Gooseberry Cove


Gooseberry Cove is a settlement in the Trinity Bay area of Newfoundland located on an area of land known as the Southwest Arm, which extends off the Trans Canada Highway on Route 204. It is neighbored by the communities of Butter Cove and Southport.
Gooseberry Cove was first settled by inshore fishing families sometime around 1832. The earliest names which were present were Langor, Seward, Balsom and Smith, and many of these family names can be still found in the community today. It became a village in 1940, with a population of 640; by 1956 the population had dropped to 141. The first Postmistress was Delilah Florence Smith.
Within the community is the main road which runs right through the community itself, with one small side-road which leads to the fish plant and community wharf. There is another road which circumvents the community and leads to nearby Southport, and though built in the 1980s is still referred to as "The New Road". Many residents have built homes along The New Road.

Businesses

Almost entirely a fishing community, the village has a small convenience store, a post office, and a modest fish plant. The community once had a small school which accommodated Kindergarten to Grade 6, but that school was shut down in the late 1980s, which all children now being bused to nearby Little Heart's Ease for schooling.

Employment

Most of the residents engage in the fishery for their primary source of employment, and most of those who do not must travel to the nearby town of Clarenville for work. Following the collapse of the cod fishery in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the once abundant cod and caplin fisheries were replaced by the crab fishery, and this focus has persisted into the 21st century.
There is also St. Alban's Anglican Church and a Catholic church.
Near the community is a cod fish farm, which is operated by Claude Seward.