Baytona

Baytona Birchy Bay North
—  Community  —
Baytona Location of Baytona in Newfoundland
Coordinates: 49°20′32″N 54°45′56″W
Country	Canada
Province	Newfoundland and Labrador
Government
• Mayor	Rex Quinlan
• MLA	Wade Verge
• MP	Scott Simms
• Premier	Kathy Dunderdale
Elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population (2006)
• Total	276
Time zone	Newfoundland Time (UTC-3:30)
• Summer (DST)	Newfoundland Daylight (UTC-2:30)
Area code(s)	709

Baytona is a small rural community found in Newfoundland and Labrador. It is situated off of route 340, which runs from Lewisporte to Twillingate island, aptly named "Road to the Isles". A bay separates Baytona from a neighboring town called Birchy Bay. The first settlers of Baytona were fishermen, with women mainly staying home to raise children , but with a depletion in cod stocks and lobsters, there was a shift away from the fishing industry.

Currently the majority of people living in Baytona made a living from the forestry industry^{[citation needed]},but with the recent shutdown of Abitibi and the Grandfalls newsprint mill, many are left in hard economic situations. According to the 2006 census there are 276 residents, with a 15.1% population loss between 2001 and 2006

Baytona has a fire department, town council and a recreation committee. There is currently one running convenience store. The community has a playground, and a basketball court.

The community has an Anglican and a Pentecostal church.

Name change

Originally, Baytona was known as "Birchy Bay North". In 1958 the name was changed to "Gayside" to help the flow of mail delivery. The name was a play on the word "gay", which at that time meant happy, implying that Gayside was the more plesant of the two communities. However, in 1985, due to a change in definition of the word "gay", and subsequent joking and harassment of neighbouring communities, the name of the town was, once again, changed from "Gayside" to "Baytona".