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steep streets in the old part of the city are lined with tall narrow frame houses painted in vivid shades of pink green and yellow inter spersed among the houses are the towers and spires of churches and other public structures some old some new further out the newer sections are indistinguishable in most ways from the residential and industrial suburbs of any north american city however the oldest street on the continent water street dates back to 1583 when sir hum phrey gilbert claimed the island as a british possession the residents of st johns like other newfoundlanders speak with a lilting accent fortunately for the visitor it is considerably easier to understand than that of the fisher men from the tiny outports they speak with an earthy wit peculiar to the people of that province nobody could ever accuse a newfoundlander of taking himself too seriously sev eral years ago a city councillor com mented that a road then being built had cost so much money it should indeed be a road deluxe when the time came to name the new street it was called road deluxe every new foundlander it seems is a born raconteur drop into one of the bars on water street the main thorough fare and find out for yourself lis teners arc always welcome although st johns was the first site in british north america con tinuously visited and eventually set tled by white men from western eu rope it was not incorporated until the late 19th century the old part of the city dates back for the most part only to 1892 with some small sec tions going back to 1s46 and only a few buildings from before that two major conflagrations in 1846 and 1892 virtually destroyed the biggest and best part of the capital which is why old st johns really isnt all that old one of the earliest buildings still in use is st thomas anglican church familiarly known as the old garrison it opened in 1836 the roman catholic basilica of st john the baptist an imposing twin- tower structure was constructed be tween 1841 and 1855 it is built in the shape of a latin cross and holds 6000 worshippers the colonial building scat of government from 1850 to 1960 is another of the citys older buildings built of stone brought from cork ireland and opened january 28 1850 it served as newfoundlands house of assembly through four successive forms of government signal hill national historic park site of the cabot tower and far hji north lait pp i mmw st johns at night aboie beach p ei jtfi water strict st johns qtmtr lift farm vacation p ei queens battery is probably st johns best known tourist attraction the view of the city and surrounding area is magnificent the visitors re ception and interpretation centre at the park features an audio visual tour of the history of newfoundland from here foot paths lead to gibbctt hill queens battery cabot tower and ladies lookout not everything worth visiting in st johns is old the arts and cul ture centre newfoundlands major canadian centennial project opened in 1967 and has been a resounding success the centre includes a 1000- seat theatre an art gallery library facilities teaching facilities consist ing of classrooms and studios for the visual arts drama and music and a restaurant st johns is an ideal city for the outdoorsman he need not even go beyond the city limits to enjoy swim ming boating hiking and fishing several modern hotels and motels arc conveniently located both downtown and on the outskirts of the city nearby campgrounds arc numerous good restaurants arc also at hand the province is noted for its fine queen crab lobster atlantic salmon halibut and cod tongues visitors can travel to newfound land cither by air or car ferry from north sydney nova scotia to port aux basques and to argentia from port aux basques to st johns its 904 kilometres 565 miles on the transcanada highway argentia is 126 kilometres 79 miles from st johns d 12