Sop's Arm Settlement
Although Europeans first stepped ashore on the island of Newfoundland at least 5 centuries ago, there is no modern metropolis at the mouth of the Main. In White Bay communities such as Sop's Arm, Pollard's Point and Jackson's Arm, village populations are still measured in the hundreds, and local economies remain dependent on the fishing and logging industries that have founded and sustained them since the 18th century.

With its location at the far eastern tip of North America, it's not surprising that the history of European settlement in Newfoundland dates back at least as far as John Cabot's famous voyage of 1497. It is likely that small fishing vessels from England, Portugal and Spain discovered the island even earlier, and at L'Anse aux Meadows, at the very top of the Great Northern Peninsula, there is authenticated evidence of much earlier Norse habitation.

For many years, however, European presence in Newfoundland was largely transient, with summer fishing crews sailing back to port in winter months. On the south and west coasts of the island, the Basques operated an extensive cod and whale fishery during the 16th and 17 centuries. More permanent communities began to be established by both the English and the French in the 18th century.

Sop's Arm Sawmills: The Sop's Arm area, at the mouth of the Main, was the site of French and English fishing activity from the early 1700's. The earliest recorded settler of the area is Thomas Lewis, a salmon fisherman who had been part of an 1810 expedition to Red Indian Lake. Later settlers, of British origin, arrived in the 1880's, making their living from boat-building, fishing, and logging for small, family-owned sawmills. Further out in the Bay, fishing families congregated on Sop's Island, at the north side of Sop's Arm. The present-day community of Sop's Arm was established in 1955; today, fishing and logging continue on a modest basis.

Pollard's Point - From Island to Mainland: During the 1950's, the people of Sop's Island began moving to the mainland, establishing the new community of Pollard's Point in 1955. The area was the site of a short-lived gold mining industry in the early 1900's. An abandoned mine shaft is still visible today from the village road.

Outport Life in Jackson's Arm: On the northwest side of White's Bay, in Wick's Cove and Schooner Cove, the community of Jackson's Arm dates back to the late 1700's, when the French frequented the inlet as a seasonal fishing station. Permanent settlers began to arrive in the mid-1850's from Fogo Island and Notre Dame Bay, making their living by fishing and later, in local sawmills. By 1884, the community had its first school, and by 1909, its first church. The public service milestones of this Newfoundland outport community tell the story of its remoteness and isolation:

• First mail delivery, 1901, by dog team
• First medical personnel,1926
• First public roads, 1962
• First hydro service, 1966
• First telephone service, 1968

Aboriginal Archaeology

Archaeological sites in and around the Main River watershed provide vague but tantalizing clues to the ancient human history of the area, and hint at a highly-specialized hunting and fishing lifestyle driven by seals, salmon and migrating caribou.

While European influence dates back a mere 5 centuries, the Main's aboriginal history is thought to span at least 5,000 years. Successive waves of migration from southern Labrador, across the Strait of Belle Isle, brought a series of aboriginal cultures to the western peninsula of Newfoundland:

• The Maritime Archaic Indians occupied much of the island's coast, about 4,000 years ago, living a life fully adapted to the sea.

• The Pre-Dorset Eskimo (PalaeoEskimo) expanded southward from the high Arctic into Labrador, eventually reaching Newfoundland between 2,000 and 4,000 years ago.

• The Dorset Eskimo (Late PalaeoEskimo) moved south from Baffin Island into coastal Labrador and Newfoundland. The Dorset, who relied heavily on the harp seal, disappeared from Newfoundland about 1,000 years ago.

• The Beothuk, thought to be descendants of the "Little Passage Complex" of the Recent Indians of the late prehistoric period, were the aboriginal inhabitants of Newfoundland at the time of European contact. Driven inland from the resources of their coastal communities by increasing European settlement, the reticent Beothuk gradually became extinct.