The Ile Parisienne Light was built in 1911 on the southern tip of remote Ile Parisienne in the middle of Whitefish Bay on

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

on a major shipping lane for ingress/egress to the

Soo Locks The Soo Locks (sometimes spelled Sault Locks but pronounced "soo") are a set of parallel locks, operated and maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, Detroit District, that enable ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lowe ...

. It is now a well-known landmark to shipping traffic and pleasure craft. The light is automated and remains seasonally active.

Construction

The Ile Parisienne Light Station was established on the southern tip of the Ile ParisienneIle Parisienne Land Use Policy, 1. in 1911 after construction of the

increased upper

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

shipping traffic and the need for navigational aids.Canada's Register of Historic Places. The white tower is a well-known landmark to lake traffic and pleasure craft. The tower's cast-in place concrete, hexagonal structure was built with 6 tapered exterior wall buttresses, flared ribs at the platform, a gable roofed entrance, small windows, and a prominent, 10-sided, red lantern topped with a beaver

weathervane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

.Boatnerd. It is considered a good example of early modern, functional design.

History

The first recorded shipwreck on Lake Superior was off Ile Parisienne. During a fur trading feud in August 1816, Lord Selkirk ordered the arrest of key

Northwest Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great wealt ...

leaders at Fort William. Selkirk sent the arrested Northwesters by

Montreal canoe A rabaska or Maître canoe (french: canot de maître, after Louis Maitre, an artisan from Trois-Rivières who made them) was originally a large canoe made of tree bark, used by the Algonquin people. Rabaskas were used by French and Canadian explo ...

to eastern Canada for trial. The canoe commanded by Lieutenant Fauche capsized off Ile Parisienne drowning, by varying reports, 9 or ll people. At least one

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. Shipwrecking may be intentional or unintentional. Angela Croome reported in January 1999 that there were approximately ...

and the rescue of one

castaway A castaway is a person who is cast adrift or ashore. While the situation usually happens after a shipwreck, some people voluntarily stay behind on a deserted island, either to evade captors or the world in general. A person may also be left a ...

near the island shores is owed to the light station's location in the middle of Whitefish Bay on the major shipping lane upbound and downbound from the Soo Locks. The steamship ''Panther'' sank 26 June 1916, following a collision during fog with the ''James H. Hill'', off Parisienne Island in Whitefish Bay, with no loss of life. When the steamship ''Myron'' sank 23 November 1919, the

Vermilion Vermilion (sometimes vermillion) is a color, color family, and pigment most often made, since ancient history, antiquity until the 19th century, from the powdered mineral cinnabar (a form of mercury sulfide, which is toxic) and its correspondi ...

lifesaving crew searched Lake Superior in a raging gale for survivors all the way from their station to Ile Parisienne, but found nothing. The captain of the ''Myron'' was rescued 20 hours afterward, found near death drifting on wreckage near Ile Parisienne, his clothes frozen to his body. In July 1920, three bodies washed ashore Ile Parisienne from the shipwreck ''John Owen'' that foundered off Stannard Rock on 12 November 1919. The bodies were buried on Ile Parisienne. Life at the Ile Parisienne Light Station was lonely and perilous. On April 18, 1922, the small Canadian buoy tender ''Lambton'' set out to deliver the lighthouse keepers for the upcoming shipping season to Caribou Island, Michipicoten Island, and Ile Parisienne in Lake Superior. The ''Lambton'' disappeared during a heavy northeast gale on Whitefish Bay on April 19, 1922, taking the lives of all 16 hands and 5 lighthouse keepers, including John Douglas, Ile Parisienne lighthouse keeper, and his assistant keeper, John Kay.

Heritage site

The Ile Parisienne light tower was listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places in 1991 as "a Recognized Federal Heritage building because of its historical associations, and its architectural and environmental values." The light station is owned by the Canadian Coast Guard. The light is now a seasonal, automated, solar powered modern optic. The light is not open to the public because it is located in an area of very high volume shipping traffic and it is considered a critical aid to navigation. The light can be viewed by boat or plane tours.Rowlett. The light tower of Ile Parisienne was petitioned for designation as a Heritage Lighthouse of Canada on or before 29 May 2015.

References

External links

Ile Parisienne Light photographs from Marinas.com

Aids to Navigation
''Canadian Coast Guard'' {{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1911 Lighthouses in Ontario Heritage sites in Ontario 1911 establishments in Ontario Lighthouses on the Canadian Register of Historic Places

Construction

History

Heritage site

See also

References

External links