In the early days settlers were not welcome in the island. The fishermen who came from England were not allowed to settle in the island. The fishermen in this settlement hid in the pouches in the rocks to avoid the fishing ships which were to take them back to England and because of this the settlement came to be called Pouch Cove.
Pouch Cove is a small outport community situated fourteen miles east of St. John's. The community has been mainly built on the hills and in the valley encompassed by the hills and very close to the water. On the two sides of the cove and in the centre the houses are numerous and clustered together. As Pouch Cove evolved as a fishing settlement it is safe to assume that the reason for this was that the people clustered together and took as much of the land as possible near the water.
Unfortunately there is no written history of PouchCove and the people in the settlement do not know when the settlement was started and by whom. However a report done by Mrs. Gruchy and Mrs. Gill in 1966 about the history of the three churches of Pouch Cove makes mention of a visit to the settlement in 1611 by Rev. Erasmus Stourtom an Anglican clergyman a mere twenty-eight years after Sir Humphrey Gilbert calimed the island for England. He served the mission between Ferryland and Biscan Cove. By 1628 Pouch Cove was part of a mission which included Bay Bulls, Petty Harbour and Torbay.
Nobody knows when Pouch Cove was founded or by whom. Some people in the community seem to feel that the reason as to why Pouch Cove was founded was mainly because of its dangerous harbour. In the 17-18th centuries settlement in Newfoundland was discouraged and regarded undesirable by the British government. The fishing ships were to bring men out in the spring to fish and take most if not all of the men back to England for the winter. It is believed that many of the men who didn't want to return to England and who fished near Pouch Cove during the summer used to seek refuge in Pouch Coves dangerous harbour knowing quite well that the English fishing ships would not sail into the harbour looking for them.
The early economy, like practically all of Newfoundland's outports was based on the fishery. Unfortunately there is no written evidence to substantiate the involvement in the fishery until 1836 when the census returns for that year indicate that 107 boats of under 15 quintels were engaged in fishery in the settlements of Flat Rock, Pouch Cove and Biscan Cove.
In 1930 the fishery was exceptionally poor, it failed almost completely. The fish that were caught were of very poor quality. Mr. A.C. Gruchy wrote a letter to Sir Taster Cook asking for help for the fishermen so that they could support their families during the winter.
When Responsible Government came to an end in 1934 the people in the community were fairly happy. The poor people were very happy. From 1930 until 1934 with the arrivalof Commission of Government the poor people were living on 6¢ a day relief. The poor people were fairly satisfied with the Commission of Government 1934 - 1949 because they were getting more relief money and living a little better.
St. Thomas' the first Anglican church was destroyed by fire in 1882. In 1885 the present church, All Saints was built.
The first United Church was built in 1841. In 1901 the second church was built by William Cochrane. The present church is Memorial United.
There was no available information regarding the building of any Roman Catholic churches. However, there is information regarding the earliest baptism and the earliest marriage. The first recorded baptism was in 1846 and the first recorded marriage was in 1855.
Over a hundred years ago Alfred Moores, a Pouch Cove resident, was awarded a Victoria Cross for saving the lives of men shipwrecked from a schooner just outside of the harbour at Pouch Cove.
A native of Pouch Cove, Mr. Philip Gruchy was one of the Newfoundlanders who signed the terms of union in 1949.
Finally on December 22, 1971, Pouch Cove began yet another chapter in its long history when it was recognized as a township. This marked a new beginning for one of Newfoundland's oldest settlements.