A small unincorporated community on the southwest tip of Bell Island, Conception Bay, Freshwater was first mentioned in "A Chart of the South East Coast of Newfoundland" printed for Mount and Page in 1780 (E.R. Seary: 1976, p. 97). According to D.R. Woodford (1973, p.4), "For years prior to settlement, ships had stopped at [Bell] Island to replenish their fresh water store. Consequently, two points on the Island, one on the west and the other on the east became known as 'Freshwater'". It was the Freshwater in the west that became a settlement, in 1856, when a Mr. Parsons moved there from Bryant's Cove, Conception Bay.