About
Lawn, population approximately 670 as of 2011, is located at the tip of the Burin Peninsula on Newfoundland's South coast, Newfoundland and Labrador. Lawn is spread around a small harbour in a relatively lush valley. According to one local tradition it was this lushness that inspired Captain James Cook to name the place Lawn Harbour. But it has also been speculated that a Frenchman named the community after a doe caribou that he spotted there.
Lawn is a community whose survival over the past two hundred years has depended entirely on the fishery. The abundance of fish in the waters surrounding Lawn (formerly known as Laun) attracted seasonal fishermen from France, Portugal, Spain and England. These fishermen came over in large fishing ships and returned to their homelands in the fall. This type of migratory fishery continued to exist on the Burin Peninsula well into the eighteen hundreds. However, in 1763 an important event occurred which had a tremendous impact on the development of permanent settlements on the Burin Peninsula. The town of Lawn was formed as Community Council in 1952 and was changed to a Town Council in 1968.