Salvage Fisherman's Museum

Salvage in Bonavista Bay

Prior to European settlement, the Salvage area was used by Indigenous peoples, with archaeological evidence in the region dating back thousands of years. By the 1500s, rich cod fishing grounds and a sheltered harbour made Salvage attractive to seasonal fishermen from many European countries, who likely gave Salvage its name. 

By the 1670s English fishermen worked in Salvage, Barrow Harbour, and Little Harbour. Permanent settlement grew in the late 1700s and early 1800s, with families from the English West Country, including names still connected to the area: Lane, Babstock, Dyke, Brown, Oldford, Burden, Hunter, Moss, Squire, Heffern, Hapgood, Matchim, and King.

Connected by Sea

Today, Salvage lives at the end of the road on the Eastport Peninsula. Historically, it was centrally located in Bonavista Bay. Before the modern road was completed in the late 1950s, travel and trade were largely by boat. Schooners carried people, mail, news, supplies, and fish products between Salvage, nearby communities, and larger centres such as Greenspond, Bonavista, King's Cove, and St. John's.

Change in the Twentieth Century

After Confederation, roads, electricity, telephones, refrigeration, and fish plants reshaped daily life in Salvage. Among the most significant changes were the decline of the salt cod fishery, the growth of the fresh fishery, and the end of the truc system as a cash economy became more firmly established. The introduction of employment insurance and new job opportunities elsewhere in Newfoundland also changed how families lived and worked.

The 1992 cod moratorium transformed the community once again, followed later by the loss of the local fish plant to fire. Despite these changes, Salvage remains a working outport, with commercial fishing boats, fishing stages, seasonal residents, a growing tourism industry, and a strong connection to the sea.

The Lane/Heffern House

The museum is also known as the Lane/Heffern House. The original house was likely built in the 1860s and later expanded for Charles and Adelaide Lane. Their son, Maxwell Lane, grew up in Salvage and became a magistrate, Member of the House of Assembly, and provincial cabinet minister. Wilfred and Ida Heffern later lived in the house with their family before helping transform it into a community museum, with members of the family serving as curators for forty years. In 2021, the building was restored by heritage carpenters, with research and documentation by a graduate student in archaeology. This led to the building receiving a Heritage Designation as the Lane/Heffern House. Cohesive, thematic exhibits and interpretive panels were subsequently developed and updated from 2022 to 2026 with employees, funded through provincial and federal student programs. Presently, it is operated by a seven-person volunteer committee, supported through donations from museum goers, local residents and businesses, provincial and federal grants, the Young Canada Works program, and ongoing support from HeritageNL and the Museum Association of Newfoundland.