Gambo

Gambo, NL, incorporated as a town in 1964, population 1984 (2011c), 2072 (2006c). The Town of Gambo is an amalgamation of three communities - Dark Cove, Middle Brook and Gambo - stretching along the shore at the end of Freshwater Bay, a long indraft of BONAVISTA BAY. Gambo, whose name is from the Portuguese gama, meaning doe, or more likely from "gambo," a sledge to haul timber, first appears in the 1857 census and thereafter grew as a major lumbering, sawmilling and salmon-fishing centre.

In the 1860s David Smallwood (grandfather of Joseph SMALLWOOD) began a sizable sawmill, which became the first in Newfoundland powered by steam. After the trans-insular railway reached Gambo in the 1890s, the town became a link between coastal boats and the rail line.

Residents continued to be employed cutting or processing timber products for other local mills and for large paper companies until a series of forest fires (especially in 1961) consumed most of the remaining stands. Although the railway ceased operations in 1988, Gambo on the route of the Trans-Canada Highway and at the start of the highway to northern Bonavista Bay, continues to be a major regional service centre.

Author ROBERT D. PITT

Links to Other Sites
Atlantic Provinces Chambers of Commerce
The website for the Atlantic Provinces Chambers of Commerce (APCC), formerly the Maritime Board of Trade. Formed in 1896, this organization promotes and supports business and economic development in Atlantic Canada. Click on "Chambers" for links to local Chambers of Commerce.