all-ranks. The last NATO nations to use CFB Goose Bay for flight training, Germany and Italy, did not renew their leases after terminating in early 2006.
The runway at Happy Valley–Goose Bay was also an alternative, but unused, landing site for the now-decommissioned NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
space shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
, due to its size and length.
Local Improvement District of Goose Bay
Prior to its amalgamation with Happy Valley, the Local Improvement District of Goose Bay was set up in 1970 and included an area called Spruce Park and the Canadian Department of Transport Housing areas. It grew to include other areas of the base until 1973, when it comprised all of the base area.Demographics
| Census | Population |
|---|---|
| 1961 | 2,861 |
| 1971 | 5,433 |
| 1981 | 7,103 |
| 1991 | 8,610 |
| 2001 | 7,969 |
| 2006 | 7,572 |
By 1945 the population of Happy Valley reached 229 people, mostly workers who serviced the base. According to records kept by the newly-organized United Church, in 1953 there were 116 families in the whole community, which had one UC school. About 50 families were United Church; 25 were Anglican, 25 Moravian, 14 Pentecostal and 2 Catholic. By 1956, the population was 1,145, and by 1961, it had risen to 2 861, then doubled by 1966 to 4,215. Before the community of Happy Valley amalgamated
Amalgamation (politics)
A merger or amalgamation in a political or administrative sense is the combination of two or more political or administrative entities such as municipalities , counties, districts, etc. into a single entity. This term is used when the process occurs within a sovereign entity...
with the Local Improvement District of Goose Bay, the population was 4,937 while Goose Bay's population was 496.
According to the Canadian Government's 2006 census
Canada 2006 Census
The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population. Census day was May 16, 2006. The next census following will be the 2011 Census. Canada's total population enumerated by the 2006 census was 31,612,897...
the community of Happy Valley–Goose Bay has a population of 7,572. This represents a 5.0% decrease from the 2001 population of 7,969. According to the same statistics, the median age of the community is 35.7 years, with 79.9% of the population being above the age of 15 (compared with the provincial median age of 41.7 and 84.5%).
At 65%, the majority of the population is of white ethnic (Caucasian) background. There is also a sizeable population of aboriginal
Aboriginal peoples in Canada
Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" have fallen into disuse in Canada and are commonly considered pejorative....
peoples, at approximately 35% of the population. Other ethnic groups present in Happy Valley–Goose Bay are Black and South Asian.
The community is largely Protestant, at 73.9%, with a Catholic minority at 20.1%. About 1% of the population claims other religions, and 5% claim "no religious affiliation."
Road
Happy Valley and Goose Bay are connected by the Trans-Labrador HighwayTrans-Labrador Highway
The Trans-Labrador Highway is a Canadian highway located in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primary public road in Labrador and one of the few in that part of the province....
with Labrador City and Baie-Comeau in Quebec. The road was extended south to link with an existing road from the Blanc Sablon-St Barbe ferry. It opened in December 2009.
Prior to 1954, hardly any licence plates were issued to Labrador communities except for Happy Valley and the Goose Bay area. A series of small plates were issued to help fund road development. It was not until the mid 1960s that all of Labrador
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
started using regular Newfoundland and Labrador licence plates.
Water
The town was serviced by boat and container ship to the ports from Newfoundland and the port of Montreal. Most of the town's supplies were transported by container vessels brought to the docking facilities located at Terrington Basin. These facilities were operated by Transport Canada. The shipping season usually lasted from June to December. In the summer a ferryFerry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
service connects Happy Valley–Goose Bay with Cartwright, Labrador and Lewisporte, Newfoundland.
Air
Air CanadaAir Canada
Air Canada is the flag carrier and largest airline of Canada. The airline, founded in 1936, provides scheduled and charter air transport for passengers and cargo to 178 destinations worldwide. It is the world's tenth largest passenger airline by number of destinations, and the airline is a...
and Eastern Provincial Airways
Eastern Provincial Airways
Eastern Provincial Airways traces its history from Maritime Central Airways from 1961 and merged with CP Air to form Canadian Pacific Airlines in 1986.EPA, as it was known, was the backbone of air travel in Eastern Canada in the 1970s...
were the first air carriers in the area to carry passengers from outside the area into CFB Goose Bay
CFB Goose Bay
Canadian Forces Base Goose Bay , is a Canadian Forces Base located in the town of Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador....
. Labrador Airways Limited provided air transportation to local communities. Located at Otter Creek is a seaplane base that also provided airlifts to local communities and tourist lodges in the interior of Labrador.
Since 1992 the road from Baie-comeau to wabush was connected to an open route year round to Happy valley Goose bay.