Formal Recognition Type

Registered Heritage Structure

Heritage Value

Western Union Operator’s House was designated a Registered Heritage Structure by the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2015 due to its historic and aesthetic value. Western Union Operator’s House has historic value due to its association with the Western Union Telegraph Company. The house was built circa 1921 and was home to Edgar (Ed) Hopkins, who was an operator at the Heart’s Content cable station. Around this time Western Union had underwrote the cost of eight new staff houses in Heart’s Content, including this house. The Western Union Telegraph company was the successor to the Anglo-American Telegraph Company – which had successfully landed the first transatlantic telegraph cable linking Europe and North America in Heart’s Content in 1866. The community quickly became a communications hub – transmitting and relaying messages across the North Atlantic. Western Union Telegraph Company took control of cable operations in 1912. The small outport saw an influx of trained operators from England and Canada, and at peak operation over 200 people were employed by the cable companies. In the years following World War One, cable traffic slowed down and automated equipment was being introduced. By the 1950s telephones had almost made telegraphs obsolete. The station closed in 1965, after a century of providing a vital communication link between continents. Western Union Operator’s House has aesthetic value due to its architectural style and its association with the firm of Saunders and Howell. Heart’s Content saw a construction boom when the Western Union Telegraph Company took over operations at the cable station in 1912. Noted Carbonear firm Saunders and Howell built many of the houses needed to accommodate employees. These professionally built houses introduced new housing styles to the community and are important components of the community’s built heritage. Western Union Operator’s House is one of several similar houses built by the firm that were influenced by Victorian design elements. These elements include the steep gable roof, returned eaves, bracketing, the two-storey bay window topped by a pediment and the open front porch. Source: Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador property file “Heart’s Content – Western Union Operator’s House – FPT 4564”

Character Defining Elements

All original features which relate to the age and style, including: -number of storeys; -steep gable roof; -chimney number, style and placement; -return on the eaves; -narrow wooden clapboard; -wooden corner boards; -bracketing; -two-storey bay topped with pediment; -size, style, trim and placement of wooden windows; -size, style, trim and placement of wooden storm windows; -size, style, trim and placement of exterior wooden doors; -wooden transom windows above front door; -size, style, trim and placement of porch on front façade, and; -dimension, location and orientation of building.

Community

Heart's Content

Municipality

Town of Heart's Content

Civic Address

Main Road

Construction (circa)

19700101 - 19700101

Builder

Saunders and Howell

Style

Rectangular Short Façade