The name
Brigus comes from the
Brickhouse which was the name of an old town in England. Brigus's history dates back to around 1612, when
John Guy sold half of the harbour to the Spracklin family. At this time Brigus was mostly settled by people from England, Ireland, and
Wales. During
King William's War, this village was raided in the
Avalon Peninsula Campaign. Brigus is famous for its sea captains. It was in 1819 when Captain William Munden built the schooner
Four Brothers, the first one hundred ton
schooner in
Newfoundland (built 1819). There were many "Arctic Heroes" that came from this historic town: • Captain
John Bartlett sailed with the American explorer
Isaac Israel Hayes and also with Admiral
Robert Peary • Captain Sam Bartlett who sailed with Peary • Captain
Robert Bartlett who was in charge of the
S.S. Roosevelt when Peary reached the
North Pole, who later survived the wreck of the
Karluk, and who later helmed the schooner
Effie M. Morrissey • Captain Arthur Bartlett • Captain William Norman who rescued Admiral
Adolphus Greely • Captain Isaac Bartlett who rescued Captain Tyson and crew after drifting on an iceberg for 1500 miles • Captain William Bartlett, known as "the Commodore of the sealing fleet in Newfoundland". The
HGTV Canada series
Rock Solid Builds, centring on home renovations in the Brigus area by contractor Randy Spracklin, premiered in 2021.
Attractions Brigus is a popular tourist stop, renowned for its scenic qualities and places of interest. Among these are the site of The Vindicator, where the Brigus newspaper was printed at the turn of the 20th century; the Convent of Mercy, built in 1860 for the Mercy Sisters who came from Ireland in 1861; the local Orange Lodge;
Hawthorne Cottage National Historic Site; "The Tunnel" bored through solid rock on the waterfront in 1860 to provide access to a deep water berth for the Bartlett sailing ships; the Stone Barn Museum; Jubilee Club, the meeting place of the "Merchant Princes of Brigus" from the late 19th century to the mid-20th century; St. George' s Anglican Church, consecrated in 1845; Brigus United Church, dedicated in 1875 on the site of an earlier church; and the Roman Catholic Church, built in 1832. ==See also==