Point Amour Lighthouse

Last updated
Point Amour Lighthouse
Point Amour Lighthouse.JPG
Forteau Bay, Strait of Belle Isle, Point Amour, Provincial Historic Site, Newfoundland and Labrador
Point Amour Lighthouse
Location L'Anse Amour
Newfoundland and Labrador
Canada
Coordinates 51°27′38″N56°51′30″W / 51.46049°N 56.85835°W / 51.46049; -56.85835
Tower
Constructed1854-1858
Constructionlimestone covered with brick and clapboard tower
Automated1960s
Height125 feet
Shapecylindrical tower with balcony and lantern
Markingswhite tower with a horizontal black band, red dome
OperatorLabrador Straits Historical Development Corporation [1]
Heritageclassified federal heritage building of Canada, heritage lighthouse  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Fog signal 1 blast every 30s.
Light
Focal height46 metres (151 ft)
Lenssecond order Fresnel lens  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Range18 nautical miles
Characteristic Fl W 20s.

The Point Amour Lighthouse is located on the shore of Forteau Bay, in Strait of Belle Isle, Labrador Peninsula, L'Anse Amour hamlet, in southern Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, province, Canada.

Contents

It was completed in 1857. It is the tallest lighthouse in Atlantic Canada, and the second tallest one in all of Canada, [2] reaching a height of 109 feet (33m). [3]

The Point Amour Lighthouse was part of a series of four lighthouses built in the 1850s to allow for safer passage for the increased steamship travel between Europe and the new world at that time. [4] The cylindrical tower is built of limestone and is painted white with a black band. The limestone used for construction of the lighthouse was obtained from local quarries. Other materials such as timber and brick were not as accessible and were shipped from Quebec to L’Anse au Loup. From L’Anse au Loup they were brought to the site where the lighthouse was constructed, four miles away. [5] It was built in the series of Imperial Towers and is designated a Provincial Historic Site. The residential part of the lighthouse, completed in 1857, has been renovated and now serves as a museum. The site was also home to a Marconi Station, of which only the foundations survive.

A second order Fresnel lens with a focal plane at 152 feet (46 m) above sea level is in use. In 1996 the operation of the lighthouse was converted to an automatic system. The light characteristic is a period of light of 16 seconds with an adjacent pause of 4 seconds. A fog signal may be sounded from a separate building.

Lighthouse keepers

LightkeepersTime
John Blampied1857-1869
Pierre Godier1869-1879
Matthew Wyatt1879-1889
Thomas Wyatt1889-1919
Jeff Wyatt1919-1963
Milton Elliott1963-1969
Max Sheppard1969-1995

In the 1960s the lighthouse became automated. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Strait of Belle Isle</span> Strait in Newfoundland and Labrador

The Strait of Belle Isle is a waterway in eastern Canada, that separates the Quebec Labrador Peninsula, Quebec province, from Newfoundland island, Newfoundland and Labrador province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">L'Anse Amour</span> Hamlet in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada

L'Anse Amour, romanticized version of Anse aux Morts, is a hamlet located on the north shore of the Strait of Belle Isle, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

Cape Norman is a barren, limestone headland located at the northernmost point of insular Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Cape Bauld is a headland located at the northernmost point of Quirpon Island, an island just northeast of the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Belle Isle Northeast Light is a 27-metre (89 ft) tall, 12-sided flying buttress lighthouse located on Belle Isle, Newfoundland, which was built in 1905. It is one of three lighthouses on the island and was maintained by the Canadian Government despite the fact that Newfoundland did not join Confederation until 1949. It was designed by William P. Anderson as one in a series of nine buttressed lighthouses built in Canada around 1910.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Imperial Towers</span> Group of lighthouses on Lake Huron, Canada

The Imperial Towers of Ontario were six of the earliest lighthouses built on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, all constructed primarily of stone, by the Province of Canada. The origin of the designation Imperial is not certain, but some historians speculate that because the towers were public construction built under the colonial administration while Canada was a self-governing colony of Britain, the name would assure at least some funding from the British Empire's Board of Trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Anguille</span> Westernmost point of Newfoundland, Canada

Cape Anguille is a headland and the westernmost point in Newfoundland, reaching into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. It is the southern edge of St. George's Bay. Its name is derived from the French word anguille, which means eel. Close to the cape is the community of Cape Anguille.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Point Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse

Long Point Lighthouse is an active Canadian lighthouse located outside Crow Head on North Twillingate Island off the northeast coast of Newfoundland. The lighthouse, completed in 1876, attracts thousands of tourists each year and is historic to the town of Twillingate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Clark Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse

Point Clark Lighthouse is located on in a beach community, Point Clark, Ontario, near a point that protrudes into Lake Huron. Built between 1855 and 1859 under the instructions of the Board of Works, Canada West, it is one of the few on the Great Lakes to be made primarily from stone. It is one of the Imperial Towers, a group of six nearly identical towers built by contractor John Brown for the "Province of Canada" on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, all completed by 1859. The location for the Point Clark lighthouse was selected to warn sailors of the shoals (sandbars) 2 miles (3.2 km) off the Lake Huron coast. It is still functioning as an automated light. A restoration that eventually exceeded $2.3 million started in 2011 and the facility reopened for tourism in June 2015.

The history of lighthouses in Canada dates to 1734.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William P. Anderson</span> Canadian civil engineer

William Patrick Anderson (1851–1927) was a Canadian civil engineer. He was Superintendent of Lighthouses for almost 40 years, and was responsible for many of the more notable lighthouses in Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Bonavista Light</span> Lighthouse on Newfoundland, Canada

Cape Bonavista Light is a lighthouse located on Cape Bonavista, Newfoundland. The lighthouse, which operated from 1843 until 1962, is now a provincial museum, containing an exhibition about life in a lighthouse during the 1870s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forteau Bay</span>

Forteau Bay is located in Strait of Belle Isle, on the coast of Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Race Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse on Newfoundland, Canada

Cape Race Lighthouse is an active lighthouse located at Cape Race on the Avalon Peninsula, Newfoundland. The light's characteristic is a single white flash every 7.5 seconds; additionally, a foghorn may sound a signal of two blasts every 60 seconds. It is located on one of Canada's busiest shipping lanes. The lighthouse is also a tourist attraction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Pine Light</span> Lighthouse on Newfoundland, Canada

Cape Pine Light was built on Cape Pine, Newfoundland by the British architect and engineer Alexander Gordon in 1851.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Point Riche Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse

Point Riche Lighthouse, located in Port au Choix, Newfoundland in Canada's Newfoundland and Labrador province, is a "pepperpot" lighthouse that was built in 1892 and is still active. The white wooden tower is octagonal pyramidal in shape, the lantern room is painted red. The structure is 19 metres (62 ft) tall. Its light characteristic is a flash every 5 seconds, emitted at a focal plane height of 29 metres (95 ft). It is maintained by the Port au Choix National Historic Site.

The Offer Wadham Lighthouse is an active lighthouse in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, was lit for the first time on October 4, 1858. It was built after many petitions were sent to the government arguing for a light on the island to help guide mariners. This arose especially after the "Spring of the Wadhams" in 1852, when more than 40 sealing vessels were crushed and abandoned in the ice near Offer Wadham Island and several crew members escaped by climbing over cliffs to find shelter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferryland Head Light</span> Lighthouse

Ferryland Head Light is an active lighthouse on Avalon Peninsula, southeast of the village of Ferryland, Newfoundland and Labrador. It is situated at the end of a long peninsula that juts into the sea.

References

  1. Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Canada: Labrador and Belle Isle". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  2. Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Canada: Labrador and Belle Isle". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . Retrieved 8 September 2008.
  3. "Point Amour Lighthouse". Provincial Historic Sites. Retrieved 21 August 2024. Climb the 128 steps to the top of the lighthouse tower – the second tallest in Canada. Bring your binoculars to get a better view of icebergs and whales.
  4. "Provincial Historic Site : Point Amour Lighthouse". www.pointamourlighthouse.ca. Retrieved 2016-11-24.
  5. "Construction : Point Amour Lighthouse". www.pointamourlighthouse.ca. Retrieved 2016-11-24.
  6. "Lightkeepers : Point Amour Lighthouse". www.pointamourlighthouse.ca. Retrieved 2016-11-24.
Foundations of the old Marconi Station PointAmour MarconiFoundation.JPG
Foundations of the old Marconi Station