Placentia (Newfoundland)

Placentia

Placentia is the core of a group of small villages (Placentia, Jerseyside, Townside, Freshwater, Dunville and Argentia). The community is primarily a fishing village and has declined rapidly in population since the depletion of Atlantic cod stocks in the 1990s.
Fort Plaisance (1662), Fort Royal (1687) and Fort Saint-Louis (1690) were early French military fortifications in the area; the hilltop bastion Fort Royal served as home for the French governor. After the French abandoned Newfoundland in the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, the British built the redoubt Fort Frederick. While much of the original fortification is in ruins, what remains is preserved as Castle Hill National Historic Site.

Argentia

Argentia was a small fishing village established by the French in the 1630s as Petit Plaisance (Little Placentia), meaning "Pleasant Little Place". The village was renamed in 1901 to reflect the presence of silver ore in the Broad Cove region; a silver mine operated until the 1920s. A railway branch line reached the community in 1888, allowing the adjoining Ship Harbour and Fox Harbour to serve as a seaport to supply other coastal villages (outports) in the region.
In August 1941, a four-day wartime meeting between Winston Churchill and Franklin Delanor Roosevelt took place on board the British battleship HMS Prince of Wales, moored at Placentia Bay, off Argentia. In 1942, the villages of Argentia and Marquise were expropriated and completely demolished to make way for a US military base which was to serve as one end of a key World War II trans-Atlantic supply line. The dispossessed villagers were largely resettled in Placentia. The US base closed in 1994 and its airport sits abandoned; attempts have been made to re-purpose the base as an industrial park. The Newfoundland Railway is gone. The docks remain in use seasonally for the ferry to Cape Breton.

The nearest major airport is in St. John's.

By car

Placentia is 131 km from St. John's, southwest on the Trans-Canada Highway (Route 1). then south on Route 100.

By bus

You can get as far as Whitbourne on a once-day DLR bus (1 hr 30 min, $20 as of June 2019) leaving from Memorial University Student Union Centre in St. John's, but Placentia is a further 48 km by taxi or hitchhiking from there.

By ferry

• Marine Atlantic

  phone: +1-800-341-7981
  Takes passengers and cars from North Sydney, Nova Scotia to Port aux Basques throughout the year, and to Argentia during the summer. The duration of the ride depends on the weather and water conditions, so patience is of the essence. Reservations recommended except for commercial vehicles. (Commercial vehicles pay double for reservations.)

Placentia is on Newfoundland Highway 100, which leads to the Trans-Canada Highway.

• Busy Bee Cabs

  phone: +1 709 227-1600
  address: 15 Prince William Dr
  Local taxi service.

• Cape St. Mary's Ecological Reserve

  phone: +1 709 277-1666

• Castle Hill Historic Site

  phone: +1 709 227-2401
  address: 1 Old Castle Hill Rd, Jerseyside
  Remains of French and English fortifications from the 17th and 18th centuries, history of local fishery.

• O'Reilly House Museum

  phone: +1 709 227-5568
  address: 48 Orcan Drive
  1902 Balistrade Queen Anne Victorian magistrate's house restored with period artifacts as local historical museum.

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Angels Cove

• The Cape Shore Drive

• Placentia Bay Lookout

• Cape Saint Mary's Ecological Reserve

  phone: +1 709 277-1666
  address: 60 km (40 mi) S of Placentia on NL 100
  Provincial park and nesting seabird sanctuary, interpretive centre, souvenir shop, washrooms.

• Gooseberry Cove Provincial Park

  address: Gooseberry Cove, NL route 100, 27 km S of Placentia
  Picnic area on sandy beach.

• Philip's Café

  phone: +1 709 227-0127
  address: 170 Jerseyside Hill, Jerseyside
  Waterfront café, bakery, pastry shop. Serves breakfast, deli sandwiches, coffee, and tea for takeaway.

• Hoi Pun Restaurant

  phone: +1 709 227-2549
  address: 14 Prince William Dr
  Chinese & Canadian food.

• The Three Sisters Pub

  phone: +1 709 227-0124
  address: 2 Orcan Dr

Hotels

• Bridgeway Hotel

  phone: +1 709-227-1700
  address: 15-19 Prince William Drive
  Twelve rooms with private bath, fridge, microwave, wi-fi, breakfast.

Bed and breakfast

• Castle Landing Guest Home

  phone: +1 709 227-0997
  address: 16 Larkin Drive, Route 100, Freshwater
  Nine rooms in former convent, en-suite bath, wi-fi, continental breakfast.

• Rosedale Manor Inn

  phone: +1 709 227-3613
  address: 40 Orcan Dr.
  Waterfront 1893 Heritage B&B Inn, gourmet breakfasts, comfortable beds, private bathrooms, wi-fi, garden and reading room.

• Cochrane's Corner Guest House

  phone: +1 709 227-2835
  address: Main Road, Placentia
  Three-bedroom cottage, continental breakfast.

• St. John's