Cuslett - Newfoundland and Labrador

Route 100

Coordinates: 46°57′47″N 54°09′25″W / 46.963°N 54.157°W

Nestled along the Cape Shore along Route 100 approximately 40 kilometers from Placentia and 16 kilometers from Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve is the scenic community of Cuslett. Although the community is tiny, its natural beauty is stunning. It boasts a beautiful walking trail up Cuslett river and has a breathtaking view of the ocean with a accessible beach. Cuslett is also home to Tramore Productions, a theatre group that is dedicated to the preservation and presentation of the Irish ancestry with stories, ballads, song & dance of the Cape Shore.

Cuslett was first settled in the 1800's by fishermen employed by the Sweetman merchant family in Placentia. The spelling of its name varied over the years to include Custolet and Custlett. Archbishop Howley provided two more variations of the name, Custlet and Curslet.
Walter Mangan most likely settled around 1800 and married a girl from Angles Cove. He was granted the first land at Cuslett in 1850 and the family later changed their name to Manning, as Matthew Manning was certainly farming by 1871. He was also the ancestor of the Mannions of adjoining communities. ( McAlpine’s directory-1904 )

Walter Manning, a grandson of the original settler, operated the largest retail business on the Cape Shore until the early 1960's. A sawmill owned by Tom Jim Coffey originated from iron salvaged from the wreck of the Palerearina in 1903 and operated into the mid-1900's.

Cuslett was also home to a Lobster cannery in the early1900s. Today Cuslett has less than 100 in population but that number triples during the summer when Tramore Theatre produces a number of plays that depict the life and times of the Cape Shore residents.

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