Princeton (Seal Cove) - Community History

The community of Princeton was known as Seal Cove in the late 1700's. In 1764 Captain James Cook used Bonavista as his headquarters while surveying and mapping the northeast coast of Newfoundland for the British Admiralty. As he traveled the many bay’s and inlet’s in his little ship the "Grenville" he encountered many interesting site’s. In the cove presently known as Princeton he came upon a huge herd of seal and he named the cove Seal Cove, a name that would be used for the next hundred and fifty years.

Stories have been passed down through the generations that tell of treasure buried in and around Seal Cove both before and after Captain Cook’s arrival. Back in 1612 Pirate Peter Easton sailed to Newfoundland with a fleet of ten pirate ships and established a fortified headquarters at Harbour Grace. From there he proceeded along the coast raiding harbours and attacking ships. Easton often sought shelter from storms and British Sloops of War in coves like Seal Cove and it’s been said that he buried some of his treasure in the area.

During the American War of Independence from 1775-1783 and the War of 1812 Newfoundland was in the forefront of sea fighting. American privateers plundered the outports and many shipping operations. When they were chased away by the British navy they would scurry up into the bay’s where they would unload and bury their loot planning to return and retrieve it later.

None of the local’s have ever found any treasure but during the 1900's many American and Canadian treasure hunters came to Seal Cove to search for buried treasure. One American gentleman spent several months searching the area and some say he did find a few gold coins and residents noticed that he took more luggage back to the US then he had when he arrived at Seal Cove. One local did retrieve a cannon ball from a crack in a cliff at Matthew’s Cove, down the bay from seal Cove, during the 1980's. This indicate’s that some sort of conflict had taken place but what might have occurred still remains a mystery.

Other stories tell of native people residing in the cove before the arrival of the first white settler’s. Around the 1930's residents found what they believed to be a human skeleton by the side of the river which is at the base of the mountain in Seal Cove. This occurred after the river bank washed away during a heavy rain storm. The remain’s were placed in a washtub and buried a little further back from the river. Some believed that this could have been the site of an Indian burial ground.

Much of what occurred prior to the mid 1700's is speculation but it is a fact that people living in headland communities further down the peninsula were aware of the vast amount of timber and other resources Seal Cove had to offer.