St. Paul's is a small fishing town on the Gulf of St. Lawrence and flanked by the Long Range Mountains. It has rivers and streams that provide great trout fishing and it plays host to one of the largest nesting terns on the Great Northern Peninsula and many different other birds and seals.

The Town of St. Paul's was settled in late 1800's by a trapper by the name of Elias Gifford. It was primarily a fishing community. In 1880's a Halifax firm, Payzant and Frasher began a lobster factory in St. Paul's and by 1888 was considered to be most successful lobster factory on the west coast of Newfoundland. The factory employed 30 seasonal workers and sent surplus lobster to the firm's other factory at Woody Point.

Some of the early settlers were the Bennett, Hutchings, Payne and Pittman families. The census recorded a population of 11 in 1884, rising to 52 by 1901.

These founding families all fished, trapped, hunted, farmed and raised livestock for food and clothing. In the 1920's most of the families built homes on the inlet of St. Paul's Bay.

The first bridge was erected across the tickle in 1911, but it didn't last very long. It was completed just before Christmas and on New Years Eve the bridge's foundation was carried in through the tickle with the ice. In 1955 Lundrigans built a flat top ferry to take road equipment across the tickle. The present steel bridge was opened in 1962.

St. Paul's has a population of approximately 300 individuals residing in some 110 households. During 1977/78 water and sewer services were installed in the community. The water is obtained from Two Mile Pond and is chlorinated before use. The untreated sewage is discharged through a diffuser outlet pipe located in the channel between the bay and inlet at the southern end of the bridge crossing.

St. Paul's is a natural heritage site with Western Brook Gorge and Broom Point. In addition, two well knowing fishing sites are Old House Rocks and Hickey's, where lobster, groundfish, and crab are fished today. It also has an abundance of wildlife.

St. Paul's Bay and St. Paul's Inlet are located on the northwest coast of Newfoundland at the base of the Great Northern Peninsula. The Town of St. Paul's is located on the south side of St. Paul's Inlet in the vicinity of the narrow channel connecting the bay to the inlet. Although St. Paul's Bay and the town do not fall within the boundaries of the Gros Morne National Park, a large portion of St. Paul's Inlet, east of Jack's Cove, does.

St. Paul's Inlet, unlike St. Paul's Bay, is a large fjord characterized by a deeper central portion and a shallow entrance still. The inlet is 11 km long and up to 6 km wide and empties to the ocean via a restrictive channel only 80 km wide and a maximum of 6 m deep. Inflow of salt water from the Gulf of St. Lawrence occurs only during the higher ranges of the tidal cycle. Fresh water is supplied to the Inlet by via of 24 streams and rivers, the largest inflow being from St. Paul's River.

Community and business services in St. Paul's include a K-12 school, Long Range Academy (6 kms north in Cow Head), a local site for the Tree House Family Resource Centre and a public library with public internet access – Community Access Centre are in Cow Head. A number of fishing enterprises work out of St. Paul's and their fishing stores/sheds are located along the town's coastline. In addition, recreational services that are available include a ballfield/recreational site and private sector golf course (Gros Morne Resort). Health care is provided in Norris Point (59 kms south). Other community services include post office outlet and fire services. Business services include hotel/resort, restaurant & take outs, gift shop, automobile repair, construction, ATMs, grocery/convenience stores and beauty salon. Additional businesses and public services can be found in near by towns in the region, i.e. Cow Head and Parsons Pond.

The town has also invested in new infrastructure in the past decade and developed a recreation complex which includes improvements to an existing softball field, an area for sports such as basketball, tennis, ball hockey, playground and canteen. It has also developed a new waterfront on the inlet for commercial and recreational boating. Private sector investment over the past twenty years has seen the establishment of a 4 star resort and golf course. Combined with town investment, St. Paul's is well position to expand tourism in the Gros Morne National Park region.