Apsey Brook

{{Infobox settlement | name = Apsey Brook | official_name = Aspen Brook | other_name = | native_name = | settlement_type = Town | motto = | nickname = | image_skyline = Aspen_Trees.jpeg | image_caption = Namesake Aspen Trees at Apsey Brook | image_flag = | image_seal = | image_shield = | pushpin_map = Newfoundland | pushpin_label_position = left | pushpin_map_caption = Location of Aspen Brook in Newfoundland | pushpin_mapsize = | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Canada | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name1 = [[w:|Newfoundland and Labrador] | subdivision_type3 = | subdivision_name3 = | established_title = | established_date = 1870s | established_title2 = | established_date2 = | government_type = | government_footnotes = | leader_title = | leader_name = | unit_pref = | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 75.59 | population_as_of = 2016 | population_note = Includes all of Random West. | population_footnotes = | population_total = 535 | population_density_km2 = 7.1 | timezone = w:Newfoundland Time | utc_offset = -3:30 | timezone_DST = Newfoundland Daylight | utc_offset_DST = -2:30

| coordinates = 48°09′42.02″N 53°51′08.96″W

⧼validator-fatal-error⧽

| elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = 25 | postal_code_type = Postal code span | postal_code = AOC | area_code = 709 | blank_name = Highways | blank_info = Route 231 | website = | footnotes =

| module =

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1945	37	—
2001	562	+1418.9%
2006	557	−0.9%
2011	530	−4.8%
2016	535	+0.9%

}}

Apsey Brook is a community on the north side of Random Island, fronting on Smith Sound.

Its name is derived from the abundance of aspen trees, known colloquially as `Aps` trees, and the large brook in the centre of the community. This brook was at least partially responsible for settlement in the area, as it was used to drive a waterwheel powered sawmill.

History

The town was founded by William and Lydia Smith in the 1870's. Originally from Hants Harbour, a number of the Smith family had settled in Elliott's Cove, with William and Lydia moving to Apsey Brook sometime later. Later, in the 1880's, David Phillips of British Harbour settled in the community in what is now known as McGrath's Cove

According to oral tradition, William, after an argument with his brothers, boarded his schooner with his wife and family, sailed around the island, and beached it on the sandbar at Apsey Brook, living in it for the ensuing winter until completing a house the next year.

William had 7 sons, one of which does not appear in the records of Apsey Brook. See the Smith entry for more. Again, referencing the same information that was provided by Roy Smith, the family had a watermill in the brook (remnants were still there in the 1970s when I grew up), that operated for 6 days a week, with one brother operating it each day, and no operation on Sunday.

The source of the brook, Dam Pond, was named as such as it was dammed in order to control water flow to the mill. Many family members related stories that as a boy they'd have to go in to the pond to let out the damn to operate the sawmill.

David Phillips also worked at saw milling, with a mill set up at Friggins Cove (Fagans Cove) Brook, and living in McGrath's Cove.

Businesses

• K. Roy Smith Enterprises
• Apsey Brook Buying Club

Demographics

Apsey Brook is in Random Island West, Division No. 7, Newfoundland and Labrador.

According to the 2016 Censusfor all of Random Island West

• Population: 535
• Change% (2011–2016): 0.9
• Dwellings: 239
• Area (km².): 75.59
• Density (persons per km².): 7.1

External links

• Aspey Brook - Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador, vol. 1, p. 84-85.
• Random Island - Decks Awash, vol. 12, no. 02 (March-April 1983)