Cottles Island is first reported in the Census of 1884, with a population of 25, five families of Wesleyan Methodists who probably came to Cottle's Island from the Twillingate Island. According to E.R. Seary (1891) most of the family names
associated with the communities- Anstey, Cooper, King, Flight, Moors, Mugford, Philpott, Prior, Rideout and Watkins- were in the Twillingate area from the 1700's and 1800's. By 1891 the population had grown to 47, which included several Church of England families. Luke's Arm is first reported in the Census of 1911, with a population of 60, mainly Methodist and Salvation Army families, while Cottle's Island had a population of 76 in that year, also Methodist and Salvation Army. Both communities were reported separately in censuses until 1951 when they were reported simply as Cottle's Island it had a population of 154 in1951 and 436 in 1966.  The community of Cottle's Island- Luke's Arm was rename Cottlesville (Royal Gazette: Aug.15, 1980).