- The Move
A video on the resettlement of the Rumboldt family
in 1968.




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Silver Fox Island

Silver Fox Island (pop. 1956, 163) is a resettled fishing community located on the northwest side of Bonavista Bay, at the mouth Indian Bay. The island was settled at a small harbour on its southern side, known as Warren's Harbour.

Warren's Harbour appears in the first Census, in 1836, with a population consisting of one family of eight people. The population of Silver Fox Island grew slowly -- to 49 by 1884 and 82 by 1901 -- largely as a result of natural increase among the five founding families. The only other common family name of Silver Fox Island was Wicks, also a family name of Fair Islands.

By the late 1800s the community was largely reliant on the Labrador fishery, supplemented by winter woods work in Indian Bay. Through the early years of the twentieth century woods work grew in importance, as the Labrador fishery declined, and by the mid-1930s most of the younger men were employed at Indian Bay for much of the year, cutting pitprops. In 1945 Silver Fox Island recorded its peak population, 198 people, with a mixture of the inshore fishery (now increasingly prosecuted from motorboats) and winter logging compensating for the virtual disappearance of the Labrador fishery. However, the changing economy of central Bonavista Bay, in particular after Bowater's took over Indian Bay in 1937 and expanded pulpwood cutting operations, led many of the people of Silver Fox Island to look increasingly to the adjacent mainland. By the mid-1950s some families were moving in to Indian Bay and nearby Wareham, where many had relatives. The last eight families to leave the island moved to Wareham in 1960.

From the Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador


Silver Fox Island, blinds are down in windows indicating a death in the community

Silver Fox Island, blinds are down in windows indicating a death in the community
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Silver Fox Island, St. Andrews Anglican Church

Silver Fox Island, St. Andrews Anglican Church
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Silver Fox Island, House of Thomas Button Jr.

Silver Fox Island, House of Thomas Button Jr.
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Silver Fox Island, original bell from St. Andrews Church

Silver Fox Island, original bell from St. Andrews Church
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Silver Fox Island, Inscription on bell from St. Andrews Church

Silver Fox Island, Inscription on bell from St. Andrews Church
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Silver Fox Island, Inscription on bell from St. Andrews Church

Silver Fox Island, Inscription on bell from St. Andrews Church
Larger Version




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