Here is a topic for some thought/discussion. Was Gander the first community to be government resettled in Newfoundland? The airport town was occupied by civilians theoretically at the pleasure of Canada’s Dept of Transport. They (DOT) more of less inherited the town as part of the airport transferal when Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949. The town was a thorn in DOTs ability to manage the airport unrestricted. A new town where the citizens could be moved became their priority. With joint provincial and federal government agreement they assisted financially and technically in building a new residential area just a few kilometres away from the airport property. Schools, churches, a hospital, a shopping area along and federal government’s CMHC assisted housing, were erected in the new town we see today. After the population were relocated, the old town was dismantled and destroyed. The novelty of a new shopping area, new schools, and new homes was readily accepted by the population with some regrets. Even though it was just a short distance away, being uprooted and moved to a new location took a lot of adjustment. Especially when the place you were familiar with, no longer existed.
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