Avondale, Newfoundland and Labrador

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Avondale
Town
River flow toward Conception Bay
Coat of arms
Avondale Location of Avondale in Newfoundland
Coordinates: 47°25′08″N 53°11′38″W / 47.41889°N 53.19389°W / 47.41889; -53.19389
Country	Canada
Province	Newfoundland and Labrador
Census division	1
Government
• Mayor	Owen Mahoney
Area [1]
• Land	29.98 km2 (11.58 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]
• Total	584
• Density	21.4/km2 (55/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-3:30 (Newfoundland Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-2:30 (Newfoundland Daylight)
Area code	709
Highways	Route 1 (TCH) Route 60 Route 63

Avondale is a town located on Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, which was incorporated in 1974.^[3] The community is situated at the southwestern head of Conception Bay in Division 1. It is located 59 km (37 mi) southwest of St. John's and 72 km (45 mi) northeast of Placentia.

Up to 1897, the community was known as Salmon Cove,^[3] but was renamed to avoid confusion with two other nearby communities of the same name in the Port de Grave and Brigus Districts. The name Avondale was suggested^{[citation needed]} by the parish priest Rev John Roe because of the resemblance to his native area in Ireland, taking the name from Thomas Moore's poem, "The Meeting of the Waters".^{[citation needed]} Earliest record of settlement per Fishing Room Grants is for John Mahaney in 1773,^{[citation needed]} a census of 1812 reports 12 inhabitants. Settlers to the area were primarily Irish Roman Catholic with a smaller number of Jersey French and English.^{[citation needed]} Avondale incorporated the communities of Salmon Cove, Gasters, Northern Arm, and Southern Arm.

In addition to the railway station, it the town hosted a post office, a money order office, and one church. It functioned as a lumbering, fishing and farming settlement in what was known as the Harbour Main District. The population dwindled in the early 1900s as men began migrating to the eastern US (Boston and New York) to find work.^{[citation needed]}

Its first postmaster was Edward Kennedy^{[citation needed]} who came to the area in 1889 after the railway was built.