|
The Canadian government has announced that three more lighthouses, all in Newfoundland, are being protected under their Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act. The heritage status was awarded to the Cape Ray Lighthouse, the Twillingate Lighthouse, and the Fort Amherst Lighthouse. Twillingate Lighthouse is also known as Long Point Lighthouse, but it is not to be confused with the Long Point Lighthouse in Ontario, Canada.
Built in 1876 the Twillingate Lighthouse was encased in concrete after being struck by a tidal wave in 1929. The distinctive red tower sits 331 feet above sea level atop a cliff in Notre Dame Bay and guides vessels into Twillingate Harbor.
The current Fort Amherst Lighthouse, built in 1951, is the third lighthouse structure to occupy the site. The original lighthouse on the site was the first lighthouse built in Newfoundland. The first fort, no longer visible, was established at the site in 1770. During World War II a gun battery was built here to protect the harbor from German submarines, and the ruins of the battery are still in place as can be seen.
The current 1959 Cape Ray Lighthouse is the third tower at its location. Two previous towers, one built in 1871 and the other built in 1885, were both destroyed by fire. The Cape Ray Lighthouse was one of the five pilot sites for a Marconi wireless station. In recent years, a red band was painted around the top of the tower, under the lantern room, to make it more distinctive as a day-mark.
This story appeared in the
May/Jun 2014 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.
| 