I recently went to St. John’s to see some friends I hadn’t seen in years. While there I had a chance to have a look around this old city. Well, the city is old by North American standards. In fact, its the oldest English-founded city in North America. The city has been blessed geographically with a sheltered harbor, which came in handy during the second world war as it helped ships involved in anti-submarine warfare.
The best view of the city’s harbor,the city itself and the Atlantic ocean is from the top of Signal Hill. Signal Hill gets its name from Marconi. He received the first transatlantic wireless signal on this hill back in 1901.
Cabot tower sits on the top of the hill. Construction begun on this building in 1898 to commentate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee and the 400th anniversary of John Cabot‘s discovery of the island.
The city itself is the largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador with a population around 200, 000 including the metro area. Much of the city can be seen from Signal Hill.
Being a harbor city, it is a great place for spotting ships. More ships can be seen in the summer. Some cruise ships make St. John’s one of their ports to visit.
St. John’s is a great little city to visit. The view from Signal Hill is the best to see this old North American city.
P.S Thanks to my good friend Matt for taking me up there.
