Cape Race Lighthouse, Newfoundland - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

Of all the places that are sometimes called the “graveyard of the Atlantic,” Cape Race, near the southern tip of Newfoundland, may have the most substantial claim. In the frigid, iceberg infested waters near this often fog-shrouded, storm-prone, rocky, barren outcrop of land, lay hundreds of wrecks. A beacon was first established here in 1852 but was soon replaced with a regular lighthouse in 1856.

The current structure (depicted on the stamp) was completed in 1907. It’s a steel-reinforced concrete tower supporting a massive hyper-radial Fresnel lens capable of being seen almost 30 miles away. It was one of about two dozen such major “landfall beacons” built around that time all over the world. Cape Race was often the first land seen by ships sailing from Europe to the North American ports of Boston, New York and Philadelphia. The stamp includes the inscription “Transatlantic Beacon.”

Soon after the original lighthouse was established, the station was linked via telegraph to St. John’s which itself was linked to New York via submerged cable. The Associated Press of New York City, seeking to take advantage of this situation, asked that news articles in watertight containers be tossed overboard by vessels as they passed Cape Race. The AP ran a small boat to retrieve these containers or paid fishermen for the service. The articles were then “wired” to New York where news from Europe was published an incredible four days before it was otherwise possible. This practice continued until 1866 when the transatlantic telegraph cable was completed.

In the early part of the twentieth century, even before the current tower was built, a Marconi wireless station was established at Cape Race. It was this station that was in almost constant contact with the RMS Titanic on the fateful night of April 14, 1912 when she struck the iceberg and sank. Thus Cape Race, though rather remote, has become a popular destination for Titanic enthusiasts.

The stamp, which shows the lighthouse as seen from the sea, was part of the last definitive series issued by Newfoundland. It was in use up until the time Newfoundland joined the Canadian Confederation in 1949.

Stamp Issuing Country: Newfoundland Date of Issue: 3-Jan-1932 Denomination: 20 cents Color: deep green Stamp Type: Single Stamp Relevant Web Site: Not listed

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