Point Clark Lighthouse
The lighthouse in Point Clark
|
|
 Ontario
|
|
| Coordinates | 44°04′22″N 81°45′26″W / 44.072854°N 81.757217°WCoordinates: 44°04′22″N 81°45′26″W / 44.072854°N 81.757217°W |
|---|---|
| Year first constructed | 1859 |
| Automated | 1924 |
| Construction | limestone tower |
| Tower shape | cylindrical tower with balcony and lantern |
| Markings / pattern | white tower, red lantern |
| Height | 26.5 metres (87 ft) |
| Focal height | 28.3 metres (93 ft) |
| Characteristic | Fl W 10s. |
| CHS number | CCG 782 |
| ARLHS number | CAN-388 |
| Managing agent | Township of Huron-Kinloss |
Point Clark Lighthouse is located on in a beach community, Point Clark, Ontario, near a point that protrudes into Lake Huron. Built between 1855 and 1859 under the instructions of the Board of Works, Canada West, it is one of the few on the Great Lakes to be made primarily from stone. It is one of the Imperial Towers, a group of six nearly identical towers built by contractor John Brown for the "Province of Canada" (Canadian government) on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, all completed by 1859. The location for the Point Clark lighthouse was selected to to warn sailors of the shoals (sandbars) 2 miles (3.2 km) off the Lake Huron coast. It is still functioning as an automated light. A restoration that eventually exceeded $2.3 million started in 2011 and the facility reopened for tourism in June 2015.
The origin of the designation Imperial is not certain, but some historians speculate that because the towers were public construction built under the colonial administration while Canada was a self-governing colony of Britain, the name would assure at least some funding from the British Empire's Board of Trade.
Since the lighthouse is on the mainland (not on an island) it can easily reached by bicycle or a vehicle. The original wooden storage building and keeper's house are a Township of Huron-Kinloss museum. The lightkeeper's home and the lighthouse can be toured from mid June to Labour Day for a fee.
The Point Clark tower was formally registered as one of the National Historic Sites of Canada, the only lighthouse on the Great Lakes or Georgian Bay to receive this highest-level designation. It has also been designated under the Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act. The keeper's cottage is a designated place of historic interest, and has been listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places since 2008.
Before the lighthouse was built, a lantern had been hung on a branch of a pine tree near the beach; this led to the settlement being called Pine Point. Like the nearby Chantry Island Lightstation Tower this one was built at a time when commercial shipping traffic was increasing on the Great Lakes between Canada and the U.S. because of new trade agreements and the opening of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal locks in 1855. Other towers were also built on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay between 1855 and 1859 to act as navigational aids for the ships.
...
Wikipedia