The Victoria Community Development Corporation

Bay Roberts Cable Building Lesson Plan

OBJECTIVES

- map skills
- critical thinking
- Internet research
- creative writing

1. MAP SKILLS

- Locate Bay Roberts on a map of Newfoundland, on a world map, in an atlas, etc.
- Using an atlas, locate the following places and place correctly on a blank map of the world.

- Hammel (Queens, New York)
- Penzance (Cornwall, England)
- North Sydney (Nova Scotia)
- Colinet (St. Mary's Bay, NF)
- Bay Roberts (NF)
- Horta (Azores)

2. BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Show the class the background information on an overhead.

3. CRITICAL THINKING / PROBLEM SOLVING

Discuss with the class what types of messages would be sent over the cable. Allow a minute or two for responses. After the class understands that any type of written message could be sent over the cable, ask if sending the message was free. Students should understand that whoever sent a message had to pay a fee.
Instruct each student to compose a message they would like to send over the cable.
When everyone has completed their message, ask them how much it would cost to send. Lead the discussion to paying by letter, word, paragraph, entire message, etc. Ask how a customer should be charged for sending a message.
Have each group decide on a method of charging for sending a message. Next, have them figure out the cost of the message they have written using their scale.

4. INTERNET RESEARCH

Use the Internet to research the Bay Roberts Cable Station. Students should be able to record jot notes and write a short paragraph stating their findings.

5. FIELD TRIP

Plan a field trip to the Bay Roberts Cable Station.

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BAY ROBERTS CABLE STATION

Western Union set up a cable station at Bay Roberts in 1910 to which it diverted its Coney Island/Penzance cable. The Company installed a cable direct from England in 1913 and also Sydney to Colinet (St. Mary's Bay). From there the cable was trenched to the Bay Roberts station.
The first Bay Roberts station was a wooden structure which served the company until a large brick building was built on Water Street in 1913.The Company also built homes for its employees on Cable Avenue next to the Cable Station. In 1926 the Company installed a new cable from Hammel, U.S.A. to Penzance, Cornwall going through Bay Roberts. This cable was followed by another one from Bay Roberts to Horta in the Azores.
More than 100 people were employed at the station at the height of its activity. It closed down in 1960.

(See article: Telegraph and Telephone Companies in The Encyclopedia of Newfoundland and Labrador)

Note: The article contains an error in date (e.g.) before not after World War I. (The building was guarded during World War I).

Accurate dates recorded in article above and at Museum. Please see curator.

MAKE OVERHEAD OF THIS BACKGROUND INFORMATION