15 July 2013 Monday in St. John's, Newfoundland

Site-seeing in St. John's today. First stop was the Signal Hill National Historic Site, having been so declared in 1958. This park is run by Parks Canada. At the visitors center we watched a great introductory film about the history of the hill, focusing on the people involved in the activities that the hill was used for.

Signalling from the hill began in 1704, and the summit has been used over the years for defense, observation, and communication. Here, signalmen surveyed the ocean for ships headed into St. John's Harbour, (harbor, in Newfoundlandese) years before the advent of ship-to-shore radio. From signal masts high atop the Hill, flags conveyed information on approaching vessels to military and mercantile interest in St. John's.

Signal Hill

St. John's fell to the French marching overland in 1696, 1705, 1709, and 1762. In September 1762 the British reclaimed St. John's and they began to heavily fortify the summit site. In 1796 the British were able to deter a French fleet. Queen's Battery, located directly below Signal Hill, was a key defensive position from which control of the Narrows, the entrance into the St. John's Harbour, could be maintained.

 Queen's Battery

The Narrows and St. John's Harbour 

Signal Hill defenses were upgraded during the American Civil War (we're unsure why this was mentioned in the brochure; maybe there was some naval activity around St. John's during the Civil War) and during World War I a contingent of The Newfoundland Frontiersman manned a defensive site overlooking the Narrows. During World War II the United States maintained anti-aircraft, coastal defense guns, and a mobile battery on the hill. 

The Cabot Tower was constructed on Signal Hill and it was used for signalling until 1960. Since that time the Tower has served as a gathering place for the citizens of St. John's and it now houses exhibits related to the Tower and Marconi's historic wireless reception. On December 12, 1901, Guglielmo Marconi received the first trans-Atlantic wireless signal. Marconi had previously proved that wireless signals could be sent and received for a distance of up to 300 miles. He firmly believed that a trans-Atlantic signal could be sent and received without using relay stations. On the 1901 occasion Marconi received the Morris Code signal for the letter S three times. Competing communications interests succeeded in stopping Marconi from setting up a permanent wireless station at Signal Hill and he was forced to establish the station elsewhere.

A canon has historically been fired at noon from Signal Hill; a few years it was stopped on Sundays so as to not disrupt church services. We witnessed the noon-time firing today, a beautiful day with many locals and tourists visiting. This daily firing is done by Parks Canada employees, with public precautions followed. Only inclement weather stops the performance.

Prepare to fire

Fire

(Jerry is at the top of the Tower, in the shade)

We watched a large ship enter the Narrows on its way to the harbor.

Entering the Narrows

Cape Spears Lighthouse is on the far side;

we'll go there tomorrow 

In the Narrows 

St. John's Harbor and the Narrows (to the left)

As you can see from the picture of the harbor, the entrance is a narrow, longish neck, leading into the bottle of the harbor. Defenses ranged from a chain strung at the narrowest part of the harbor to deter unwanted ships from entering (pirates included), to submarine nets strung during World War II. With the modernizing of the harbor during the 1980's, there are 37 ship berths; container ships and cruise ships are familiar visitors.

Following our visit to Signal Hill, we visited Quidi Vidi Village to do some beer tasting at the Quidi Vidi Brewery, to see the neighborhood, and to visit the Quidi Vidi Plantation and Craft Shop. The beer tasting was too expensive, the brewery was at full production so there was no tour available, and the Plantation and Craft Shop was not open on Mondays. So we just looked around, took some photos, and left.

Quidi Vidi inlet area 

Quidi Vidi inlet area 

Oldest Newfoundland House - No signage, but we had heard

that it was being refurbished for eventual tourist display

We ended our day at the Johnson Geo Center located near Signal Hill. First we watched an introductory video about the overall geology of Newfoundland, emphasizing the ancient rock types on Signal Hill. The exhibit halls and galleries are located the floor below ground level--the main attraction is the Great Rock Wall, about 200 feet long and 15 feet high. These same rock formations underlie Signal Hill, and the wall was left in place while the center was constructed around it. 

Included also were displays of all rock types found in Newfoundland, a history of Newfoundland, and volcanic and glacial activity. Panels depicting human evolution, the Titanic story, and space exploration--it was very well done. In addition, Exxon Mobile has an interesting gallery describing oil exploration, drilling, pumping, and refining.

It is difficult to translate how interesting this center was. The format was open, with films depicting the action items, like volcanic action and glaciation. A large booth constructed as an iceberg with chairs to watch a film about how the ice ages affected Newfoundland was inviting and interesting (all of the television exhibits worked!). A set of 10 world globes was set up to show the evolution of continents, with a red dot showing where St. John's was on all of them. A 3-D movie theater had three offerings, two of them geared towards children. The Johnson Geo Center was a fun place to visit.

Tomorrow, more adventures in St. John's.