Heart's Content

Town in southeastern Newfoundland; population (1991) 570. Heart's Content lies on an inlet on the northwestern arm of the Avalon Peninsula, on the eastern side of Trinity Bay, 60 km/37 mi northwest of St John's. It was settled by English fishermen in the 17th century.

In 1866, Heart's Content became famous as the western terminus of the first successful transatlantic submarine telegraph cable, which was laid from Valentia, Ireland and landed here by Isambard Kingdom Brunel's huge steamship, the Great Eastern. Connected with a cable from New York City, the town thus developed into one of the world's busiest communications stations. However, new technology led to the station's closure in 1965; it is now a museum.