Newfoundland & Labrador's Registered Heritage Structures

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One of the few places along the south coast of Labrador where people could get medical assistance, Louie A. Hall (the Old Forteau Nursing Station) is a landmark building for people in that region.

© 1998 Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador (19Kb)

The Grenfell Association built the nursing station in 1946 to replace an older building. At the time of its construction, the station and its one nurse served the 2,500 people who lived along the Labrador Straits from Red Bay to L'Anse au Claire. With the nearest doctor at the Grenfell Mission in St. Anthony, the nurse often had to make life or death decisions on her own. The only way to get assistance from the Grenfell Mission was by radio or by taking a boat to St. Anthony.

Today, almost everybody along the Labrador Straits has a link to the nursing station. For many, it is where they were born; for others it may have meant a job and a desperately needed source of income during hard times along the coast. It was also, of course, the place to go when they were sick or injured.

The nursing station was closed in 1982, and for several years afterwards it was used as a residence for the staff of the Grenfell Association. In recent years, Dwight Howell purchased the station, planning was to restore it to its original condition and use it as a museum and bed and breakfast. The building is of wood construction, stands two storeys and has a central chimney. The hall remains in excellent shape with all of the original eaves, doors and most of the windows still intact.

Louie A. Hall became a Registered Heritage Structure in June 1994.