CNHS - Signal Hill - St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
N 47° 34.204 W 052° 40.903
22T E 373514 N 5269887
Signal Hill National Historic Site of Canada, located at the northeastern end of St. John’s harbour, is composed of two cultural landscapes – Signal Hill itself and the south side of the Narrows. It was formally recognized in 1951.
Waymark Code: WMGD2K
Location: Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Date Posted: 02/16/2013
Views: 26
Signal Hill National Historic Site of Canada, located at the northeastern end of St. John’s harbour, is composed of two cultural landscapes – Signal Hill itself and the south side of the Narrows. It was formally recognized in 1951 and is most identified by the castellated profile of Cabot Tower.
Signal Hill was designated a national historic site of Canada because it is importantly associated with Canada’s defence and communications history. Signal Hill has been a military site since the 17th century, but most importantly during the four periods 1660-1697, 1697-1870, World War I, and World War II. Today it contains a broad range of military and civilian resources, among them works on the south side of the harbour narrows, notably the remains of Fort Amherst, a British fortification completed by Captain Robert Pringle, R.E. in 1777 to guard the entrance to the Narrows. Fort Amherst was also declared a national historic site of Canada in 1951. The hill was also the site of the Battle of Signal Hill (15 September 1762) when Lieutenant Colonel William Amherst led an expeditionary force to recapture St. John’s from the French, itself an event of national significance.
The history of signaling on Signal Hill embodies the fundamentally modern transition from visual signals to wireless ones. Signal Hill is the site of the Cabot Tower, built between 1898 and 1900 to continue the port signaling service which originated in 1704; flag signaling continued from the deck of Cabot Tower until 1958. On 12 December 1901 Guglielmo Marconi received the first transoceanic wireless signal in a former military barracks on Signal Hill. From 1933 to 1949 the Canadian Marconi Co. operated a wireless station on the second floor of Cabot Tower; from 1949 until 1960, the Canadian Department of Transport operated the station.
Classification: National Historic Site
Province or Territory: Newfoundland & Labrador
Location - City name/Town name: St. John's
Link to Parks Canada entry (must be on www.pc.gc.ca): [Web Link]
Link to HistoricPlaces.ca: [Web Link]
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