| Cape
Bonavista Lighthouse Provincial Historic Site
The Act providing
for the establishment of a lighthouse at Cape Bonavista was passed in the
House of Assembly of Newfoundland on April 26, 1841. Construction of the
lighthouse began that year. It took two years to build and on Sept. 11,
1843, the light was put into operation. The completed lighthouse was a
square two story wooden structure built around a masonry tower, which rose
through the centre of the building to support the light. The light came from
Inchcape (Bell) Rock in Scotland.
In
1895, the light was replaced with another, which came from the Isle of May
in Scotland. This replacement was decommissioned in 1962 when the light at
the Cape was automated and placed on an exterior steel tower.
Cape Bonavista Lighthouse was transferred
from the Federal Department of Transport to the provincial government in
1970 to be developed as a provincial historic site. With the exception of
the tower and light room, the lighthouse has been restored to the 1870
period. The living quarters have been furnished and decorated as they would
have appeared in 1870 when Jeremiah White, still lightkeeper at 80 years of
age, was being assisted by his son Nicholas, the assistant keeper and his
family.
Each year thousands of
visitors come to take a guided tour. Learn about the
hard life of the lightkeeper's who faithfully tended the light at Cape
Bonavista from interpreters dressed in the styles of 1870. And in season,
watch whales, icebergs and puffins just off the cape. Prints of the Cape
Bonavista Lighthouse are available at
The Gift Shoppe. |
