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Archaeology in Newfoundland and
Labrador 1997
Edited by K. Nelmes
Historic Resources Overview Assessment:
Stagg Pond Cottage Development Area
Gerald Penney
INTRODUCTION
The Department of Government
Services and Lands, Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, proposes to
develop a 15 lot cottage development area and a one kilometre access road
on the south side of Stagg Pond about five kilometres west of Glovertown,
Bonavista Bay. Gerald Penney Associates Limited was contracted to conduct
an historical resources overview assessment of the cottage development
area and the access road.
Fieldwork was carried out on
22 September 1997.
STUDY AREA
Stagg Pond is north of, and
flows into Maccles Lake (Figure 1). Its eastern end is within 0.5 km of an
abandoned railway bed. Maccles Lake cottages are accessed from Alexander
Bay station via roads and the abandoned railway track.
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Figure 1.
Study Area (dotted line).
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GEOGRAPHY
The south side of Stagg Pond
is hummocky and gently rolling landscape. The land slopes towards the
southeast with a maximum elevation of about 220 m above sea level.
Draining into Maccles Lake, Stagg Pond is one of three large lakes in the
area including Gambo Pond (north) and Terra Nova Lake (south). A number of
small ponds (Rocky Pond and Chain Pond also drain to Maccles Lake; Gull
Pond drains to Northwest Arm of Alexander Bay) define an area of heavy
forest subjected to extensive cutting for more than a century (Smallwood
1984:541).
SIGNIFICANCE
J.P. Howley reports evidence
in 1869 of earlier French settlement in the Glovertown area. He reported a
number of small clay pipes "of peculiar pattern" uncovered near
Bloody Bay River and an associated find, an ink-bottle-shaped clay object.
The object is inscribed on opposite sides with a "French" W and
a heart with a dent in its center and a stroke drawn towards the dent.
Howley concluded the mark is intended to portray the Sacred Heart. Another
side has the date 1687 inscribed (Kirwin et al. 1997:52).
An archaeological survey of
the shoreline of Gambo Pond and Terra Nova Lake to the north and south of
the study area (Schwarz 1987) found 18 prehistoric sites, many represented
by single artifact finds. An historic resources overview assessment of
Butts Pond (Stopp 1991), 20 km north of Stagg Pond, for cottage
development, reported negative results.
SETTLEMENT HISTORY
Settlement histories of
communities near the study area, taken from the Encyclopedia of
Newfoundland and Labrador, are summarized here:
Glovertown (including
Alexander Bay, Rosedale, Angle Brook, Norton Cove, Glovertown North,
Central, and South) was settled by 1840 with an economic emphasis on
salmon in Terra Nova River and lumber in the hinterland. Maccles Brook
flows into Terra Nova River at the Trans Canada Highway crossing at the
E.S. Spencer Bridge. It is small and twisting with many rapids and falls,
and, according to one informant interviewed for this study, is unsuited
for travel or fishing.
Terra Nova was settled before
1935, and throughout the area, people were employed in some aspect of the
forest industry. Today the village of Terra Nova is made up of seasonal
residences. Most year round inhabitants are employed in poultry, farming
or tourism.
Traytown, settled before 1884
with a major emphasis on lumbering, today survives on tourism.
METHODOLOGY
Prior to fieldwork,
topographic map and aerial photography interpretation was conducted;
consultations with the Archaeology Office of the Culture and Heritage
Division and local residents, along with documentary research, were
conducted to determine areas with historic resource potential.
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Figure 2.
Stagg Pond Cottage Development Area.
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Figure 3.
Existing Access Road to Proposed Cottage Development Area.
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RESULTS
The east section of the
proposed cottage development area is heavily disturbed and already
contains a temporary access road (Figure 3) to two cottage lots (numbers 1
and 3 of Figure 2). Evidenced by a number of deteriorating burnt stumps
and small, sparse, black spruce and shrub heathlands, the area appears
burnt over in the recent past (Figure 4). Domestic forest activity,
evident by a few isolated stumps, has occurred in the past (Figure
5). The north side of Stagg Pond is used extensively by big and small
game hunters to access the more barren country to the west. The cottage
development area on the south side of Stagg Pond is also used for interior
access but as it is boggy, its use is less frequent.
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Figure 4.
Vegetation cover typical of cottage area. On the bottom left is
the proposed road.
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Figure 5.
Deteriorating stump near Stagg Pond; common throughout the study
area.
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The shore is sharply defined with a
vertical rocky embankment about 1 m high topped with alder and shrubs
(Figure 6). No natural beaches suitable for camping exist along the area
of the proposed cabin lots.
A test pit dug in a section of
heath land on the shore of Stagg Pond, showed a shallow layer of black
organic material underlaid by sterile gravel. A second test pit on the
highest piece of land along the proposed access road, was in moss
underlaid by brown sterile gravel. No historic resources were identified.
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Figure 6.
South shore of Stagg Pond; west view.
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CONCLUSION
The proposed cottage
development area is considered of low historic resource potential. No
further action is recommended.
REFERENCES
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Encyclopedia of
Newfoundland and Labrador.
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1981-93
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Newfoundland Book
Publishers (1967) Limited (Vols. 1 and 2) and Joseph R. Smallwood
Heritage Foundation, Inc. (Vol. 4), St. John's.
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Kirwin, William J.,
G.M. Story and Patrick A. O'Flaherty (eds.)
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1997
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Reminiscences
of James P. Howley: Selected Years.
The Champlain Society, Toronto.
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Schwarz, Fred
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1987
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"Survey of Gambo
Pond and Terra Nova Lake." Unpublished manuscript on file,
Culture and Heritage Division, Department of Tourism, Culture and
Recreation, St. John's.
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Stopp, M.P.
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1991
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"Cultural
Resource Assessment of Butts Pond-Middle Brook Remote Site
Development." Unpublished manuscript on file, Culture and
Heritage Division, Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation,
St. John's.
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