Point Amour Lighthouse Explained

Point Amour Lighthouse
Location:L'Anse Amour
Newfoundland and Labrador
Canada
Coordinates:51.4605°N -56.8584°W
Yearbuilt:1854-1858
Automated:1960s
Construction:limestone covered with brick and clapboard tower
Shape:cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern
Marking:white tower with a horizontal black band, red dome
Height:125 feet
Focalheight:46m (151feet)
Range:18 nautical miles
Characteristic:Fl W 20s.
Fogsignal:1 blast every 30s.
Managingagent:Labrador Straits Historical Development Corporation[1]

The Point Amour Lighthouse is located on the shore of Forteau Bay, in Strait of Belle Isle, Labrador Peninsula, L'Anse Amour hamlet, in southern Labrador, Newfoundland and Labrador, province, Canada.

It was completed in 1857. It is the tallest lighthouse in Atlantic Canada, and the second tallest one in all of Canada,[2] reaching a height of 109 feet (33m).[3]

The Point Amour Lighthouse was part of a series of four lighthouses built in the 1850s to allow for safer passage for the increased steamship travel between Europe and the new world at that time.[4] The cylindrical tower is built of limestone and is painted white with a black band. The limestone used for construction of the lighthouse was obtained from local quarries. Other materials such as timber and brick were not as accessible and were shipped from Quebec to L’Anse au Loup. From L’Anse au Loup they were brought to the site where the lighthouse was constructed, four miles away.[5] It was built in the series of Imperial Towers and is designated a Provincial Historic Site. The residential part of the lighthouse, completed in 1857, has been renovated and now serves as a museum. The site was also home to a Marconi Station, of which only the foundations survive.

A second order Fresnel lens with a focal plane at above sea level is in use. In 1996 the operation of the lighthouse was converted to an automatic system. The light characteristic is a period of light of 16 seconds with an adjacent pause of 4 seconds. A fog signal may be sounded from a separate building.

Lighthouse keepers

LightkeepersTime
John Blampied1857-1869
Pierre Godier1869-1879
Matthew Wyatt1879-1889
Thomas Wyatt1889-1919
Jeff Wyatt1919-1963
Milton Elliott1963-1969
Max Sheppard1969-1995
In the 1960s the lighthouse became automated.[6]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. January 1, 2016.
  2. 8 September 2008.
  3. Web site: Point Amour Lighthouse . Provincial Historic Sites . 21 August 2024 . Climb the 128 steps to the top of the lighthouse tower – the second tallest in Canada. Bring your binoculars to get a better view of icebergs and whales..
  4. Web site: Provincial Historic Site : Point Amour Lighthouse. www.pointamourlighthouse.ca. 2016-11-24.
  5. Web site: Construction : Point Amour Lighthouse. www.pointamourlighthouse.ca. 2016-11-24.
  6. Web site: Lightkeepers : Point Amour Lighthouse. www.pointamourlighthouse.ca. 2016-11-24.