Nestled in the
hills, protected from the wind and sea, the area
that is now the Town of Triton provided much
encouragement to those who first decided to make
this island their home. Along with the fishery
creating most employment, the community is
equipped with the largest fish processing plant
in Green Bay. Logging has also played a
significant role in Triton's economy. This town
has a service sector equal to any community of
its size throughout the province. Whereas
Springdale is the service centre of Green Bay,
Triton can be named her "little sister" in this
respect. Triton is an industrious town with
hardworking people who take pride in their
community.
The town of Triton consists of the east end of
Triton Island, in western Notre Dame Bay, and
includes Triton West (also know as Great
Triton), Jim's Cove and Card's Harbour. This
community is located on the south shore of Green
Bay.
The name Triton appeared in early records as
Troytown, Traytown, Treaton and Tory Town and
owes its origin to English West Country usage of
"Troytown" to refer to a maze either because of
the complexity of Great Triton Harbour or
because of the difficulty of navigating through
off-lying islands to enter Little Triton
Harbour.
Little Triton Harbour (or Triton East) was the
earliest area of settlement, in the 1830's or
1840's. Little Triton Harbour and Big Triton
Island were earlier used as seasonal fishing
stations by fishermen from Twillingate. The
first time Triton appears in the Census was in
1845, with a population of 17. There was a few
families living southeast of the harbour but
these families eventually moved to Triton.
In 1857 there was 54 people at Triton, but
gradually increased to 102 by 1884. Tradition
say that some of the early settlers had winter
houses and gardens at Great Triton Harbour and
that by the 1880's Great Triton was settled all
year round. The south side of Triton Island has
also been settled at Jim's Cove and Card's
Harbour. Tradition says that these coves were
settled by families who had been fishing the
grounds around Badger Bay and Seal Bay. In 1891
the population of Triton was recorded at 179
which included all of Triton Island.
The first Methodist school/chapel was built
between Great and Little Triton in about 1887,
and the first Salvation Army citadel was build
in 1896. By 1901 the majority of people were
Salvation Army and Triton has continued to be
mostly Salvation Army.
In the earliest days of settlement ties were
strong with Twillingate, where fishermen traded
cod. In the 1890's the first stores were kept by
families at Little Triton as agents of merchants
at Little Bay Islands. A business was
established at Great Triton which supplied many
fishermen in the area and became involved in
supplying schooners for the Labrador fishery.
With a strong inshore fishery, a growing
involvement in the fishery in Labrador and
winter logging for lumber and pulp and paper
industries, the population of Triton grew
considerably to 470 in 1935 and 625 in 1951.
Triton East and West incorporated in 1955 and
Jim's Cove and Card's Harbour incorporated in
1958. In 1961 the two municipalities amalgamated
as a rural district.
After the causeway was built in 1968, linking
the island to Pilley's Island and the mainland,
the community continued to grow. Because of the
increasing dependency on the road it was the end
for Little Triton, which was declining in
population. Since it was not on the road it was
soon abandoned. In 1980 a new fish plant, Triton
Seafood's, was opened at Little Triton Harbour,
and a road was built to it. In the same year the
rural district was re-incorporated as the town
of Triton.
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