Cartwright, Newfoundland Labrador, is a charming community nestled on the eastern side of the entrance to Sandwich Bay. This picturesque location along the southern coast of Labrador in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, has a rich history dating back to its incorporation in 1956.
Cartwright has been a settled community since 1775, when Captain George Cartwright, the town's namesake, established a fish and fur trading business. Despite leaving Labrador in 1786, he maintained a business interest in the area until it was sold to Hunt and Henley in 1815. The Hudson's Bay Company purchased the business in 1873, and it has remained under company ownership ever since.
The area, known to resident Inuit as Natsiktok or place of the ring seals, has a longstanding Inuit presence. Archeological evidence, particularly that excavated by Dr. Lisa Rankin, indicates an early and year-round Inuit presence. In 1848, Rev. Bishop Field described the residents of Sandwich Bay, including Cartwright, as either 'pure Esquimaux' or 'Anglo-Esquimaux, with an admixture of old English settlers'.
Since 2002, Cartwright has been connected by road with Blanc Sablon, Quebec, via a section of the Trans-Labrador Highway, Route 516. This road connection includes a car ferry to Newfoundland. In December 2009, the remaining link between Cartwright and Happy Valley-Goose Bay, Labrador, was completed and opened to the public.
According to the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Cartwright, Labrador had a population of 439 living in 204 of its 243 total private dwellings. This represents a 2.8% increase from its 2016 population of 427. With a land area of 5.87 km2 (2.27 sq mi), Cartwright had a population density of 74.8/km2 (193.7/sq mi) in 2021.
Cartwright experiences a subarctic climate (Dfc) characterized by very snowy winters and short, mild summers. Its maritime location results in slightly milder winters than most of the Labrador Peninsula. However, snow depth from the stormy Icelandic Low, which circulates cold and saturated air around the region, is extreme. Snow usually fully melts early in June and is established again in early November. Unlike most of Labrador, there is no permafrost in Cartwright due to the insulation from the deep snow cover, even though the annual mean temperature is 0.0 °C (32.0 °F).
