History
Incorporated in 1986, this small fishing community is located near the base of the Burin Peninsula on the east side of Fortune Bay approximately 3km east of Bay L'Argent. The origin of the name is uncertain, perhaps deriving from an early French settler, although it appears on many early maps as Jack or Jack's Fontaine.
The community appears to have been settled early in the nineteenth century and was first recorded in the census in 1863 as Tank Fontaine with a population of 33 residents. In 1935, there were 125 residents, noting the most common family names as Johnson, Pardy, Allen, Harris and Brushett. In the early 1980's, the population of Jacques Fontaine reached 200, most people finding employment in the inshore and long liner fisheries.
