St. John's, Newfoundland: Cabot Tower

As 1900 approached, the city of St. John's wanted to do something special to salute John Cabot. After all, it had been 400 years since the explorer landed in Newfoundland and essentially opened up the area to the civilized world. It was quickly decided that some sort of building would serve that purpose, and that Signal Hill on the coast of the Atlantic was a good place to put it. Besides, such a place could also salute Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee.

Construction began in 1898, and it was finished about two years later. About 125 years later, the building still watches over the rest of Signal Hill and the ocean. 

There is some history to the area. In 1901, Marconi received the first trans-Atlantic wireless radio message - the Morse code for the letter S - on a spot near the Tower. It had been sent from Cornwall, England. Obviously, the world shrank a bit that day. It's also the spot where the last battle of the Seven Years' War was fought in 1762. France surrendered to England at that point, sending North American history on a different course. 

Cabot Tower is open to the public, although we didn't have time on a tour for a visit. But we did walk around the grounds, and the views are superb. Walking trails have been placed throughout Signal Hill, and they help make the area very popular with residents and tourists alike.  

The video will help us look around.