Imperial Towers
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Imperial Towers of Ontario were six of the earliest lighthouses built on Lake Huron and
Georgian Bay Georgian Bay (french: Baie Georgienne) is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. To ...
, all constructed primarily of stone, by the
Province of Canada The Province of Canada (or the United Province of Canada or the United Canadas) was a British colony in North America from 1841 to 1867. Its formation reflected recommendations made by John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham, in the Report on th ...
. 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 The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...
's Board of Trade. All were built at a time when commercial shipping traffic was increasing on the Great Lakes between Canada and the U.S. because of new trade agreements and the opening of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal locks in 1855. The settlement of the Bruce Peninsula was already well underway at the time, also making the lighthouses timely as navigational aids for the boats and ships. All are currently operating as automated lights.


History

In 1855, John Brown, a builder from
Thorold, Ontario Thorold is a city in Ontario, Canada, located on the Niagara Escarpment. It is also the seat of the Regional Municipality of Niagara. The Welland Canal passes through the city, featuring lock 7 and the Twin Flight Locks. History The first su ...
, was contracted to build eleven lighthouses and keepers' dwellings on Lake Huron and
Georgian Bay Georgian Bay (french: Baie Georgienne) is a large bay of Lake Huron, in the Laurentia bioregion. It is located entirely within the borders of Ontario, Canada. The main body of the bay lies east of the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. To ...
between
Point Clark Point Clark is a lakefront cottage community on Lake Huron, in Ontario Canada. It is approximately 15 kilometres south of Kincardine and 40 kilometres north of Goderich. Main streets include Huron Road and Lake Range Road. Point Clark is served ...
and
Christian Bay Christian Bay (1921 – May 8, 1990) was a Canadian political theorist and the chairman of the political science department at the University of Alberta in Canada. He formed the ideological basis for the Caucus for a New Political Science of the ...
. Eventually, only six of the towers were completed. These were: * Point Clark Lighthouse *
Chantry Island Lightstation Tower The Chantry Island Lighthouse, officially known as Chantry Island Lightstation Tower, is a lightstation on Chantry Island, off the coast of Southampton, Ontario in Lake Huron. It was constructed in the years 1855 through to 1859, by John Bro ...
* Cove Island Light * Nottawasaga Island Light * Griffith Island Light This light was originally contracted to be built on Point William 10 nautical miles SE of Griffiths Island. *
Christian Island Christian Island is a large island in Georgian Bay close to the communities of Penetanguishene and Midland, Ontario. The island, with its neighbours Hope Island and Beckwith Island, is a Ojibwa reserve, known as Christian Island Indian Re ...
Light All six were built between 1855 and 1859 and all were lit by 1859; for the most part, their construction was simultaneous and the design virtually identical, although the Christian Island Light is not as tall as the others. Cove Island was the first to be lit, on October 30, 1858; construction on Christian Island was the first to be started but this Light was the last to be lit, on May 1, 1859. (The projects cancelled were to be at White Fish Island, Mississagi Strait, Isle St. Joseph, Clapperton Island and Badgley Island.) The locations of the towers were chosen based on known traffic patterns; each tower marked a prominent
navigation Navigation is a field of study that focuses on the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another.Bowditch, 2003:799. The field of navigation includes four general categories: land navigation, ...
al hazard which was already well-recognized. Sites were also chosen based on their proximity to good anchorages. The projects cancelled were to be at White Fish Island, Mississagi Strait, Isle St. Joseph, Clapperton Island and Badgley Island.


Construction

Construction of the lights was plagued by difficulties. Brown lost four full supply boats, all of which sank before reaching their destinations and unloading. More supplies were lost from being swept overboard during storms and rough seas. Furthermore, delivery of the lighting apparatus for each tower was delayed by competing demand from lighthouse expansion in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and a bottleneck in the delivery of the lenses. The
Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships." The design allows the c ...
es were made by the Louis Sautter Company of Paris and installed by specialist workmen from France. The most powerful (second-order) lenses were used at Point Clark, Chantry, Cove and Nottawasaga Island. Consequently, Brown was facing bankruptcy by 1857, and petitioned the provincial government for assistance. Presumably, the government responded favorably since he completed all six and remained in business until his death. By 1859 all six towers were lit. The final cost was approximately $223,000, a massive sum in that era.


Description

Only minor variations exist in the design of the six towers, as was required for the different building sites. They are all tall, with the exception of Christian Island, a tower. The rock courses at the bottom of the towers reach some seven feet thick, and the walls at ground level are six feet thick, tapering towards two feet thickness at the top. Though the lighthouses are conical, their interior diameter is 10'6'' throughout. The towers and dwellings are constructed of
limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
, with a
granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...
section near the top of the tower for extra rigidity to support the lantern rooms. Most other lighthouses of the era were built of brick, wood, iron or concrete. The lanterns are made of
copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
alloy An alloy is a mixture of chemical elements of which at least one is a metal. Unlike chemical compounds with metallic bases, an alloy will retain all the properties of a metal in the resulting material, such as electrical conductivity, ductilit ...
s,
glass Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...
, and
cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...
. The towers are
whitewash Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime (calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk calcium carbonate, (CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes used. ...
ed and painted with red trim. Each was initially equipped with a
Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships." The design allows the c ...
; they were the first Canadian lighthouses so equipped. According to the Heritage Character Statement from the Government of Canada (for the nearly identical Chantry Island light), the design is very strong and somewhat ornate. , all six towers are still standing and are functioning as automated lights. Three have been extensively restored. However, Griffith (on a private island), and especially Nottawasaga, are deteriorating due to lack of maintenance. A fund raising effort is underway to restore the Nottawasaga light but more funds will be required. The Christian Island light, located on Beausoleil First Nation lands, also requires restoration.


Other Imperial lighthouses in Canada

Other Imperial Lights were built in the 1860s usually of rock shipped from Scotland, at
Lotbinière, Quebec Lotbinière is a municipality in Lotbinière Regional County Municipality in Quebec, Canada. It is part of the Chaudière-Appalaches region and the population was 887 as of the Canada 2011 Census. It is named after the '' seigneurie'' of which ...
(1860); Pointe-aux-Trembles, Quebec (1862);
L'Islet, Quebec L'Islet is a municipality within L'Islet Regional County Municipality in the Chaudière-Appalaches region of Quebec, Canada. It is located on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River halfway between Quebec City and Rivière-du-Loup. The Mu ...
(1865); Port St. Francis, Quebec on Lake St. Peter (1865); Isle aux Prunes opposite Verchères, Quebec (1866); and a movable lighthouse at Isle aux Raisins, Quebec (1867).of Architects in Canada Henri Maurice Perrault
/ref> Four towers were built along the approaches to the Saint Lawrence: at :fr:Cap-des-Rosiers on the Gaspe peninsula; in the
Strait of Belle Isle The Strait of Belle Isle (; french: Détroit de Belle Isle ) is a waterway in eastern Canada that separates the Labrador Peninsula from the island of Newfoundland, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Location The strait is the northern o ...
; at Pointe Amour near
L'Anse Amour L'Anse Amour () is a small village on the Strait of Belle Isle in Labrador, a part of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. As of 2006, it had a population of 8 (1996), down from a total of 14 returned five years earlier. The settlem ...
on the Labrador coast; and at West Point on Anticosti Island. Other imperial towers are Mohawk Island (Gull Island), Lake Erie, built in 1848 by John Brown and Government historians list Bois Blanc near Amherstburg Ont built before that as also being an imperial tower. The imperial towers were originally spelt with a small "i" and this is the definition of an imperial tower - Webster's Dictionary 1904-1951. imperial : In architecture, designating a form of dome or roof, as used in a Moorish buildings. imperial: In architecture, a kind of dome which viewed in profile, pointed toward the top and widens as it descends, as in Moorish buildings; an imperial dome.


Sources

* Sapulski, Wayne

, The Imperial Towers of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, 1996 * Berger, T. & Dempster, D.; ''Lighthouses of the Great Lakes''; Voyageur 2002 * Crompton, W. & Rhein, M. ''The Ultimate Book of Lighthouses''; Thunder Bay 2003 * Weaver, H.; ''John Brown's Imperial Towers: End of an Era''; Inland Sea; 1992 * Wright, Larry Articles and Great Lakes Lighthouse Encyclopedia -


See also

*
History of Lighthouses in Canada The history of lighthouses in Canada dates back to 1734. The 18th century The first lighthouse in what was to become Canada, (the second on the entire coast of North America after Little Brewster Island in Boston Harbour which was built in 171 ...
*
List of lighthouses in Ontario This is a list of lighthouses in the province of Ontario, Canada. Lighthouses See also * List of lighthouses in Canada * Imperial Towers (a group of lighthouses in the list) References External links * {{Lighthouses of Canada Ontar ...
* List of lighthouses in Canada * Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act


References

{{Reflist *
History of Lighthouses in Canada The history of lighthouses in Canada dates back to 1734. The 18th century The first lighthouse in what was to become Canada, (the second on the entire coast of North America after Little Brewster Island in Boston Harbour which was built in 171 ...
Lighthouses in Ontario