Louisbourg Lighthouse is an active Canadian lighthouse in
Louisbourg, Nova Scotia
Louisbourg is an unincorporated community and former town in Cape Breton Regional Municipality, Nova Scotia.
History
The French military founded the Fortress of Louisbourg in 1713 and its fortified seaport on the southwest part of the harbour, ...
. The current tower is the fourth in a series of lighthouses that have been built on the site, the earliest was the first lighthouse in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.
The first lighthouse
Construction began on the lighthouse in 1730 to assist navigation to
Fortress of Louisbourg
The Fortress of Louisbourg (french: Forteresse de Louisbourg) is a National Historic Site and the location of a one-quarter partial reconstruction of an 18th-century French fortress at Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Its two sie ...
. It was completed in 1734. A fire in 1736 destroyed the lantern but the stone tower was unharmed and a new lantern was installed in 1738. Lighthouse Point played a decisive role in both the Siege of 1745 and
1758
Events
January–March
* January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...
as, once captured, it provided a commanding gun battery location to bombard the fortress. This lighthouse was badly damaged in 1758 during the Final Siege of Louisbourg and abandoned by the British after they demolished the fortress. Stonework ruins from the first tower are still visible at the site.
The second lighthouse
A square wooden lighthouse with a black stripe was built by the government of
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native Eng ...
in 1842. The lighthouse was a large -story wooden building supported by a massive masonry base. It included the keeper's dwelling in the base of the light. A
fog horn
A foghorn or fog signal is a device that uses sound to warn vehicles of navigational hazards such as rocky coastlines, or boats of the presence of other vessels, in foggy conditions. The term is most often used in relation to marine transport. W ...
building was added in 1902. This lighthouse was destroyed by fire in 1922. The foundation remains visible today and has been excavated and stabilized by
Parks Canada
Parks Canada (PC; french: Parcs Canada),Parks Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Parks Canada Agency (). is the agency of the Government of Canada which manages the country's 48 National Parks, th ...
archaeologists
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
.
The lighthouse today
An octagonal concrete lighthouse decorated with neoclassical architectural features was built in 1923. The tower is a twin of the
Georges Island Lighthouse
Georges Island Lighthouse is a prominent concrete lighthouse, built in 1917 on Georges Island in Nova Scotia, replacing an earlier tower built in 1876. The light-keeper's house remains standing a few hundred feet to the north.Halifax, Nova Scotia. The Louisbourg lighthouse was destaffed in 1990. The lighthouse is a popular lookoff point and in 2008 became the start of a coastal walking trail, the
Louisbourg Lighthouse Trail
The Louisbourg Lighthouse Trail is a hiking trail on Cape Breton Island in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. The trailhead is located on Lighthouse Point, at the Louisbourg Lighthouse, within the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic S ...
. Interpretive plaques mark the ruins of the previous lighthouses.
See also
*
List of lighthouses in Canada
This is a list of lighthouses in Canada. These may naturally be divided into lighthouses on the Pacific coast, on the Arctic Ocean, in the Hudson Bay watershed, on the Labrador Sea and Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the St. Lawrence River watershed ( ...