|
After a long 46-year absence, the 1887 Digby Pier Lighthouse, also known as the Digby Wharf Lighthouse, has been returned to the community of Digby, Nova Scotia.
In 1970 the Canadian Coast Guard removed the no longer used lighthouse from Digby, Nova Scotia and shipped it to Saint John Coast Guard Base in New Brunswick for display at the Coast Guard Base. However, in 1973 it was given to Saint John for display at Loyalist Plaza for the opening of the new City Hall.
Then, in 2012, the Town of Digby formally requested the return of the lighthouse. Their request was honored and the lighthouse was returned, but only after Digby volunteers paid and delivered a ransom of 230 pounds of scallops to Saint John.
However the old wooden lighthouse needed lots of repairs, and with no money for the restoration, the lighthouse laid on its side in storage for a number of years. Then, last year, the lighthouse was awarded $15,000 in the online funding contest “This Light Matters,” and before long the restoration was underway.
Finally this past June, the lighthouse was mostly restored, and then past July, it was moved to its new home on Admiral Walk in Digby where restoration was completed. It was dedicated on July 23, 2016. (Photographs courtesy of Saskia Geerts of the Digby Area Tourism Association.)
This story appeared in the
Sep/Oct 2016 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
All contents copyright © 1995-2024 by Lighthouse Digest®, Inc. No story, photograph, or any other item on this website may be reprinted or reproduced without the express permission of Lighthouse Digest. For contact information, click here.
| 