Beachside, Newfoundland and Labrador

Beachside (Wild Bight) is located on the north side of Little Bay. The community is placed on the west side of the cove at the Bight's bottom, where there is a broad, rocky beach.

Often one can gaze out over Backcove Hill and see huge masses of ice, in many spectacular shapes, floating across the bay. This area is lush, colorful and beautiful in summer when the flowers are in bloom and the sea is aquamarine, calm and serene.

Beachside was used as a summer station by fishermen from Twillingate before it was settled in the 1850s.

According to an 1857 census there were 16 people living there, but, by 1874, this number increased to 55 and remained at that until the mid-20th century. The fishermen traded their catches to nearby Little Bay Islands where their families attended the Methodist church. Beachside residents also went to the Labrador fishery from Little Bay Island. Some of the men from Beachside found work as miners in Little Bay after 1878; the major impact of the mine on Beachside was the number of miners who returned to fishing after the mine closed in 1900. In the mid-1920s younger men left to work on the construction of the pulp and paper mill at Corner Brook, and later as loggers. In 1935 there were only 36 people left in the community. In the 1940s and 1950s the community began to grow again as people moved in from Southern Arm, Springdale, Little Bay or Little Bay Islands. In 1956 there were 172 people.

The community of Beachside gets its mail from rural mail boxes and the nearest post office to the community is in Little Bay. The local newspaper, the Nor 'wester, is delivered to the community once a week. The residents have access to cable television through Regional Cable Television. Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro provides the community with electricity, and its source of power is the Springdale Terminal Station. The station has a voltage of 12, 500 and a transformer capacity of 333. The roads in the community are paved but are considered by the residents to be in poor to good condition. The nearest CN Road Cruiser pickup is located at Springdale Junction. The nearest airport to the community is in Deer Lake and the nearest emergency air service is located at Springdale Junction. There is only one business in Beachside and this is a souvenir shop called Newfoundland Souvenir Manufacturing Limited. There are no banks, financial institutions or insurance companies in Beachside but there is easy access to these facilities in Robert's Arm and Springdale.