Labrador City • Wabush • Newfoundland & Labrador
Stories from one of Canada’s last frontiers—where two towns were carved from the Canadian Shield, held together by iron ore, long winters, and the kind of community that only isolation can forge.
52°56′ N • 66°55′ W
Deep in the Labrador wilderness—582 km from the nearest city, connected to the world by a single railway.
Our Mission
I was born in Labrador West in 1976 and graduated from JRSC in 1994. Growing up, I witnessed firsthand the unique pulse of Labrador City and Wabush—twin towns that sprang from the raw, unyielding earth in the 1960s, built around the formidable heartbeat of the iron ore mines. I left Wabush at 18 for college in Ontario, and in my early twenties moved to the United States. I’ve been living in Florida since 2004.
In almost thirty years of living in the US, the thing that has surprised me most is how consistently people are fascinated when I describe growing up in a remote mining town in the Labrador wilderness. There is something genuinely singular about the people who first settled Labrador West in the 1960s—and about the generation raised there. So many of us have gone on to remarkable lives all over the world, and I sincerely believe that can be traced back to the communities we grew up in—places where leaving was always the horizon, because for most of us, there simply wasn’t a mine shift waiting.
This platform is dedicated to preserving the vibrant oral histories, the untold stories, and the written records of a community that defined a generation—people who built a life in the wilderness at a time when you lived in the moment and a camera was a rare sight outside of a special occasion.
This isn’t merely a website; it’s a commitment to ensure that the legacy of this remarkable place, and the resilient people who shaped it, is never forgotten. Through shared memories, historical records, and collected stories, we are building an archive—a digital hearth—where the spirit of Labrador West continues to live, inform, and inspire.
Join Us — Share Your StoryOrigins & Architecture of Labrador West
A story that begins with a map drawn by a hockey player and ends with modern suburbs shipped in by train—the unlikely origins of two towns in the wilderness.
History of the Iron Ore Company of Canada
The history of IOC is effectively the biography of Labrador West—created not just to mine ore, but to build an empire in the wilderness.
History of Wabush Mines
The story of the “Little Brother” that fought to survive—plagued by a geological flaw for fifty years, then resurrected by the technology that finally fixed it.
Strikes, Shutdowns & the Labour Wars
A community fighting to remain a “hometown” rather than just a “work site”—from the great strikes of 1969 and 2004 to the modern battles for pension rights.
Aviation Tragedies & Triumphs
Aviation is the lifeline of Labrador West. Before the roads were paved, it was the only way in or out—and it came with a heavy price.
The QNS&L Railway
Without this ribbon of steel, the towns of Labrador City, Wabush, and Schefferville simply would not exist. How a nightmare of engineering became the heartbeat of the North.
Sports, Recreation & the Human Investment
How iron ore revenue built Olympic athletes in the subarctic—the remarkable story of the sports infrastructure that produced champions against all odds.
Education in Wabush & Labrador City
Schools built the first sense of home. From the Crackerbox gymnasium to the denominational cold war at J.R. Smallwood, the story of education in Labrador West.
The Rise and Fall of Gagnon
Gagnon was not abandoned to the elements. When it ceased to be profitable, it was intentionally dismantled, bulldozed, and wiped off the map.
Maclean’s Magazine, November 1963
“This is Wabush, Labrador. Three years ago, it was barren bush. Today it’s a bustling construction camp as civilized as most suburbs.” — Peter Gzowski, 1963