The Afton community area, as we know it today, consists of six communities: Cumberland, Rocky Point, Fairview, Rice Point, New Dominion, and Nine Mile Creek. While the communities themselves had no habitants until the late 1700’s, a group of hunter-gatherers traveled these lands in search of food and shelter, for more than 10 000 years. The Mi’kmaq were transient habitants of the Rocky Point region long before Jaques Cartier’s discovery of Prince Edward Island in 1543; making Afton one of the most historical areas on the Island.
The first attempt made by the French to establish the area of Port la Joie occured in 1720. After several failures at securing a successful barracks, the French finally succumbed to the British wrath. The deportation of the Acadians in 1758 had lasting effects on the population, and led to the demise of Port la Joie. Now under British rule, the need to explore the new-found territory required a great navigator to survey the land. Captain Samuel Holland, along with his crew, sailed across the Atlantic on the Canceaux to survey the Island in 1764. He settled in Afton at what is now called, "Holland Cove". Holland is notorious for dividing the Island into 67 lots, each comprising of 20 000 acres. Of the 67 lots, 3 were allotted to the Government and the remaining 64 lots were drawn by ballot, and distributed in a single day.