National Historic Sites

Before the arrival of Cape Spear's lighthouse in 1836, many ships finishing the long voyage across the Atlantic sank to their watery graves here at the most easterly point in North America.

The fortifications of this 17th and 18th century French capital of Newfoundland were lost to the British at the end of the Seven Year's War.

Once home to the intrepid Arctic explorer Bob Bartlett, this cottage is a fine example of the unique architecture popular amongst merchants in the early 19th century.

500 years before John Cabot or Christopher Columbus stepped foot in the New World, the Vikings built the first European settlement of North America right here.

For over 5,500 years, this peninsula has seen many different cultures, including the Maritime Archaic Indians, whose settlement was accidentally uncovered during an excavation for a cinema in 1967.

An abundance of right and bowhead whales attracted whalers from the Basque country to this site, which is on Canada's Tentative List for World Heritage.

Learn the story of how James M. Ryan, a savvy fish merchant from the late 19th century, took his father's business and transformed it into an international trading company, adding wealth, political power and legend to the Ryan name.

Home to Marconi's first transatlantic wireless transmission, this iconic St. John's attraction was also a strategic military post for both the French and the English for centuries.