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Postville, Newfoundland and Labrador

Coordinates: 54°54′30″N 59°46′21″W / 54.90833°N 59.77250°W / 54.90833; -59.77250
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Postville
Town
Postville, early June 1977
Postville, early June 1977
Nickname: 
The Post
Postville is located in Newfoundland and Labrador
Postville
Postville
Location of Postville
Coordinates: 54°54′30″N 59°46′21″W / 54.90833°N 59.77250°W / 54.90833; -59.77250
CountryCanada
ProvinceNewfoundland and Labrador
RegionNunatsiavut
Government
 • Mayor (AngajukKâk)Glen Sheppard
 • Federal MPYvonne Jones (L)
 • Provincial MHALela Evans (PC)[1]
 • Nunatsiavut Assembly memberGeorge Gear[2]
Area
[3]
 • Total2.39 km2 (0.92 sq mi)
Elevation
68 m (223 ft)
Population
 (2021)[3]
 • Total188
 • Density78.7/km2 (204/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC−04:00 (AST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−03:00 (ADT)
Area code709

Postville is an Inuit town in the north of Labrador, Canada.[4][5] It had a population of 188 as of 2021.[3] It is located about 40 km (25 mi) inside Kaipokok Bay, 180 km (110 mi) NNE of Happy Valley-Goose Bay. Postville Airport is nearby.

Postville is inaccessible by road and may be reached only by air (via Postville Airport)[6] or via ferry service that operates between Nain and Happy Valley-Goose Bay during the ice-free period from June to November.[7]

Uranium deposits are located near Postville.[8][9]

History

[edit]

In the 18th century, the Franco-Canadian merchant Louis Fornel landed near the present site of Rigolet and claimed the land for France in 1743. The Franco-Canadians established trading posts in Kaipokok Bay at that time.

The British took control of New France in 1763 after the Seven Years' War, bringing a flood of European fishermen and whalers to settle on the Labrador coast.[10]

Around 1784, Pierre Marcoux and Louis Marchand reopened the old Kaipokok trading post. In 1795, the Moravian Brothers of Hopedale observed that Pierre Marcoux and the former partner of George Cartwright Collingham were the first Europeans to settle in Kaipokok Bay.

In order to compete with the Moravians, the Hudson's Bay Company established a coastal trading post on Kaipokok Bay in 1837 shortly after Rigolet. It operated until 1880.[11]

The village was first known as The Post because of the Hudson's Bay Company trading post located in the area. Inuit families traded in the fall, winter and spring before returning to the coastal camps in the summer. The village was renamed Postville in the 1940s by Pentecostal pastor William Gillet who helped establish the community by building a school and a church.[12] Through the 1940s it was mostly a winter residence for settlers who were scattered around the bay and coast in the summer. In 1949, Gillet opened a store in Postville and built a sawmill in Shanty Brook across the bay (which burnt down in 1957). From then, the population gradually began to concentrate in Postville. In 1961, its population was 84. Permanent settlement was further boosted by the opening of a shipyard in 1974. Although the shipyard closed a few years later, a new sawmill opened in 1990.[13]

An uncommon magnitude 4.3 earthquake was measured in Labrador on February 5, 2020, with its epicentre about 18 kilometres (11 mi) east of Postville. It was the strongest quake on the Labrador coast in 40 years.[14]

Demographics

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In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Postville had a population of 188 living in 75 of its 83 total private dwellings, a change of 6.2% from its 2016 population of 177. With a land area of 2.39 km2 (0.92 sq mi), it had a population density of 78.7/km2 (203.7/sq mi) in 2021.[3]

Historical census populations – Postville, Newfoundland and Labrador
YearPop.±%
1976 164—    
1981 223+36.0%
1986 220−1.3%
1991 231+5.0%
1996 223−3.5%
YearPop.±%
2001 215−3.6%
2006 219+1.9%
2011 206−5.9%
2016 177−14.1%
2021 188+6.2%
Source: Statistics Canada[3][15]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Labrador MHA Lela Evans leaving the NDP to return to PC caucus". Yahoo News. 2024-07-16. Retrieved 2024-07-16.
  2. ^ "Postville by-election preliminary results" (PDF). June 30, 2022. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-07-10.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Postville, Town (T) Newfoundland and Labrador [Census subdivision] Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Statistics Canada. 29 March 2023. Archived from the original on 14 November 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  4. ^ "Labrador Inuit land claim passes last hurdle". CBC News. June 24, 2005. Archived from the original on March 21, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
  5. ^ "Inuit celebrate self-government turnover". CBC News. December 1, 2005. Archived from the original on March 16, 2007. Retrieved April 22, 2010.
  6. ^ Churchill Duke, Laura (20 Sep 2019). "Hopedale woman circulating petition calling for the province to subsidize flights to northern Labrador". Saltwire. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Ferry Service". www.tourismnunatsiavut.com. Tourism Nunatsiavut. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  8. ^ "Uranium mine will be safe, company tells Labrador community". Cbc.ca. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Labrador Inuit ponder ban on uranium mining". Cbc.ca. Archived from the original on 25 February 2022. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  10. ^ "Social Studies Curriculum Guide 2010, Ch.3" (PDF). Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 August 2022. Retrieved 23 Jul 2021.
  11. ^ "Hudson's Bay Company: Kibokok". pam.minisisinc.com. Archives of Manitoba - Keystone Archives Descriptive Database. Archived from the original on 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  12. ^ "Postville". Tourismnunasiavut.com. Archived from the original on 30 March 2021. Retrieved 23 Jul 2021.
  13. ^ Poole, Cyril F.; Cuff, Robert, eds. (1993). Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador Volume 4 (First ed.). St. John's: Harry Cuff Publications Ltd. p. 425. ISBN 0-9693422-4-1.
  14. ^ "Magnitude 4.3 earthquake hits Labrador, the largest in decades". www.cbc.ca. CBC News. 5 February 2020. Archived from the original on 27 October 2023. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  15. ^ "Postville, Town [Census subdivision], Newfoundland and Labrador and Division No. 11, Census division [Census division], Newfoundland and Labrador". 12.statcan.gc.ca. Government of Canada. 8 February 2017. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
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