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Fortress of Louisbourg
National Historic Site of Canada
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Lieu historique national du Canada
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All 4 of Louisbourg's lighthouses were constructed on the same rocky outcrop on the point at the eastern side of the entrance to Louisbourg Harbour. The lighthouse constructed in 1923/24 is still standing and operational. At its base are the stabilized foundation ruins of the 18th-century and 19th-century lighthouses.
The first Louisbourg lighthouse was begun in 1730. The tower was completed by 1733, but a delay in the completion of the lantern meant that it did not become operational until 1 April 1734. The circular rubblestone light was 70 pieds high. According to Dunn (1971), the illuminant was cod fish oil held in a bronze basin approximately 1 meter across and 25 cm deep. A copper ring containing 31 copper pipes soldered at intervals was floated by means of cork. Each pipe held a cotton wick. The range of the light was said to be six leagues (roughly 18 miles) in clear weather. The final cost was just over 21,222 livres. The light was operated from April 1 to December 31 and ran at a profit, duty being collected from vessels entering the harbour.
In September 1736 a fire destroyed the lantern section. Until a new light could be constructed there was a system of beacons using coal and wood.
The newly designed lantern section included such precautionary measures as a larger oil reservoir with wicks spread farther apart. No wood was used in the new lantern and instead six stone pillars were installed to support a brick vault roof which was covered in lead. The window frames were made of iron. The work on the new lantern was completed by July 1738. The overall height was 73 pieds 6 pouces.
The first lightkeeper was a retired sergeant from the Louisbourg garrison. A duty was levied on both ocean going and coastal shipping beginning in 1732.
The lighthouse was probably damaged during the siege of 1758 and was not repaired.
SOURCES
Edward F. Bush. "The Canadian Lighthouse," Canadian Historic Sites: Occasional Papers in Archaeology and History, No. 9, National Historic Parks and Sites Branch, Parks Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs, Ottawa, 1974.
John R. Dunn. The Louisbourg Lighthouse. Manuscript Report Number 32, National Historic Sites Service, National and Historic Parks Branch, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. July 1971.
In 1842, eighty-four years after the destruction of the French lighthouse in the siege of 1758, a new lighthouse was constructed at the entrance to Louisbourg harbour. There is a description in the 1875 government of Canada Sessional Papers which indicates that the lighthouse was located on the north side of the harbour entrance, 60 fathoms inshore of the point at the Latitude 45/54/34 and Longitude 59/57/15. It had one light, fixed, white. The lighthouse and lighthouse keepers dwelling were combined. The colour of the lighthouse was white, with a black vertical stripe on the dwelling.
The report also described the " Iron lantern 10 feet in diameter, with eight sides, glazed with 17 x 11 inch glass of which a large number of panes are on hand. The lantern is dark towards the land side; and the illuminating apparatus consists of four circular-burner lamps with 20-inch reflectors, and five A lamps with 12- inch reflectors; five A lamps and reflectors are on hand. The annual consumption of oil is about 530 gallons. . . The dwelling is under the same roof as the light-house. . ."
SOURCE
Sessional Papers, 38 Victoria, No 5, A 1875. Appendix #4, Report of Agent for Nova Scotia of Department of Marine & Fisheries for the year ended 30 June 1874.
The present lighthouse was constructed in 1923-24 after a fire on 3 June 1923 destroyed the lighthouse constructed in 1842. The new light tower was constructed in reinforced concrete by the Department of Marine and Fisheries. It is the property of the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and serves as an automated coastal light.
The Federal Heritage Building Review Office (FHBRO) designated the lightower as a Recognized heritage property ". . . because of its association with the theme of aid to navigation, because of its historical and environmental significance as the site of the first lighthouse in Canada and the second on the North American continent, and for architectural reasons."
" The Louisbourg lighttower was built to a plan that appears to have been used only here and at George's Island in Halifax Harbour. Architecturally, it is more decorative than many of the reinforced concrete lighthouses built during the 20th century by the Department of Marine and Fisheries."
" The heritage value of the Louisbourg lighttower resides in its tapered octagonal form and classical detailing competently rendered in reinforced concrete, and in its relationship with the landscape and the remains of earlier towers on the site.
The classical influence is evident in the tower's columnar form, with its defined base, shaft and capital. The base - the lower storey - has deep horizontal channels and exaggerated voussoirs scribed in the concrete to simulate rusticated masonry. The shaft is smooth concrete pierced with pedimented windows. The capital is comprised of the lantern and lantern platform supported on decorative brackets. The octagonal lantern, which is original, continues the vertical lines of the shaft."
View pictures of Louisbourg Lighthouses.