Miscou Island Lighthouse

Miscou Island Lighthouse
Map
LocationNorth-East Tip of Miscou Island
North-East terminus of Route 113
Gloucester County
New Brunswick
Canada
Coordinates48°00′33.6″N 64°29′34.7″W / 48.009333°N 64.492972°W / 48.009333; -64.492972
Tower
Constructed1856 (first)
Constructionwooden tower
Height24.3 metres (80 ft)
Shapeoctagonal tower with balcony and lantern
Markingswhite tower and gallery, red lantern and trim
OperatorDéveloppement Touristique de Miscou[2]
Heritagerecognized federal heritage building of Canada, national Historic Sites of Canada, provincial heritage place Edit this on Wikidata
Light
First lit1930s (current)
Focal height14 metres (46 ft)
Range12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi)[1]
CharacteristicFl G 5s.

Miscou Island Lighthouse is an 24.3-metre (80 ft)-tall landfall lighthouse located on the North-Eastern tip of Miscou Island, at the entrance of the Chaleur Bay. It was built in 1856[3] and currently in use by the Canadian Coast Guard who owns the lighthouse, the land it is on, and also maintains it. It was built due to the shipwrecks that happened each year that could be prevented by a lighthouse. James Murray from Newcastle won the bid to construct the lighthouse.[4] It is a federal Heritage Building that is open to the public to explore. In 2009 a parking area, washrooms, picnic area and a deck around the lighthouse was added.[3]

The light's characteristic is a single green flash that occurs every five seconds, emitted at a focal plane height of 14 metres (46 ft). It has a third-order Fresnel lens.[5] The original lens was shipped from England and arrived on October 10, 1856, and the person in charge of the only other lighthouse on the northern coast of New Brunswick, William Hay, was sent to oversee the installation.[4]

Smoke conductors were installed in 1860 because the calm weather could not sufficiently clear the smoke from the lantern room. In 1874 a building was built which contained a steam fog whistle that had blasts of 5 seconds that were separated by 25 seconds of silence.

In 1946 the lighthouse was moved 200 feet inland.[4]

  1. ^ List of Lights, Pub. 110: Greenland, The East Coasts of North and South America (Excluding Continental U.S.A. Except the East Coast of Florida) and the West Indies (PDF). List of Lights. United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. 2015.
  2. ^ Rowlett, Russ. "Lighthouses of Canada: Southern New Brunswick". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Retrieved December 28, 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Miscou Island Lighthouse". Tourism New Brunswick. Province of New Brunswick. Retrieved October 25, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c "Miscou Island Lighthouse". LighthouseFriends. Retrieved 2016-12-01.
  5. ^ "Miscou Island Lighthouse". Tourism New Brunswick. Archived from the original on 2016-12-01. Retrieved 2016-12-01.