The town of Kippens is situated on the West Coast of the province of Newfoundland. The town was granted its municipality status on December 31, 1968. The town of Stephenville bound Kippens to the east, the community of Berry Head to the west, and St. George’s Bay to the south. Extensive tracts of forests mark the northern boundary of the community, and Romaine’s River (also known as Kippens River) runs in an east-west direction along the northern boundary of the community.
Kippens extends in an east-west direction along Highway 460. The town, for the most part, is built immediately adjacent to the highway right-of-way, with most urban development extending within one kilometer to the north and south. The community is readily accessible to Stephenville on the east and the Port au Port Peninsula on the west by Highway 460.
A census taken in 1921 shows that there were thirty people living in the community at the time. Since then, Kippens has grown to a population of some 1500 people, and the population still continues to increase
“In Them Days . . . ” is an attempt to detail some of the history of Kippens. We were fortunate, during the past two months, to be able to talk with several longtime residents of Kippens, and to these people we own our thanks and gratitude. Talking with them was by far the most enjoyable aspect of our work and much of the credit for the information contained within the covers of this booklet must go to them. We hope you enjoy reading these articles as much as we enjoyed putting them together.