McGrath's Cove is a small fishing village just off the road leading to East Dover. The Scott family settled at Scott's Point on McGrath's Cove along with the Foren and Connor families. Other settlers were the Ryans and Zincks from the Lunenburg settlement. Irish, Scottish, English, and Dutch formed original population and they were primarily fisherfolk.

After World War II, the general shopkeeper was Vera Duffy. The first car owner in the village was John Whalen.