Signal Hill

Signal Hill commands a wide view of the City of St. John’s, its historic Harbour, and the Atlantic Ocean. Now crowned by Cabot Tower, visitors can take in these wide views and learn about pivotal events in communications and Newfoundland history.

Built in 1898, Cabot Tower was raised in honor of Queen Victoria’s Jubilee, when Newfoundland was still a Dominion of the United Kingdom. In a former military hospital alongside the tower, Guglielmo Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless communication, a Morse code letter S, from a station in Polodhu, Cornwall, England. However, since the feat was not independently verified, Marconi would have to repeat the reception at another site, now known as the Marconi National Historic Site (http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/marconi-national-historic-site) in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia. Plaques in English and French were placed at Signal Hill by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the second floor of Cabot Tower has displays and newspaper articles dedicated to Marconi and his work.

Signal Hill is also the site of the last battle of the Seven Years’ War and the end of French rule in present-day Canada. The French army captured St. John’s and garrisoned their troops at this strategic location. British forces would anchor behind the hill out of view and scale the cliffs, attacking the French by surprise and setting up small artillery to bombard them. After their surrender, the French ceded Quebec to British Canada, wishing to keep the profitable sugar trade of their Caribbean possessions, Martinique and Guadeloupe, in the negotiations of the Treaty of Paris.

Visitors can relive military history with the Signal Hill Tattoo, held from July through August, and lucky visitors may be able to fire the Noon Day Gun. Similar to other Noon Day Guns of Cape Town and Hong Kong (http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/noonday-gun), the Gun is fired every day from July through August precisely at noon. Firings can be booked through the Signal Hill Visitor Centre.

On the road up to the summit, visitors can learn about the unique geologic history of the hill and the province of Newfoundland and Labrador at the Johnson Geo Centre. On the second floor below, rock from the hill juts into the exhibits of the province’s geologic history. The Centre also has exhibits about the new oil field discoveries in the province, a large planetary display, and a comprehensive exhibition about the Titanic disaster.