St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador

Coordinates: 47°34′3″N 52°42′26″W / 47.56750°N 52.70722°W / 47.56750; -52.70722

St. John's (/ˌseɪntˈdʒɒnz/, local /ˌseɪntˈdʒɑːnz/) is the capital and largest city in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. St. John's was incorporated as a city in 1888, yet is considered by some to be the oldest English-founded city in North America. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. With a population of 214,285 as of July 1st 2015, the St. John's Metropolitan Area is the second largest Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) in Atlantic Canada after Halifax and the 20th largest metropolitan area in Canada. It is one of the world's top ten oceanside destinations, according to National Geographic Magazine. Its name has been attributed to the feast day of John the Baptist, when John Cabot was believed to have sailed into the harbour in 1497, and also to a Basque fishing town with the same name.

History

16th and 17th centuries

St. John's is one of the oldest settlements in North America, with year-round settlement beginning sometime after 1630 and seasonal habitation long before that. It is not, however, the oldest surviving English settlement in North America or Canada, having been preceded by the Cuper's Cove colony at Cupids, founded in 1610, and the Bristol's Hope colony at Harbour Grace, founded in 1618. In fact, although English fishermen had begun setting up seasonal camps in Newfoundland in the 16th Century, they were expressly forbidden by the British government, at the urging of the West Country fishing industry, from establishing permanent settlements along the English controlled coast, hence the town of St. John's was not established as a permanent community until after the 1630s at the earliest. Other permanent English settlements in the Americas that predate St. John's include: St. George's, Bermuda (1612) and Jamestown, Virginia (1607).

Saint John's

Saint John's may refer to:

Places

St. Johns (provincial electoral district)

St. Johns is a provincial electoral division in the Canadian province of Manitoba. It was created by redistribution in 1957, and has formally existed since 1958. It is located in the north-end of Winnipeg. The constituency is bordered by Kildonan to the north and west, Burrows to the west, Elmwood to the east, and Point Douglas to the south.

The riding's population in 1996 was 20,023. The average family income in 1999 was $40,443, with an unemployment rate of 10.90%. Over 35% of the riding's residents are categorized as low-income.

St. Johns has a diverse population. Ten per cent of the riding's residents listed Ukrainian as their ethnic origin in 1999, with a further 6% Polish and 5% Jewish. Twelve per cent of the riding's residents are aboriginal. Manufacturing jobs accounted for 18% of the riding's industry, with a further 15% in services.

Since its creation, St. Johns has been represented by members of the Manitoba Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) and its successor, the New Democratic Party (NDP). It is considered safe for the party. The current MLA is Gord Mackintosh, who was re-elected with over 72% of the vote in the provincial election of 2003.

St John's railway station

St John's Railway Station was on the Isle of Man Railway (IMR), later merging with the nearby station of the Manx Northern Railway (MNR); it was the junction of lines to Foxdale, Peel and Ramsey. It is close to Tynwald Hill.

Origins

The station began life in 1873 as the penultimate stop on the Peel Line, the island's first passenger railway line; it consisted of a simple wooden waiting shelter with accommodation for the station master, and a passing loop. This layout remained until the arrival of the new line from the north in 1879 when a second station was established, later merging with the existing one.

Significance

The station was the hub of the island's railway network, where the lines to Douglas, Peel, Ramsey and Foxdale met. There have been three stations within the area (see below) but only the original 1873 station serving the Peel Line remained in use until the closure of this part of the network, with the Foxdale line station remaining in a derelict condition until the closure of the network. The station gained the name The Manx Crewe owing to the amount of traffic, being said to equal the hub of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway.