Newfoundland is the most dramatically isolated province in Canada — the last to join Confederation in 1949, shaped by 500 years of Atlantic cod fishing and the extraordinary WWII military buildup that made it the most strategically significant point on the North Atlantic convoy routes. Its abandoned places are unlike anything else in Canada: a US Navy base with an underground Command and Control bunker, resettled outport communities where saltbox houses still stand above the sea, and Labrador mining towns abandoned when the ore ran out. Here are 5 of the best abandoned places in Newfoundland, selected from our Abandoned Places Map Canada — 2,500+ GPS locations across Canada.
Why Newfoundland Is One of Canada's Best Provinces for Urban Exploration
Newfoundland's urbex landscape is defined by the intersection of three extraordinary historical forces: the 1940s-1960s US and Canadian military buildup that covered the island in bases, radar stations and bunkers; the government resettlement programs that evacuated over 300 coastal communities; and the 1992 cod moratorium that ended 500 years of inshore fishing overnight. No other Canadian province offers this combination of military, maritime and demographic abandonment.
1. Naval Station Argentia – Placentia, Newfoundland — 1941 US Navy Base, Underground WWII Command and Control Bunker, Site of the Atlantic Charter Meeting, Closed 1994 (Known Location)
Naval Station Argentia was established in 1941 as a US Navy base — one of the bases exchanged for American destroyers in the Destroyers for Bases Agreement. In August 1941 it was the site where Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt met aboard their warships in Placentia Bay to sign the Atlantic Charter — the foundational document of the postwar international order. The base operated through the Cold War before closing in 1994; the underground Command and Control bunker, the base infrastructure and the Placentia Bay waterfront setting make Argentia one of the most historically extraordinary and most atmospheric abandoned places in Newfoundland.
🔗 Learn more: Wikipedia – Naval Station Argentia
2. Great Harbour Deep – Northern Peninsula, Newfoundland — Last Resettled Outport, Saltbox Houses and Fish Flake Frames Still Standing Above the Atlantic, Early 2000s (Known Location)
Great Harbour Deep was one of the last communities to be resettled under Newfoundland's government relocation programs — a remote outport on the Northern Peninsula accessible only by coastal boat, whose residents voted to relocate in the early 2000s. The saltbox houses, fish flake frames and community infrastructure were left in place; the Atlantic salt air and the Northern Peninsula isolation reshape them year by year. One of the most powerfully atmospheric and most distinctively Newfoundland abandoned places in the province — a complete fishing community above the sea with no one left. Accessible by ferry from Roddickton. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map Canada.
🔗 Also read: Top 5 Best Abandoned Places in Canada →
3. Abandoned Labrador Iron Ore Town – 1950s-1980s Company Town, Wabush or Labrador City Area, Original Housing and Civic Buildings in Various States of Decay (Exclusively on Our Map)
The Labrador interior's iron ore deposits drove one of the most ambitious resource development projects in Canadian history — company towns built from scratch in the sub-arctic boreal to house the workers of the Iron Ore Company of Canada and Wabush Mines. As operations contracted and company housing was abandoned for newer private housing, original 1950s-1960s company housing blocks, civic buildings and the institutional infrastructure of the iron ore era remain in various states of decay in the Labrador City-Wabush area. One of the most dramatically remote and most historically significant abandoned industrial places in Newfoundland and Labrador. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map Canada.
4. Abandoned Newfoundland WWII RCAF Station – 1940s Coastal Patrol Airbase, Hangar and Operations Buildings Still Standing, Avalon Peninsula (Exclusively on Our Map)
A 1940s Royal Canadian Air Force coastal patrol station on the Avalon Peninsula — built to fly anti-submarine patrols over the North Atlantic convoy routes during the Battle of the Atlantic. The original hangar building, the operations block and the station infrastructure remain in various states of Atlantic coastal decay on the Avalon Peninsula. Newfoundland hosted more WWII RCAF and USAAF stations per square kilometre than any other Canadian province; the abandoned airbase infrastructure is scattered across the island. One of the most historically significant and most dramatically sited abandoned WWII places in Newfoundland. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map Canada.
5. Abandoned Bonavista Peninsula Outport – 1800s-1900s Cod Fishing Community, Saltbox Houses, Stages and Fish Store Still Standing Above the Atlantic, Bonavista Peninsula (Exclusively on Our Map)
A resettled cod fishing community on the Bonavista Peninsula — the original saltbox houses with their distinctive steep-pitched Newfoundland rooflines, the fish stage where cod was split and salted, the fish store and the community wharf infrastructure still standing above the Atlantic cove. The Bonavista Peninsula's outport communities were among the most productive inshore cod fisheries in Newfoundland; when resettlement programs and the 1992 moratorium ended the community's economic rationale, the buildings were left in place. One of the most emotionally powerful and most quintessentially Newfoundland abandoned places in the province. Exact location available on our Abandoned Places Map Canada.
Safety Tips
- Atlantic conditions: Newfoundland's weather changes with extreme speed — always check marine forecasts and never approach cliff edges or exposed headlands in deteriorating conditions
- Remote access: many Newfoundland abandoned places require boat access or long drives on unpaved roads — always carry extra fuel, food and a satellite communicator
- Never explore alone — always bring at least one other person and always tell someone your exact destination
The urbex code applies everywhere: "Take nothing but photographs, leave nothing but footprints."
❓ FAQ
What is the most famous abandoned place in Newfoundland?
Naval Station Argentia near Placentia — a 1941 US Navy base that was the site of the Atlantic Charter meeting between Churchill and Roosevelt in August 1941. The underground Command and Control bunker and base infrastructure remain after the station's closure in 1994.
What was the Atlantic Charter?
A joint declaration signed by Winston Churchill and Franklin Roosevelt aboard their warships in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland on August 14, 1941 — establishing the principles of the postwar international order including self-determination, freedom of the seas and disarmament. The Charter became the foundational document of the United Nations.
What were the Newfoundland resettlement programs?
Federal and provincial programs from the 1950s through the 1970s that relocated over 28,000 people from approximately 300 remote outport communities to larger service centres. Communities voted for relocation in exchange for financial incentives; the vacated settlements were left intact, their wooden buildings weathering in the Atlantic salt air.
🎯 Summary
Newfoundland's abandoned places range from the US Navy base where Churchill and Roosevelt signed the Atlantic Charter, to resettled outport communities where saltbox houses still stand above the sea and Labrador iron ore company towns in the sub-arctic boreal. Each of these 5 abandoned places in Newfoundland captures a different layer of Canada's most isolated and most historically extraordinary province.
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