Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Cape Bonavista Lighthouse, Newfoundland, Canada


Newfoundland
Canada's Natural Beauty
Splendeurs naturelles du Canada

Cape Bonavista Lighthouse was first visited by Europeans in 1497, and the surrounding lands were claimed by John Cabot for King Henry VII of England five years after Columbus discovered the West Indies. (correction from card, the Cape was visited, not the lighthouse, that wasn't built until 1843)

Le phare du Cap Bonavista. Ce lieu fut visite en premier par les Europeens in 1497. Cinq ans plus tard, Jean Cabot prenait possession des regions environnantes au nom du roi Henri VII d'Angleterre. Chrisophe Colomb a decouvert les Antilles.

Postmarked in 2010 with one Canada's Maple Leaf stamp (which is printed on the postcard) and one stamp featuring 'Sign Post Forest'. (read below for more information)

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

The lighthouse on Cape Bonavista was built in 1843 using the lamps and reflectors from the Bell Rock Lighthouse in Scotland. The lighthouse was replaced by a steel tower in 1966 and the original lighthouse has been turned into a museum.



Canada stamp - 54
Sign Post Forest
Watson Lake YT

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In 1942, a simple signpost pointing out the distances to various points along the tote road being built was damaged by a bulldozer. Private Carl K. Lindley, serving with the 341st Engineers, was ordered to repair the sign, and decided to personalize the job by adding a sign pointing to his home town, Danville, Illinois. Several other people added directions to their home towns, and the idea has been snowballing ever since.

As of today there are over 60,000 signs.

1 comment:

Shaunna said...

Watson Lake's signpost forest is pretty neat! We put up a new sign there last summer :)