主题：北美的“天涯海角”－Cape Spear -- 天下第一银杏树

Cape Spear

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The 1836 Cape Spear lighthouse

Cape Spear,

47°31.48′ N 52°37.12′ W

located on the

Avalon Peninsula

near

St. John's, Newfoundland

, is the easternmost point in

Canada

(52°37'W). Cape Spear is the first location in

Canada

to see the sun rise each day. Although it has often been reported as the most easterly point in North America, it is not. Nordost Rundingen, Greenland is, in actuality, the most easterly point in North America.

The

Portuguese

named this location "Cabo da Esperança" which means "cape of hope", which became "Cap d'Espoir" in

French

and finally "Cape Spear".

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edit

]

History

There has been a

lighthouse

operating at Cape Spear since September

1836

. The original Cape Spear lighthouse was the second lighthouse built in

Newfoundland

; the first was built in 1810 at

Fort Amherst

, at the entrance to St. John's Harbour. In

1832

, the first legislative assembly for the colony created a lighthouse board. Cape Spear was chosen as the site for a new lighthouse because it was on the rocky eastern coast near the entrance to St John's harbour.

Construction began in 1834. The first lighthouse was a square wooden building with a tower in the middle containing the light. A

fog horn

was added in 1878. The first light used at Cape Spear had already been used since

1815

at a lighthouse at

Inchkeith

on the east coast of

Scotland

. This light used seven

Argand burner

and curved reflectors. This was later replaced by a

dioptric len

system; the light was first lit by oil, then

acetylene

and finally electricity in

1930

.

Because of its proximity to

convoy

routes during the

Second World War

, a gun battery was installed at Cape Spear to defend the entrance to St. John's harbour. Barracks and underground passages leading to the bunkers were also built for the use of troops stationed there.

A new concrete building was built to house the light in 1955. The original lighthouse building and the light keepers's residence have since been restored. It is the oldest surviving lighthouse in Newfoundland and the location has been designated a

Canadian National Historic Site

.

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Cape Spear, Newfoundland