L'Anse Amour, Newfoundland and Labrador
Encyclopedia
Labrador
Labrador is the distinct, northerly region of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It comprises the mainland portion of the province, separated from the island of Newfoundland by the Strait of Belle Isle...
, a part of the Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
province of Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
. As of 2006, it has a population of 8.
Demographics
The figures below pertain to Division No. 10, Subd. A, which includes L'Anse Amour.- Population, 2001: 64
- Population, 1996: 83
- Population change, 1996-2001: -22.9 percent
- Area (square kilometers): 3,755.19
- Number of families: 25
No statistics for the town of L'Anse Amour itself are available, though a tourist Web site lists the town's population at 8.
History
Literally translated from FrenchFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
as "Cove of Love," L'Anse Amour is a corruption of an earlier name, L'Anse aux Morts, which means "Cove of the Dead."
Human settlement in the area dates back at least 7,500 years as evidenced by the burial mound of a Maritime Archaic boy here. His body was wrapped in a shroud of bark or hide and placed face down with his head pointed to the west. A sign at the site describes the significance of the burial mound and reproductions of artifacts found there are located at the Labrador Straits Museum in L'Anse au Loup, Labrador.
Point Amour Lighthouse
The Point Amour Lighthouse, located a short distance from L'Anse Amour, is the tallest lighthouse in Atlantic Canada, and the second tallest one in all of Canada, reaching a height of 109 feet (33 m). The cylindrical tower is built of limestoneLimestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
and is painted white with a black band. It was built in the series of Imperial Towers
Imperial Towers
The Imperial Towers were six of the earliest lighthouses built on Lake Huron by the Canadian government. The designation Imperial is not certain, but historians speculate that because the towers were public construction built under United Kingdom authority, the name would assure funding from the...
and is designated a Provincial Historic Site. The residential part of the lighthouse, completed in 1857, has been renovated and now serves as a museum.
A second order Fresnel lens
Fresnel lens
A Fresnel lens is a type of lens originally developed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel for lighthouses.The design allows the construction of lenses of large aperture and short focal length without the mass and volume of material that would be required by a lens of conventional design...
with a focal plane at 152 ft (46 m) above sea level is in use. In 1996 the operation of the lighthouse was converted to an automatic system. The light characteristic is a period of light of 16 seconds with an adjacent pause of 4 seconds. A fog signal may be sounded from a separate building.
Iceberg
Iceberg
An iceberg is a large piece of ice from freshwater that has broken off from a snow-formed glacier or ice shelf and is floating in open water. It may subsequently become frozen into pack ice...
s and a narrow passage make the Strait of Belle Isle a hazardous body of water. However, the route provided a shortcut between the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and larger ports such as Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
.
The wreck of one of the ships to go aground in the passage, HMS Raleigh
HMS Raleigh (1919)
HMS Raleigh was a Hawkins-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy. She was commissioned as part of the British North Atlantic squadron in 1921....
, is located near Point Amour. A trail along the shore allows visitors to see the rusting remains of the ship, which went aground on August 8, 1922 and was demolished by explosives in 1926.
Attractions
The town has an official population of seven people who are descendants of the crew of the HMS Raleigh which ran aground in 1922 at Point Amour. The uniqueness of a community with a population so few and its many attractions has gained national recognition in the vote to become one of the seven wonders of Canada.The tallest lighthouse in Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada
Atlantic Canada is the region of Canada comprising the four provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec: the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador...
is located at Point Amour and one of the oldest funeral monuments in the new world
New World
The New World is one of the names used for the Western Hemisphere, specifically America and sometimes Oceania . The term originated in the late 15th century, when America had been recently discovered by European explorers, expanding the geographical horizon of the people of the European middle...
, erected by the Maritime Archaic
Maritime Archaic
The Maritime Archaic is a North American cultural complex of the Late Archaic along the coast of Newfoundland, the Canadian Martimes and northern New England. The Maritime Archaic began in approximately 7000 BC and lasted into the 18th century. The culture consisted of sea-mammal hunters in the...
as a burial mound, is located nearby.