This map shows how the community of Bell Island was arranged on the land during its last years as a mining town. Even the place names in use on the Island were indicative of the great continuity that existed between the life of the mining town and the life of the outport world. Street names were introduced as the Island's population grew but these had to compete with the neighbourhood names preferred by outport Newfoundlanders. With a few exceptions they failed to capture the popular imagination. In typical outport fashion, Bell Islanders also had a "mental map" of the territory they occupied. This was universally respected and involved conventions about direction. Thus one lived "up to the West mines," "down to the east end," "out to the front" or "over on the Green."
