8-2017: Signal Hill is a hill which overlooks the city of St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
Due to its strategic placement overlooking the harbour, fortifications were built on the hill beginning in the mid 17th century.
The final battle of the Seven Years’ War in North America was fought in 1762 at the Battle of Signal Hill, in which the French surrendered St. John’s to a British force under the command of Lt. Colonel William Amherst. Lt. Colonel Amherst renamed what was then known as “The Lookout” as “Signal Hill,” because of the signalling that took place upon its summit from its flagmast. Flag communication between land and sea would take place there from the 17th century until 1960.
Signal Hill was designated as the citadel for St. John’s during its first construction period in the late 18th century.
During the 19th century, Signal Hill was manned specifically during the Napoleonic Wars and the American Civil War. A second construction period in Signal Hill’s history saw the construction of the Queen’s Battery Barracks, which has been completely restored to the period of 1862.
Construction on Cabot Tower began in 1897 to commemorate both Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 and the 400th anniversary of John Cabot’s landfall which took place in 1497. The building was declared officially open in 1900. The practical uses of the building were flag mast signalling, and a Marconi wireless station which has since been moved to St. John’s International Airport.
On 12 December 1901, the first transatlantic wireless transmission was received here by Guglielmo Marconi in an abandoned fever and diphtheria hospital, which has since been destroyed by fire. The transmission, in Morse code, originated from his Poldhu Wireless Station, Cornwall, UK.
The United States maintained anti-aircraft guns on the hill during World War II. A battery of two 8-inch M1888 railway guns was emplaced there on 1 May 1941, but relocated to Red Cliff circa 1943. Signal Hill was also one of three prepared sites for a battery of two 155 mm guns on Panama mounts.
