History of Dirt Cove

During the Second World War, Dirt Cove (then known as Doily Cove) was the site of the largest paper doily manufacturing plant in North America. From there, the doilies used by Allied soldiers overseas in the trenches were manufactured. The large size 6 doily was perfect for the tin cups used to hold one's tea in battle.

The Axis powers knew that without doilies, the Allies stood a good chance of spilling tea and either burning themselves or at the very least staining their uniforms and rendering their camoflauge ineffective. In November of 1943, a German sub surfaced in the waters of Doily Cove Bay and torpedoed the waterfront doily factory, killing 16 men, 35% of the adult men in the community. Not only was this a crippling setback to Doily Cove's economy, it also played havoc with the community's gene pool.

But all was not lost for the proud folk of Doily Cove. Though the doily factory was destroyed, a large dirt deposit was found beneath its foundation. A dirt mine was started. Shortly thereafter, the community offically changed its name to Dirt Cove.

Today, Dirt Cove boasts the largest (in fact, only) dirt mine in the province, and dirt is their number one export. Able-bodied Dirt Covian's work for hours a day nearly nine feet below the grass. All this is outlined in the Dirt Cove Pageant.

Special thanks to Ms. Brocklehurst's Grade 3 class at Cow Bay Elementary for researching and writing this history.

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