The community of Main Brook is located on the southwest shore of Hare Bay on the East Coast of the Great Northern Peninsula. In the 1920's, Thomas Coates settled in the area, constructed a sawmill and established Main Brook as a logging community.

The community of Main Brook is located on the southwest shore of Hare Bay on the East Coast of the Great Northern Peninsula. In the 1920's, Thomas Coates settled in the area, constructed a sawmill and established Main Brook as a logging community.

Early employment was almost completely in the forest industry. Men and women worked for local sawmills or for larger operations such as E. John Reeves of Roddickton and, later, Saunders and Howell. By 1944 the firm of Pomroy and Penny was cutting pulpwood for Bowater's at Main Brook.

In the late 1940's, Bowater's, realizing the possibilities of the rich timber stands, moved in and constructed a company town. Wood operations expanded and a pulpwood debarking operation further boosted employment. In 1968 Bowater's closed their Main Brook operations. Attempts to restore a large-scale forest industry in Main Brook have failed.