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""To anyone in search of the picturesque, this great inlet has many rare attractions, in the ever varying outline, and diversified scenery it presents on all sides."
This description of King's Point was provided by Alexander Murray in the late 1800's. Murray and James P. Howley, geographical surveyors, did an extensive land survey and the charting of bays and inlets in Notre Dame Bay.
By 1878 they came to the area now known as King's Point. There were only three or four families starting to clear land at this location. Murray proposed that a community be started here.
He observed, "The cove inside of King's Point, which for convenience sake we shall call King's Cove, protected as it is from easterly gales, would afford an excellent harbour for vessels bound to and from the mines." He anticipated that King's Point would become a supply centre for the timber and agricultural needs of the mining industry in Green Bay. Because
of the beautiful scenery, he also suggested it had the potential to become a tourist haven.
Murray, Howley and Charles Harvey surveyed a potential railway line from King's Point to the Bay of Islands. In the early 1900's, this vision almost became reality. The future looked bright when Newfoundland Prime Minister Sir Robert Bond started this project in 1908. However the railway was to reach Bonne Bay instead of the Bay of Islands.
The plan was to load passengers and freight from Europe onto steamships in Britain, destined for King's Point. At this point, they would transfer to a train going to Bonne Bay, where they would take a steamer across the gulf of St. Lawrence. King's Point was a good location for this project because of its fog free zone; there was little fog and sailing conditions were excellent.
This dream was short lived. About three and one-half miles of rail bed were completed when the Bond government was replaced by another political party which rejected the plan."
"Even though many of the visions Alexander Murray had for the community were not fulfilled, one was. Murray indicated the area was, "suggesture of cornfields and farmlands." King's Point was one of the first agricultural communities of Notre Dame Bay, and farming is still a major industry here today.
To commemorate Murray's vision for the town, a hiking trail has been developed by the King's Point - Rattling Brook Economic Improvement Committee. This is called the Alexander Murray Hiking Trail."
Excerpts from Moments in Time, (Green Bay Economic Development Association 1994).
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