The Heart's Content Cable Station was constructed in 1876 by J.J. Southcott, a prominent St John's architect. The station was required to support the operation of the first transatlantic cable that connected Europe and North America.
The building has a rich history within the community, as many locals remember working at the station or knew someone who did. Bob Balsom recalls a story about a young couple who once visited the station:
“Yeah, there was an interesting story. This young man and his fiancé, we didn’t know they were about to get married or anything, but we had an area there where you could tap messages on a key, back and forth on a large table. And anyway, he went and tapped a message because, you know, they could interpret the message because we had the Morse Code there on both ends of the table that you could read and do the dashes and dots and so on. Anyway he tapped out a message, ‘Will you marry me?’ and she was on the other end. She started yelling and crying. So you know of course she said yes, and they wrote that on our guestbook as they went out.”
The building has been designated a Provincial Historic Site, and has been transformed into a public museum.
If you have a memory of a historic place that you would like to share please contact Katie via email katherine@heritagefoundation.ca or via telephone (709) 739-1892 ext. 7.
-Katie Harvey
