Town of Burlington

Current Locations

Cemeteries

There are four cemeteries in the Town of Burlington. One located in Perry’s Cove, (formally known as Winter House Cove) and three located on the opposite side of town.

There is little known history of cemeteries due to contradictory knowledge, but one thing most agreed on was the rank of oldest to youngest. The United Church cemetery, located in Mills Cove, is the first cemetery with the eldest headstone being over 125 years old. Joseph Henry Mills died at the age of 7 on December 27th 1879. We were unable to relate the child with its parents or find if there is any relation to the current Mills family-but we suggest that there is some relation.

The First Methodist Cemetery is the second cemetery that was built in Burlington. It is located in Perry’s Cove, a small distance from the ocean. The oldest headstone was found to be 94 years old. Annie May Belle, daughter of James and Bessie Robbins (a common last name during this time period) died on September 18th 1912. She was five month old. This cemetery was most often thought as the first cemetery in Burlington due to the name of the cemetery-‘First Methodist’. Some residents suggest that the ‘first’ in the name was talking about the Methodist church in the town. It was the first church.

The confusion of these two cemeteries is based around the name. The ‘First Methodist’ gives us the feeling it was the first cemetery while the United Church cemetery was the first – even though the church wasn’t renamed to ‘United’ until a later date. Community residents explain that the first real cemetery was left unattended and it ‘growed in’ with shrubs, bushes and small trees. After the second cemetery was built and started being used, residents felt the need to fix up the first cemetery and make it usable again-thus naming it the United Church cemetery.

The third cemetery (which is split between the United Church and the Pentecostal Church) is located on the east side of town in an area known today as ‘the bog’. A small and barely usable path leads into the cemetery from the road. The oldest headstone found there belongs to Mrs. Fanny Mills, wife of Lloyd Mills. Ms. Mills died on September 3rd 1959 at the age of 67. Within the past 10 years, the Faith Pentecostal Church felt the need to open a new cemetery. Located fairly close to the side of the second cemetery the ground was fixed up, cleaned up and a fence was build around the land to be used. Leander Lush was the first resident to be buried at this site. Mr. Lush passed away on April 24, 2001, at the age of 81. Some 5 years later, Mr. Lush remains the only person buried at this cemetery.

Indian Well

The ‘Indian Well’ area served many years as one of the main attractions in the town. Located in Mills Cove, just before Smith’s Harbour, the site still serves as an attraction. The history behind the Indian Well is hard to gather since it wasn’t a ‘big thing’ to the residents in the past. The well served as a place to wash clothes in the older days when indoor plumbing wasn’t available. The area has been painted and repaired many times in its day by different
groups of workers and/or volunteers. The site has three sitting areas along with the well, where people still, to this day, toss a penny in and make a wish. With the Indian Well, a trail also located that leads to ‘the lookout’ area-a great spot where you can see most of Burlington clearly. This area served as the inspirational spot for Billy Squires who wrote the Come Home Year song.

The Town Hall

The town hall was built in 1978 by the residents of Burlington. The town hall was built as a place to hold council meetings and celebrations. At the time that the town hall was built, Roland Kelly was mayor. When Mayor Kelly built the town hall, it was much smaller then it is today. The top and bottom floors were built but with little ‘floor space’. In 1987, Mayor Stanley Dwyer accepted a cheque for $4,000 from the Department of Fisheries for the construction of an extension to the hall. Bathrooms and a kitchen area was added with this extra money, thus giving the ‘floor’ (auditorium) more room, which meant larger crowds could be seated.

The town hall is known as the J. A. Bartlett Community Center and was named after the first mayor to be elected to Burlington. Before the Community Center (town hall) was built, the council would hold meetings in the Orange Hall, and record their minutes. Today, the Community Center consists of an upstairs, with bathrooms and a kitchen. This area of the Community Center is used for things such as dances, parties, weddings, suppers, new year’s celebrations etc... There is also a downstairs which consists of a council office, where the town clerk spends her hours at work, and a CAP site which is a non profit organization run by local residents who volunteer The Burlington CAP Site was founded in 1996 and has grown greatly in the past decade.

The basement of the town hall also includes a gym, which was also run by volunteers. There is also a nurse’s clinic, and a family resource center where parents can bring their children for some time of fun. (Pictured: renovations that took place) During the past year, renovations have been made to the town hall. The CAP site is now in a new location, still in the basement of the town hall, but instead of being joined with the gym, it now has a room of its own. This offers a great amount of space-both for each designated computer and shelf/cupboard space. We now have a very beautiful CAP area.

The town hall has come a long way since it was first built. It has been renovated a couple times, and it’s just getting better and better. A lot of money and time has gone in to maintaining the Community Center but it was well worth the hassle.

Fire Hall

The fire department was first started in 1983 by Walter Matthews and Bob Dawe. Before the fire truck could be purchased and the dept could be officially considered “open” much fund-raising had to be done. Velma Young was the head of the fund raising committee; the town was responsible for collecting 25% of the cost of the fire truck. Pictured to the right is a photograph of Mrs. Young presenting a check for the 25% to mayor Stanley Dwyer. The truck was finally purchased in February 1984.

(Pictured: Tom Rideout handing over the keys to the fire truck to fire chief-Walter Matthews)

Before the Fire Department was established, there was no one in the town that had anything to do with house fires, or any fire for that matter. If a house fire occurred the owner and whoever was kind enough to help was responsible for putting out the flames, or else the house would be left to burn.

Pictured are those that were amongst the first members of the Volunteer Fire Department: 

• Loomis Saunders
• Morris Kelly
• Jerry Perry
• Navin Young
• Sterling Lush
• Bob Dawe
• Mark Goudie
• Chester Young
• Brian Perry
• Morris Colbourne
• Guy Kelly
• Walter Matthews
• Neil Norman
• Roy Bartlett
• Harry Perry
• Rex Goudie Sr.
• Arch Antle
• Clayton Dawe

The first fire that these men responded to was when the town hall in Middle Arm caught fire in 1984. The town of Middle Arm had no Fire Department of their own, and so the department of Burlington was contacted.

Up through the years some men have left the Department, and some men have joined, but I’m sure the town appreciates them all, as they have helped so many people and volunteered some time in their lives, to maybe save someone else’s.

Garbage Dump

The local garbage dump is used not only by Burlington, but neighboring communities Smith’s Harbour and Middle Arm. The three communities use this site to put their trash and waste items. In Burlington, a weekly garbage collection takes place normally on Friday. Resident David Perry currently holds the tender to collect the weekly garbage. The garbage site is located between the town of Middle Arm and Burlington.