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The Queen of Swansea Memorial , which is located in Tilt Cove, was erected in memory of the passengers and crew who perished on Gull Island following the sinking of the vessel the Queen of Swansea. This was the ship which transported copper ore from Tilt Cove to Wales.
Settled around 1813 or earlier, Tilt Cove was a tiny fishing settlement with a population of about 25. In 1857 Smith McKay discovered rich deposits of copper ore and in 1864, in conjunction with C.F. Bennett, began mining operations. In 1916, the population peaked to 1500.
In 1892, the "Newfoundland Colonist", a newspaper, described Tilt Cove as "the leading town in Notre Dame Bay, with the sides, top and bottom of the mines being one solid mass of copper, looking as if it would be everlasting". The town was once very prosperous but there was a time, like now, when it was not. In 1920 the mines closed and the population dropped to around 100 and remained that way until the mines reopened in 1957 and Tilt Cove experienced a re-birth. In 1967 the mines closed down never to re-open and today around 8 families live in Tilt Cove.
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