Port Union, Newfoundland was "Coaker's town". What existed there?

Question

^ Question is urgent!!! Newfoundland is in Canada.

Answer 1

"The Fishermen's Protective Union (FPU) and its President, William Ford Coaker, first chose St. John's as the headquarters for the Union Trading Company, which commenced business on May 1, 1912. By selling imported merchandise directly to the Union members and Councils and supplying the various FPU cash stores in the outports along the northeast coast, Coaker hoped to lessen the economic dependency of fishermen on the St. John's merchants. To achieve this goal, he also planned to establish a Union-owned Export Company which would purchase fish from fishermen and sell it in world markets. Through such means, Coaker intended to eliminate the existing credit system which perpetually held fishermen in servitude and debt to St. John's merchants, who strongly opposed both the Union and its business activities."

"As early as 1912 Coaker had considered relocating the headquarters of the Union and the Trading Company in some northern outport such as Catalina. His first preference was the community of Trinity, but mercantile opposition there forced him to look for land at Catalina. Several sites in Catalina were examined, but rejected either because the water was too shallow or he could not secure all the land required. Finally, he decided upon an unoccupied hilly and rocky site in the Northwest Arm of Catalina harbour, since it was both available and had a deep water front able to accommodate steamers up to 4000 or 5000 tons. Coaker purchased this land in 1915 for approximately $500.00 from the Catalina firm of McCormack and Walsh, which in 1877 had bought the land from the heirs of a Scottish Thompson family. In the early 1800s the Thompsons had operated a mercantile firm on this site. Near this land there was a river which could be harnessed to provide electric power both for the businesses Coaker would establish and for the houses that would be built for his employees. Another reason Coaker chose Catalina was its harbour was ice-free and large enough to accommodate a hundred or more vessels at one time at anchorage."

"In 1914 Coaker received approval from the delegates to the FPU Annual Convention held at Catalina to establish the Export Company. At the 1915 Convention held in St. John's delegates approved Coaker's proposal to establish the Trading Company's headquarters on the land he had purchased earlier in the year. They also advised Coaker to use Union funds either as loans or as investments in shares in the Trading Company to construct the proposed premises. During the winter of 1916 the Company acquired $5,000.00 of timber from the forests in nearby Bonavista and Trinity Bays and commenced construction in May, 1916 under the supervision of Bernard James Miller, a Champneys native who had moved to St. John's and become a contractor-builder. When construction began, the Trading Company had very little money for building, but over the next few years it successfully raised sufficient money from FPU members who bought new stock in the Trading Company and other Union companies. Fortunately, 1916, 1917, and 1918 were excellent years in the fishery, and the Trading Company was able to use its profits from general business to pay part of the cost. Labour costs were also kept down apparently by Catalina Unionists who provided some free work in return for shares in the companies."

"Port Union", Melvin Baker (c)1986 : http://www.ucs.mun.ca/~melbaker/PRTUNION.htm