Cape Race

Cape Race is a point of land located at the southeastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland, Canada. Its name is thought to come from the original Portuguese name for this cape, "Raso", or "bare".

Dense fogs, rocky coasts, and its proximity to trans-Atlantic shipping routes have resulted in many shipwrecks near Cape Race over the years. In 1856, a lighthouse was installed there. It was a cast iron tower with a coal oil lamp turned by clockwork. It was replaced in 1907 by a concrete tower and a light with a massive hyperradiant Fresnel lens. The original lighthouse was then moved to Cape North; it now stands in front of the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa.

From 1859 to 1866, the New York City Associated Press kept a newsboat at Cape Race to meet ocean liners passing by on their way from Europe, so that news could be telegraphed to New York. These news items carried the byline "via Cape Race".

In 1904, the first wireless station in Newfoundland was built at Cape Race. This was the only land-based location that received the distress call from the RMS Titanic.