From Tuma Avenue to Al’s Hill: Lebanese Landmarks in Corner Brook
The earliest Lebanese immigrants on the west coast of Newfoundland arrived by the 1890s. A strong Lebanese community quickly developed in Curling and Humbermouth. The first wave included the Basha, Daniels, Joseph, and Kawaja families. The second wave included the Tuma, Alteen, Michael, Noah, Faour, White, and Farris families.
Walking through Corner Brook today, you will see businesses like Alteen’s Jewellery, street names like Kawaja Drive, Basha Place, and Tuma Avenue, and community places like the Fred Basha Softball Pitch. These places all show the longstanding history of the Lebanese community in Corner Brook.
Kawaja Drive and Al’s Hill
Known variously as Assah, Assab, or Assad, A. Kawaja established himself as a merchant importing goods between Corner Brook and North Sydney. Assad’s brother Saleem moved to Corner Brook in 1928, where he opened Green Lantern Wholesalers. Saleem’s granddaughter, Mary Catherine Kawaja, remembers:
When they started out they had a soda bar, and they sold confectionery, they sold grocery items, they sold furniture, hardware. That kind of thing. That evolved from wholesale-retail to just wholesale.
Saleem’s son Elias (Al) Kawaja owned several businesses in Corner Brook, including Al’s Ice Cream Parlour and Luncheonette, a successful ice cream parlour and diner on Broadway. He also ran Al’s Tourist Lodge on O’Connell Drive. Al was also known for his volunteer work and was the first deputy mayor of Corner Brook following the joining of several town councils.
Al’s Hill is named after him. Kawaja Drive is named for the family.
Fred Basha Softball Pitch and Basha Place
Fred Basha (1945-1993) was the founding editor of the Humber Log newspaper from its initial publication in 1972 until his death in 1993. He was elected as a city councillor in 1981 and served as deputy mayor from 1989-1993. Fred was active in the community. He was president and chairman of many clubs. He was an avid baseball player and coach, as well as a bowler, basketball, and hockey player. Fred was an outfielder with the Corner Brook Barons from 1958 to 1970. He was added to the Baseball NL Hall of Fame in 1989.
The Fred Basha Softball Pitch is dedicated to Fred. Basha Place is named for the family. There were several early businesses in and around Corner Brook established by different Bashas. The earliest was that of the family patriarch Tanius Basha (1841-1936). He established Tanius Basha and Sons, specialising in fishing supplies, around 1896. His death notice in the Western Star newspaper says that he spent several years travelling across Newfoundland before settling on the West Coast.
Tuma Avenue and Alteen’s Jewellery
The Tuma family moved from Bell Island to Corner Brook in 1922. Simon Tuma applied to open a shop as a watch repairman. He later opened a jewellery store in Corner Brook. His son Elias kept the shop running until the 1990s. Tuma Avenue is named after the family.
The name Alteen is connected with the Tuma family through marriage. The families did business together. This led to Nora Tuma meeting Nick Alteen in Canada. They married and moved to the Corner Brook area, opening a shoe store called National Shoe Limited. Nick’s brother Louis Alteen started a jewellery company in Nova Scotia in 1944. Their brother Doug Alteen moved to Grand Falls in 1949 and opened the first Alteen’s Jewellers in Newfoundland. Lawrence, another Alteen brother, joined Doug and opened a branch in Corner Brook called Alteen Brothers Limited. Alteen’s Jewellery expanded across western and central Newfoundland. At one point the family owned a chain of 10 stores across Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Alteen’s Jewellery is still an active business on Broadway in Corner Brook.