Argentia
Argentia (/ɑːrˈdʒɛntʃə/ ar-JEN-chə)[1] is a Canadian commercial seaport and industrial park located in the Town of Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador. It is situated on the southwest coast of the Avalon Peninsula and defined by a triangular shaped headland which reaches northward out into Placentia Bay creating a natural harbour 3 km (1.9 mi) in length.
For the South American country, see Argentina.
Port of Argentia
Town of Placentia
Canada
UTC−02:30 (NDT)
Originally settled by the French in the 1630s that fishing settlement was called Petit Plaisance, meaning "Pleasant Little Place". The name was retained in English (Little Placentia) when the French lost control of the area following the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. The census of 1706 records 149 individuals in 14 habitations. The community adopted its present name (unofficially in 1895 and officially in 1901) for the presence of silver ore near Broad Cove Point on the east side of the harbour.
The name "Argentia" is Latin, meaning "Land of Silver" and was chosen by Father John St. John, the parish priest at Holy Rosary Parish from September 18, 1895, to February 11, 1911. The Silver Cliff Mine operated until the early 1920s but was never profitable. Through most of the 19th century, the fishery was the lifeblood of the community; the Newfoundland Commission of Government built a herring factory at Argentia in 1936.
The first church and school were established by Father Pelagius Nowlan in 1835. He was from Ireland and moved to Newfoundland as a missionary priest. In 1836, population was made up 484 people in 76 houses.
Railway comes to town[edit]
Construction started on a branch line to nearby Placentia from the Harbour Grace Railway mainline near Whitbourne (what would later become part of the Newfoundland Railway) on October 14, 1886, and the 26 mi (42 km) of track were completed by October 1888. This line became known as the "Placentia Branch" and it served as a key route to Placentia and the nearby port and anchorage of Little Placentia where coastal ferries would run to outports along the south coast of the island.
The Newfoundland Railway chose Port aux Basques to be its western terminus in 1893 and a new ferry intended for service to North Sydney, Nova Scotia, was built in Scotland. In October 1897, the new vessel named the SS Bruce arrived but the docks at Port aux Basques had not been completed. As a result, from October until June, 1898 (when it reverted to Port aux Basques), the Bruce operated first from Placentia and then from Little Placentia to North Sydney.
Redevelopment[edit]
Argentia became part of Town of Placentia in 1993, along with Freshwater, Dunville, Jerseyside and townside Placentia.
By the end of 2001, Government of Canada had negotiated land transfer agreements to return the lands which formerly comprised the US Naval Base to local ownership and control. Port of Argentia, is the port and property authority for the industrial area and is utilizing these former naval base properties to lead the redevelopment of the site to revitalize the local economy and quality of life in the region.
In June 2002, Inco announced an agreement with the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador on a three phase plan to develop the Voisey's Bay nickel deposit. The $1 billion initial phase of the Voisey's Bay agreement provided for mine and mill infrastructure development at Voisey's Bay, and a research and development program in hydrometallurgical processing which would include a demonstration plant to be built at Argentia. the demonstration plant at Argentia was constructed and operated from 2004 to 2007. The demonstration plant was an initial step toward the ultimate development of a commercial hydrometallurgical processing facility, the Long Harbour Nickel Processing Plant, to be constructed and operated in Long Harbour.[3]
In October, 2013, Husky Energy and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador announced an agreement to amend the White Rose Development. White Rose is the name of an oil field offshore Newfoundland. The announcement included the news that this oil resource could be exploited by installing a gravity based 'wellhead platform' structure over the western section of the oil field on the ocean floor in approximately 120 m (390 ft) of water. To support this billion dollar wellhead platform construction project, Husky announced that it would be establishing a graving dock facility on the Northside Peninsula at Argentia to support the construction of the concrete base of the wellhead platform. Construction of the graving dock began in late 2013 and was finished in early 2015. However, in December 2014, Husky announced that, due to declining oil prices, the decision to construct the Concrete Gravity Base (CGS) had been deferred.
Transportation[edit]
Airport[edit]
The former US Navy Air Station airfield on the Northside Peninsula has not been active for air traffic since 1973 other than for the Air Cadet Gliding Program.