During
King William's War (1688–1697), the village was destroyed in the
Avalon Peninsula Campaign. Like most of the early settlements around the coast of Newfoundland, the population grew very slowly during the eighteenth century. Hant's Harbour early residents were mostly of the
Church of England, during the eighteenth century they depended upon the services of clergy on the irregular visits of the missionaries for the
Society of the Propagation of the Gospel, stationed at
Trinity. The rise and rapid growth of
Methodism in Hant's Harbour caused the Church of England community to remain small, its members being served the clergy stationed at nearby parishes. In the early twentieth century the
Salvation Army came to Hant's Harbour and gradually built up a substantial membership, and constructed a citadel there.
Timeline • 1697 – Abbe Baudoin reports that there are four houses at Hant's Harbour. • 1801 – Five families are listed as living in Hant's Harbour. • 1813 – T.E. and Mary Pelley die. The gravestone recording this still stands. • 1820s – The first known church is built in the community. • 1830s – The population consists of 400 people. • 1847 – Ten vessels carrying 271 men are engaged in the
seal hunt. • 1853 – Eight vessels totalling 767 tons carry 294 men to the seal hunt. • 1868 – 1870 – A second and much larger church is built, serving the circuit until 1907 when it is destroyed to build a new one. • 1871 – Lovell's Newfoundland Dictionary lists 81 of the 104 householders in Hant's Harbour as fisherman. Two others are listed as farmers. • 1880s – The population grows to its peak of about 750 residents. • 1961 – Fire destroys the vegetation which formerly covered the low hills which surround the harbour. ==Climate==