Sandy Point, Newfoundland and Labrador
Tidal island on the west coast of Newfoundland / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sandy Point or Flat Island (as described by some provincial maps) was formerly a peninsula but is now an island on the west coast of Newfoundland which is gradually being transformed into a hidden island as a result of ocean storm-induced coastal erosion. Its former connecting isthmus is known as "The Gap" by locals after a severe winter storm during the 1960s breached the land bridge and created a gap. The island of Sandy Point was first coined a "hidden island" due to the extreme difficulty in spotting the barrier island on the horizon when approaching inner Bay St. George from the Gulf of St Lawrence by ship. This may have also served beneficial to "pirate" vessels looking to temporarily mask or hide from the regular trade route along the Gulf of St. Laurence River at the time on the lee side of Sandy Point where an anchorage was available, away from the prevailing winds. The fur trade was quite lucrative during this period, so it is somewhat conceivable that inner Bay St. George may have served as a tax or thief "hideaway" from the regular trade routes although this is somewhat speculative.[1]
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Sandy Point is now an abandoned former island community of the same name. Due to changing economic, social, and logistical circumstances it became more practical to relocate to the nearby mainland community of St. George's or elsewhere nearby. A scheduled railway connection began to supply goods that were previously unavailable to the island community.
The Sandy Point land bar leads or extends from an isthmus or land bridge from Flat Bay West in St. George's Bay. This coastal land bridge extends from Flat Bay West towards Stephenville Crossing and is about a total 7 km (4 mi) hike to the Sandy Point Lighthouse with about a 0.25 km (0 mi) intertidal barrier. The land bridge was severed in a severe storm on the 2nd of December, 1951, and was disconnected from the mainland until 2020, when a violent storm washed a connection of rocks back into the gap, causing a peninsula to be formed again.