Cartwright, Newfoundland and Labrador
Cartwright
Natsitok | |
|---|---|
Town | |
| Coordinates: 53°42′24″N 57°01′11″W / 53.70667°N 57.01972°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Newfoundland and Labrador |
| Settled | 1775 |
| Incorporated | 1956 |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Robyn Holwell |
| • MP | Philip Earle |
| Area | |
| • Land | 3.27 km2 (1.26 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 10 m (30 ft) |
| Population (2021) | |
• Total | 439 |
| Time zone | UTC−04:00 (AST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−03:00 (ADT) |
| Area code | 709 |
| Highways | Route 516 (Cartwright Highway) |
Cartwright is a community located on the eastern side of the entrance to Sandwich Bay, along the southern coast of Labrador in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It was incorporated in 1956.
Sandwich Bay is an area with a longstanding Inuit presence known to resident Inuit as Natsiktok or place of the ring seals. Archeological evidence, especially that excavated by Dr. Lisa Rankin indicates an early and year round Inuit presence.
Cartwright has been a settled community since 1775. In 1775, Captain George Cartwright, for whom the place is named, settled there, establishing a fish and fur trading business. He left Labrador in 1786, maintaining a business interest there until it was sold to Hunt and Henley in 1815. It was again sold in 1873 to the Hudson's Bay Company and has remained under company ownership ever since. The residents of Sandwich Bay (including Cartwright) were described by Rev. Bishop Field in 1848 as either 'pure Esquimaux' or 'Anglo-Esquimaux, with an admixture of old English settlers'.
Since 2002, Cartwright has been connected by road (a section of the Trans-Labrador Highway, Route 516) with Blanc Sablon, Quebec, where there is a car ferry to Newfoundland. Since December 2009 the remaining link between Cartwright and Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador has been completed and open to the public.