Finally had Stephenville included in the neww streetview update. Google was here twice over the summer, June is the default photography with May hidden in the history function for some parts of town. May had a nicer day but no leaves on the trees, June is a grey day but leaves are almost fully out.
Inspired by SHH's use of music and photos, I give you this, from our days as a struggling mill town in the 1970s:
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Welcome to Stephenville, and the F-102 Delta Dagger is as good a place as any to start
Porter Airline's newest destination, Stephenville International YJT
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What passes for our "skyline"
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Maryland Drive duplexes, these were quarters for American servicemen with families in the 1950s
Having Walmart in the mall at the centre of town is pretty great
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Main Street
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Just west down the block on Main Street
Once in a while you come across one of these in the older neighbourhoods, a house that should be in 1950s American suburbia.
Just doesn't fit with the matchboxes that Newfoundlanders build out on the street
American 4-plexes, for lower ranked servicemen with families during the 50s/60s. I spent my early childhood in the red building in the early 90s.
The end of Port Harmon Road which is especially significant this year.
The granite cliff face to the right is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. It was originally a dark green hill like the rest but was blasted to reveal this face 100 years ago in 1914. The blasting was done by a "Dr. Ingraham" and 12 members of drill crew looking for iron deposits. This is where the story takes an interesting turn. The team arrived early in the spring to blast but then vanished in the middle of summer and were never heard from again.
At that time, the town was a french speaking community with no government presence. A magistrate would come to St. George's 20 km away for a few weeks each year, but that was it. On his arrival in 1914, he supposedly reported back to St. John's about an unsanctioned prospecting/quarrying operation that locals were talking about. Government had never heard of any plans to investigate for such minerals and had not given grants for such activity. By this time, the drill crew had vanished. War had been declared just weeks earlier, leading many to believe this cliff face was the work of a German spy operation searching for mineral deposits in North America. DOSCO later investigated the area as a possible mine to replace Bell Island during WWII when U-Boat activity threatened shipping lanes between NL and the Sydney Steel Mill.
It's local lore that isn't well known, very few people actually know about it. Maybe it's true, maybe not, but still a neat story that has survived through the years.
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