Pinchards Island (pop. 1951, 218), a resettled fishing community, was one of the first settled sites in northern Bonavista Bay.

An 1806 register of fishing rooms in Bonavista Bay noted three premises at Pinchard's Island, all said to have been established in 1802. By 1827, the population had climbed to 120. A school building was erected in 1844 and also served as a chapel. In 1845 there were 291 people at Pinchards Island, making it the second largest community in northern Bonavista Bay, next to Greenspond. From 359 people in 1857 the population had dropped to 264 in 1874.

In the early 1900s, as Bonavista north ports such as Newtown and Wesleyville came to dominate the seal hunt and were increasingly involved in the Labrador fishery, the population of Pinchards Island again increased, reaching a peak of 413 in 1921. However, a series of poor years for the inshore fishery, coupled with a drastic decline in the Labrador fishery, led most young people to leave the island to seek work. In 1953, after several years in which it had been difficult to obtain teachers for the school, the remaining residents, fewer than 200, moved, most of them going to Newtown. Apparently pleas for government assistance for the move from Pinchard's Island played a role in the Province's decision to implement a formal resettlement program the next year. In 1992 some residents of Newtown maintained seasonal premises at Pinchard's Island, which had also become a popular place for residents of nearby communities to pick bakeapples each August.