The Lighthouse in the summer of  1926

By Bill O'Shea

 The new lighthouse was the focal point for an important event in 1926. Louisbourg was planning a Come Home Summer and the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, at the same time, planned to unveil 4  plaques at Louisbourg – 2 at the lighthouse and 2 on the site of the fortress ruins. Earlier correspondence between the departments agreed that the plaques would be attached to the lighthouse.[i] In March 1926,  Mayor A.A. Martell wrote, to the District Engineer about the “summer carnival”, mentioned the historic plaque unveilings and asked if the case would be ready for the historic lead plaque, which was found in the ruins of the French tower in 1923. Heralding what would become a long-term point of concern between municipal and federal responsibilities,  Martell also asked if the road to the lighthouse would be repaired for the event.[ii] 

The town celebrated the first day of its Come Home Week on August 10, 1926 with a sports programme and the plaque unveilings. The day opened with a 3 mile race run from old town to the school in the modern town won by Truman Hunt. At 11:30 a.m. the activity moved to the lighthouses where Senator McLennan talked about the history of the site and Mayor Melvin Huntington welcomed the guests before unveiling two Historic Sites and Monuments Board plaques.[iii] One of the plaques commemorates the French defenders of the Island Battery in 1745 and 1758, while the other commemorates the French lighthouse and the British batteries constructed in the vicinity in 1745 and 1758.

 HISTORIC SITES

& MONUMENTS BOARD OF CANADA

THIS TABLET COMMEMORATES THE VALOUR AND ENDURANCE DISPLAYED AGAINST OVERWHELMING ODDS, BY THE FRENCH FORCES, WHO, IN 1745 AND AGAIN IN 1758, GARRISONED THE DEFENSIVE BATTERIES ON THE ISLAND OPPOSITE THE ENTRANCE TO THE HARBOUR OF LOUISBOURG AND FACING THIS SPOT.

CETTE PLAQUE EST ERÉGÉE EN HOMMAGE À LA BRAVOURE ET À L’ENDURANCE DONT FIRENT PREUVE, CONTRE DES TROUPES BIENS SUPÉRIEURES, LES TROUPES FRANÇAISES  RETRANCHÉES DANS L’ILE SITUÉE EN FACE DE L’ENTRÉE DU PORT DE LOUISBOURG EN 1745 ET EN 1758 

Louisbourg Lighthouse

Left Side

HISTORIC SITES

& MONUMENTS BOARD OF CANADA

ON THIS SITE WAS ERECTED BY FRANCE, IN 1731, THE FIRST LIGHTHOUSE TOWER, CONSTRUCTED OF FIREPROOF MATERIALS, IN NORTH AMERICA. NEAR HERE THE BRITISH ERECTED BATTERIES TO SILENCE THE DEFENSIVE WORKS ERECTED BY FRANCE ON THE ISLAND OPPOSITE THE ENTRANCE. IN 1745 THESE BATTERIES WERE COMMANDED BY LT. COL. JOHN GORHAM; IN 1758, BY BRIGADIER GENERAL JAMES WOLFE.

SUR CET EMPLACEMENT LA FRANCE CONSTRUISIT, EN 1731, LE PREMIER PHARE À L’ÉPREUVE DU FEU ÉRIGÉ EN AMERIQUE DU NORD. PRÈS D’ICI LES ANGLAIS ÉLEVÈRENT DES BATTERIES POUR RÉDUIRE LES TRAVAUX DE DÉFENSE FAITS PAR LES FRANÇAIS SUR L’ILE SITUÉE EN FACE DE L’ENTRÉE DU PORT. AU SIÈGE DE 1745, CES BATTERIES FURENT COMMANDÉES PAR LE LIEUTENANT COLONEL JOHN GORHAM ET À CELUI DE 1758, PAR LE BRIGADIER GÉNÉRAL JAMES WOLFE.

Louisbourg Lighthouse

Right Side