By the mid-19th century, these merchant firms had withdrawn from the Newfoundland trade and many outport communities saw St. John's-based merchants take their place. Bonavista, however, was unique in that the West Countrymen were replaced by independent local firms, formed and headed by descendants of resident planters.

The high production of Bonavista's fishers allowed these local firms to become well established, and to expand their operations to other parts of Newfoundland. In the process, Bonavista became the principle mercantile centre on the northeast coast in the period, with fish exporting firms such as James Ryan, Phillip Templeman and J.T. Swyers leading the way.

This resulted in an era of relative prosperity. While many other communities were in decline during the second half of the 19th century. Bonavista's population nearly doubled from 2150 in 1857 to over 4000 by early in the 20th century, making it Newfoundland's second largest town after the capital - St. John's.