This area was probably first settled in the late 1870s where there was considerable movement up the Bay from older fishing settlements. Lumbering and boat building were the major forms of employment at this time. In 1884, the Census notes 36 residents of Clode Sound, as it was called at that time.
The building of the railway through the area in the early 1890s drew the first substantial settlement into Port Blandford, which became the railhead for Bonavista Bay and the terminal for the Bay coastal steamer service. This growing community was named after Captain Darius Blandford, formerly of Greenspond, who was master of the bay steamer Dundee.
Port Blandford has a long history of hospitality. It is noted that two prominent families were attracted by the building of the railway. The Stones and Stares of Catalina established a hotel and boarding house. People poured into Port Blandford from nearby communities such as Musgravetown. These new arrivals found work in cutting ties for the railway and later in a variety of saw milling ventures, as the railway helped to open up the interior to logging.
It was in about 1901 when Daniel Pelley established a sawmill on Southwest River, one of the three rivers flowing into Clode Sound at Port Blandford. In 1901 the population of Port Blandford was recorded as 193, rising further to 465 by 1911.
Throughout the first half of the twentieth century the railway retained a substantial presence in the town. 
Since the closing of the railway, Port Blandford has been known as a superb tourist destination with so many attractions and points of interest in close proximity to Port Blandford.
Gerri Campbell, local business owner and resident, has constructed a website devoted to Port Blandford. Check her site for more information related to Port Blandford's history such as who owned the first telephone and in what year.