Grand Falls-Windsor

Grand Falls-Windsor is a city of 14,000 people (2016) in Central Newfoundland. It is the largest in the central region.

History
In 1768, Lieutenant John Cartwright, while following the Exploits River through the Exploits Valley, named the waterfall he found "Grand Falls". In 1905, the town of Grand Falls was established as a new town using Garden City principles expounded by Ebenezer Howard. Worried about the impending war in Europe, Alfred Harmsworth (Baron Northcliffe) began looking for an alternative source of newsprint for his family's newspaper and publishing business. During their search for a suitable location to build and operate a pulp and paper mill, Harold Harmsworth and Mayson Beeton, son of Isabella Beeton, the author of Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, discovered Grand Falls. The site had great potential due to access to lumber, the possibility of hydroelectricity and a deep-water port available in nearby Botwood. The Harmsworths and Robert Gillespie Reid, owner of the Newfoundland Railway, formed the Anglo-Newfoundland Development Company, and the mill was opened in 1909. Workers came from throughout the colony and the world to help develop the new area. At that time, only employees of the mill and workers from private businesses were permitted to live in Grand Falls. Other people settled north of the railway in a shack town known as Grand Falls Station, which became Windsor, named for the English Royal Family.

Get in
Grand Falls-Windsor can be accessed on Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway). There are several exits, the first coming from the east being Grenfell Heights, second Union Street/Lincoln Road; third being Cromer Avenue and the fourth being Victoria Street/Main Street W/Station Road. They all lead into different parts of the town.

It is approximately 95 km (1 hour) west of Gander, 240 km (2½ hours) west of Clarenville and about 430 km (4 hr 45 min) west of St. John's. On the other hand, the town is 210 km (2 hr 15 min) east of Deer Lake, 265 km (2 hr 45 min) east of Corner Brook, and 475 km (5 hr) east of Port Aux Basques, when travelling on the Trans-Canada Highway.

The nearest airport is Exploits Valley (Botwood) Airport in Botwood. The nearest international airport is Gander International Airport, approximately 100 km east of Grand Falls-Windsor.

Get around
Because of Grand Falls-Windsor's curved and somewhat confusing nature, if you are new to the town a map could be useful. While the town is marked very well with street signs and attraction signs everywhere, it still may not be enough.

The Newfoundland and Labrador Route 1 runs through the middle of town, with exits for Main Street, Station Road, Cromer Avenue, Union Street, Grenfell Heights and New Bay Road. Main thoroughfares in the town include Lincoln Road, Cromer Avenue, Main Street, High Street, and Scott Avenue, though this list is not exhaustive.