Today we want to explore The Rooms, the largest museum in Saint John’s before leaving the area for the rest of Newfoundland. We would have liked to go there on foot but it is raining outside so we check out of the hotel and drive there parking in the for fee parking lot and then running inside. It is actually quite modern inside and we want to visit it thoroughly as it will be the only major stop today.
The first thing that we learn is that The Rooms was built on top of the old fort that was standing at this location previously overlooking the town. While building they found quite a few old artifacts and it is interesting to see what was lost or simply left in the fort interior.
Next is the ancient history section, we really like this section which is quite small but has pottery and items found throughout the province, many times with the location they were found highlighted and detailed.
There are also many arrowheads and even the oldest coin, not the one from Cupids Cove but the newer even older one which surprisingly is a gold coin.
Other items are slightly more modern from Saint John’s after the major fire and from the shipwrecks. We find that the collection of teeth from a jewelry store is interesting as the jewelers were the ones that were extracting teeth before dentist became a job. And of course also the fused guns from a sunken vessel, it is quite special to see something like that.
One of the major exhibits is about World War I and the role Newfoundland played in it. As part of the United Kingdom they were quite involved of course with the men going to war and the women taking on jobs at home and becoming nurses to help out in the war.
The major manpower contribution was the 1st Newfoundland Regiment. While it was all-volunteer there was significant social pressure to join and it was likely mandatory towards the end of the war.
And yes they needed new people quite often as the regiment fought at Gallipoli and then with a lot more losses on the Battle of the Somme where it was virtually wiped out on the first day of fighting and needed to be completely rebuilt.
Surprisingly it also talk about the veterans were mostly forgotten by the state with the pensions and wages not being paid out at all or not in a timely manner and how many wheelchairs and artificial limbs were procured via private donations which is quite sad really.
Next section is about the geological and natural wonders of Newfoundland and Labrador. Geologically the Ramah Chert is a peculiar stone that was used extensively by Native people for arrowheads and tools. As a natural wonder the focus is on seabirds, there are quite a lot here with an extensive seashore and a rich fish presence.
And of course the Giant Squids are a huge attraction. We were not aware that Newfoundland is the place where most of them have been found and they even have a specimen for display, it is really really huge. Another thing Newfoundland is famous for are the fossils there are many of them and easily accessible and we hope to see some by the time we have to leave.
There is another section that explains the succession of people that visited the area including the Norse of course, quite exciting to see how they reached Newfoundland and we hope that later in the trip we will be able to see the only confirmed Viking settlement in North America.
Then we enter the more modern times with the Intermediate period, really that was the best they could come up with?!, and the Beothuk period. The last Beothuks at least went away with a bang as they killed the person assigned to them after a woman was taken by soldiers. What they didn’t know, as there were no translators, is the soldiers were trying to protect them as the last of their kind. The women, Shanawdithit, was taken to Saint John’s learned English and gave some accounts about Beothuk lifestyle and traditions before dying of tuberculosis a few years later.
Next is the art section of the museum. It is not a large one but it has some interesting exhibits especially of local artists.
Some are a little weird like the photography temporary exhibition but some like the paintings are quite good and on par with what we have seen in other museums.
The last section that we discover as we descend is a section about modern Newfoundland. It covers the time when Newfoundland become a province till now. This is also quite popular with many other visitors here.
We find especially fascinating the exhibits about the incorporation into Canada showing how it happened and the new citizenship certificates and the section about the inland road that was built, otherwise known as Trans-Canada Highway that we are going to drive the next days. And then after two hours spent inside it is time to leave we have a long drive ahead of us.