Lighthouses - Canadian Maritimes

With one exception, these photos were taken on our 2009 trip to Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.

Eastern US Lighthouses                Western US Lighthouses

Neil Harbour, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Many years ago, while on our camping honeymoon in Nova Scotia, we stopped for lunch beside the Neil Harbour lighthouse. Built in 1899, the tower is 43' tall.

Sep 1967

Neil Harbour, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Forty-two years later we returned to Neil Harbour for another lunch by the lighthouse. This time we sat on the opposite side of the tower.

Aug 2009

Mulholland Point, Campobello Island, New Brunswick

This lighthouse was built in 1888 on the west end of Campobello Island to guide traffic through the Lubec Narrows. Its tower stands 44' tall and once had a seventh-order dioptric oil-fueled lamp. It was decommissioned in 1962 when the new International Bridge with its navigation lights was built.

3 Aug 2009

Marble Mountain, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

This small beacon stands on an island in the Bras D'Or and marks the entrance to Marble Mountain harbor.

11 Aug 2009

Kidston Lighthouse, Baddeck, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

This is a relatively new light, built in 1957 to help mariners find Baddeck Harbor in the St Patricks Channel. Its tower stands 47' high.

14 Aug 2009

McNeil Beach Lighthouse, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

This 33' tower was erected in 1909 and has been inactive since 1961 when the Seal Island Bridge (from which Liz took this photo) was opened It had fallen into disrepair by 2005, but since then has been restored by the Boularderie Island Historical Society.

16 Aug 2009

Louisbourg Lighthouse, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Built in 1923, this is the fourth lighthouse built on this site, a point of land guarding the entrance to Louisbourg harbor. The first lighthouse in Canada was constructed in 1734 by the French and burned two years later. A stone tower replaced it in 1738; it was severely damaged during the second British siege of Louisbourg. The British built a third light here in 1842; it burned in 1922. The current light is still active.

18 Aug 2009

Jerome Point Lighthouse, St Peters, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

This light was built in 1883. Standing 36' high, it marks the entrance to St Peters Bay and the St Peters Canal into Bras D'Or Lake.

19 Aug 2009

Cape George Lighthouse, Nova Scotia

The first light, erected in 1861, was a square white wooden tower. In 1908, it was replaced by an octagonal wood tower, painted white, with a circular red metal lantern. The current light, the third on the site, is an octagonal concrete tower built in 1968. It is 45 feet (14 m) high with a group flashing white (12s) electric light.

20 Aug 2009

Cape George Lighthouse, Nova Scotia

20 Aug 2009

Arisaig Lighthouse, Nova Scotia

The original Arisaig light was built in 1898 and burned in 1939. In 2007 a group of volunteers, with government help, built this replica of the original light.

20 Aug 2009

Balache Point Lighthouse, Port Hood, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia

Located along the Canso Strait, this small 20' tower was built in 1963.

20 Aug 2009

Liz snapped this picture of a small navigational aid tower as we were driving along the shore of the Northumberland Strain. Unfortunately we didn't note its exact location.

21 Aug 2009