[St. John's] The History Of St. John's

[Architype]

St. John's is a city with a very long history by North American standards so I thought it would be useful to have a thread where information, quotes, and links to articles relating to the history of St. John's can be posted. Since there is already a historical photo thread, I wold ask that only photos relating to articles or relevant information you want to share should be posted here. I want to include anything considered recent history as well (e.g. including the 20th century), especially from the perspective of topics commonly discussed on SSP, such as architecture and urban development, aspects that are of interest to urbanists as well as historians.


It appears some people are a bit sketchy on the real history of St. John's, and sometimes there is inacurate information on the internet. Sometimes myth is confused with fact.

I recently saw and commented on this bit of information posted in the Canada forum:

St. John's Newfoundland is the oldest English founded city in the America's. It was established in 1497. Incorporated as a city in 1583.

I also found a website where the above information was presented as fact. We don't always know historical information accurately, but at least we know enough that we don't have to present myth as if it were fact.

Some actual facts include the following:

• Newfoundland was only "discovered" by Europeans in 1497, and even this is contested as being factual.
• Newfoundland was only claimed for Britain in 1583, and that was before the notion of the British Empire or colonies even existed. At that time, Sir Humphrey Gilbert is believed to have sailed into St. John's harbour. Therefore it eventually became known as Britain's oldest colony.
• Permanent settlement of St. John's is believed to have taken place sometime after 1600, before that it existed only as a seasonal fishing harbour, a name on a map referring to the harbour location.
• St. John's was incorporated in 1888, before that it was governed by the colonial or British governments who did not trust in the concept of local or municipal government.
• St. John's was not incorporated as a city until 1921.
• St. John's may have been considered as a city by other standards well before this though.

Feel free to disagree if I get something wrong, I am not claiming to be an expert on Newfoundland history by any means, but enjoy researching and finding out new things about the past.

And the thread is for discussion of course, and not just presentation.