Cow Head (town)

For other uses, see Cow head.

Cow Head is a town in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The town had a population of 478 in the Canada 2016 Census.^[1]

Cow Head
Town
Cow Head Location of Cow Head in Newfoundland
Coordinates: 49.9167°N 57.8°W / 49.9167; -57.8
Country	Canada
Province	Newfoundland and Labrador
Area [1]
• Land	17.84 km2 (6.89 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]
• Total	398
Time zone	UTC-3:30 (Newfoundland Time)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-2:30 (Newfoundland Daylight)
Area code	709
Highways	Route 430
Cow Head Light
Cow Head Lighthouse in 2013
Coordinates	49°55′12.28″N 57°49′31.89″W
Constructed	1905
Foundation	concrete base
Construction	cast iron tower
Automated	1952
Height	5.5 metres (18 ft)
Shape	cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern
Markings	white tower and lantern, red trim
Operator	Town of Cow Head[3][4][5]
Heritage	municipal heritage site
Deactivated	1988
Focal height	43 metres (141 ft)
Range	15 nautical miles (28 km; 17 mi)
Characteristic	F W

The Dr. Henry N. Payne Community Museum (c. 1941) in Cow Head, Newfoundland and Labrador is on the Canadian Register of Historic Places.^[6]

Cow Head is home to one of the longest sandy beaches in Newfoundland as well as a large area of sand dunes. It also has panoramic views of the Long Range Mountains of Gros Morne. An interesting geologic feature found at Cow Head is a section of the former continental margin of Laurentia which dipped into the Iapetus ocean.^[7]

There is a walking trail leading to a lighthouse constructed in 1909 on the summer side or "head" of Cow Head.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Cow Head had a population of 398 living in 184 of its 225 total private dwellings, a change of -7% from its 2016 population of 428. With a land area of 17.27 km² (6.67 sq mi), it had a population density of 23.0/km² (59.7/sq mi) in 2021.^[2]

Arts and culture

Cow Head is the home to the Gros Morne Theatre Festival.^[8]

A new theatre named in honour of nurse, Myra Bennett, is currently under construction and aiming for completion in 2021.

Geology

The Cow Head Group is made up of a series of continental slope strata that contain numerous boulders made of carbonate. These have yielded numerous trilobite fossils and have led to the identification of new species, including Catillicephala cifelli, named after paleontologist Rich Cifelli.^[9]

Gallery

• 
  Aerial photo of the Cow Head Peninsula
• 
  Sandy beach in Cow Head, 2020

See also

• List of lighthouses in Canada
• List of cities and towns in Newfoundland and Labrador