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Mount Pearl is the second largest city in Newfoundland. The city is located southwest of St.John's, on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula. Mount Pearl is part of the St. John's Metropolitan area, the 20th Largest metropolitan area in Canada. The town dates back to 1829, when Commander James Pearl and his wife, Lady Anne Pearl, arrived in Newfoundland with a crown grant of one thousand acres of land, a reward for Commander Pearl’s 27 years of distinguished service in the Royal Navy.

Mount Pearl dates back to 1829, when Commander James Pearl and his wife, Lady Anne Pearl, arrived in Newfoundland with a crown grant of one thousand acres of land, a reward for Commander Pearl’s 27 years of distinguished service in the Royal Navy. In 1830, Commander Pearl built a house upon the most elevated section of his estate and named it Mount Cochrane in honour of then-governor Sir Thomas Cochrane. After the governor left Newfoundland, Pearl renamed the site Mount Pearl. Pearl was made a Knight of the Royal Guelphic Order of Hanover and received the honour of Knight Bachelor from Queen Victoria. He died suddenly at his Mount Pearl estate on January 13, 1840, at the age of 50 years. In 1844, Sir James Pearl’s wife, Lady Anne, moved to London, England. John Lester, who had come from Devonshire, England to work for James Pearl, continued working the Pearl Estate, leasing it from Lady Anne Pearl for another 14 years. In her Last Will and Testament, she left John Lester 100 acres of land called “Anna Vale”, (present day Glendale) which he later sold. The Pearl estate eventually came into the hands of Andrew Glendenning who worked it as successful farmland well into the 1920’s. 

In the 1930’s and 1940’s, Mount Pearl became the meeting place of affluent members of society and lovers of horseracing. A large open air gallery, with benches for spectators to view surrounding lands was erected on “The Mount” in the 1940’s. Horseracing continued to be prominent and Mount Pearl began to develop into something of a summer resort for St.John's residents. Increased population during summer months led to increased population year round and eventual residential and industrial development.

With the population growing quickly, there was increased demand for municipal government. As a result, Mount Pearl held its first election in 1955 which resulted in Hayward Burrage becoming the first Mayor of the Town of Mount Pearl. The town was incorporated on January 11, 1955 and had population of 1,979. On July 21, 1988, the Town of Mount Pearl became the third community in Newfoundland and Labrador to be granted City status. Today it is the second largest city within the province, with a population in 2006 of 24,671

Eastern Avalon School District - Mount Pearl