Official records indicate that a property in Ship Cove has been occupied since 1595 by the Dawe family which makes this the oldest registered land claim in Newfoundland.

By the mid-17th century, Port de Grave had become a leading area in the evolving resident small boat fishery established by "planters" from West Country England.

These people established a permanent population which made the peninsula the ancestral home of the Dawe, Butler, Tucker, Mugford, Snow, Porter, Andrews, Webber, Stevens and Anthony families.

During the early 19th century a major seal hunting industry had developed, and the population of the community increased to its peak of 1400.

Port de Grave is still recognized as a very prominent fishing centre today in spite of the 1992 cod moratorium.