It is probable that Northern Gut and the valley of the North River as far inland as The Pond That Feeds the Brook were early sites of winter houses or summer gardens for fishing communities on the Port de Grave peninsula.

Local oral tradition holds that the early Roman Catholic settlers had been driven out of the Peninsula, but it is more likely that by the mid 1800s, the families of the original Irish fishing servants had saved enough money to facilitate a move to the riverside farmlands, where they already cultivated gardens.

The census records published in the Journal of the Legislative Council of the Island of Newfoundland for 1833 noted that there were 36 dwelling houses in Northern Gut at that point, with 101 men, 103 women, 27 servants, and 4 fishing boats.

In 1839, Joseph Jukes, an English geologist and surveyor for Newfoundland, made a visit to Northern Gut while exploring local slate deposits.

For June 21, 1839, Jukes wrote the following in his diary:Here a brook empties itself into the sea having run for about three miles through a narrow pond or “cosh” as my men called it.

In 1870–1871, the following family names were in North River: Atkins; Brine; Butler; Cooney; Cullen; Cummins; English; Farrell; Hanlin; Hurley; Kavanagh; Lawless; Long; Moore; Morgan; Morrisy; Neville; O’Brien; Power; Ring; Shea; Sinclair; Skean; Swords; and Walsh.

The Bell Island mines offered a new type of employment starting in the early 1900s, and in the 1940s many also worked on the construction of the United States base at Argentia.

"[9] Early family names of North River still common in 1992 included Bradbury, Fillier, Hall, Hanlon, Morgan, Morrissey, Newell, Power, and Snow.