Cabot Tower (Newfoundland)
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Cabot Tower was built in 1897 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of John Cabot's discovery of Newfoundland, and Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. It is located on top of Signal Hill overlooking the city of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. In 1901, Guglielmo Marconi received the first trans-Atlantic wireless message at a position near the tower, the letter "S" in Morse Code sent from Cornwall, England.
Cabot Tower is now the centre of Signal Hill National Historic Park, Canada's second largest historic park, with walking trails, and an interpretation centre where the visitor can hear very interesting stories about the area. Hikers will be rewarded with spectacular views of the city, the harbour, and the ocean.
History
Begun in 1897 to commemorate both Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and the 400th anniversary of John Cabot's (Giovanni Caboto) voyage to the New World, Cabot Tower was completed in 1900 and has been a part of many historic events. In 1901 it stood witness to possibly the most important accomplishment in modern communications - the reception of the first wireless transatlantic signal by Guglielmo Marconi. Although now one of the most recognizable symbols of St. John's and Newfoundland, its construction was not well supported in the town. The 1890s were tough in Newfoundland. Most of St. John's burned to the ground in 1892 and the banks in Newfoundland crashed in 1894. When Judge D.W. Prowse, a prominent local man, suggested building Cabot Tower, one person said in a local paper that "it's like putting a silk hat on the head of a man who can't afford to buy a pair of boots." Another project, the Victoria Wing of the local hospital, received much more public support.The building was used primarily for flag signalling. The British military first used Signal Hill,originally known as the Lookout, for this purpose in around 1704. There was a mast at the highest point on the hill, and it would be the job of a signalman to keep an eye out for ships approaching St. John's. When one was spotted he would indicate by flag what type of ship it was, what country it was from and fire off a peterra so that the men below in the town would know to look towards the Hill. Then they would fire the same type of cannon in response. By the end of the 1700s, a blockhouse had been constructed on the site. Also, by the 1800s, the signalling was done mostly for the various merchants who operated out of St. John's. Cabot Tower was the last in a line of signalling blockhouses built on Signal Hill. It was used for flag signalling until Signal Hill was established as a National Historic Site of Canada which was in 1957.
A Marconi Wireless Station operated on the second floor of Cabot Tower for many years. In fact, in 1920 one of the first wireless transatlantic transmissions of the human voice was made there. Men at the wireless station were able to talk with the steamship Victoria which was steaming out of England. The station operated until around 1960.
The communications legacy of Cabot Tower is kept alive today by the Society of Newfoundland Radio Amateurs (or SONRA) who operate a ham radio station on the second floor.
The Cabot Tower has a fifty foot octagonal tower at the southeast corner of the building. Source: http://www.historicplaces.ca/rep-reg/affichage-display_e.aspx?Id=2974
See also
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