Princeton (Seal Cove) - Community History

By the early 1800's Seal Cove was used by the residents of Tickle Cove, Red Cliff and Open Hole as a winterhouse, which was a place for cutting wood and trapping. They built winter shacks and an the end of the fishing season each fall they came to Seal Cove where they stayed until the fishery started up again in early spring. During the winter they cut timber for building boats, houses, stages and sheds as well as a supply of firewood. Seal Cove was known at that time for its excellent stands of white pine which was ideal material for boat construction. Timber was scarce further down the peninsula and forest products were essential to their survival. There were many small animals in the area and they trapped beaver, fox and muskrat for the fur and hunted rabbit and other small game for food.

People did well during the winter at Seal Cove. There was plenty of firewood for heating the shacks and food was plentiful. They snared rabbits and hunted other wildlife. A river flows through the community from the pond at Seal Cove and empties into the bay. This pond and river provided a good source of freshwater as well as a variety of freshwater fish for food. During winter the frozen pond also served as a roadway for hauling timber with horse and sleigh. This gave them easy access to the forest resources around the pond.

As time went on the fishermen would stay later each spring and supplement their fishing income with catches of herring and salmon which were plentiful around Seal Cove. At that time the headland communities like Tickle Cove and Red Cliff were becoming over crowded and all the suitable farmland was used up. As a result the government was encouraging people to become more self sufficient by moving further into the bays where there was plenty of fertile land for growing crops and raising animals.

Around 1840 Samuel Prince of Tickle Cove along with his young bride Sarah (Quinton) Prince of Red Cliff Island became the first to put down roots in Seal Cove and make it their permanent home. This family obtained the first land grant in Seal Cove and it was on this land that they planted and harvested their first crops and raised their animals. Shortly after other families which included the names Prince, Quinton, Moss, and White settled there and Seal Cove changed from a winterhouse to a thriving community.