Cape Bonavista Light
Encyclopedia
Cape Bonavista Light is a lighthouse
located on Cape Bonavista
, Newfoundland
. It was built between 1841 and 1843 to mark the entrances to Bonavista and Trinity Bays and to aid mariners headed for Labrador. It is the fourth oldest lighthouse in Newfoundland. The two-story wooden building is built around a masonry tower surmounted by a lantern. The first lamps and reflectors came from the Bell Rock Lighthouse
in Scotland.. This apparatus was later replaced by a catoptric system from the Harbour Grace Lighthouse on the Isle of May in Scotland. In 1962 the lighthouse went dark, replaced by an electric light on a nearby steel skeleton tower.
In the 1970s the lighthouse was restored as a museum by the provincial government.
The building contains furniture and artifacts representing the pre-1870 period. The rare catoptric lighting system, made up of Argand oil lamps and parabolic mirrors of polished silver, is on display. There are also exhibits on local industry including coopering, fishing, whaling and sealing, as well as the ecological history of Cape Bonavista.
On August 3, 2001 a disastrous electrical storm struck Cape Bonavista. As lightning struck repeatedly all around the cape, the lighthouse tower was hit three times, igniting a fire. Quick action by the fire department prevented a much worse tragedy..
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
located on Cape Bonavista
Cape Bonavista
Cape Bonavista is a headland located on the east coast of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador.It is located at the northeastern tip of the Bonavista Peninsula, which separates Trinity Bay to the south from Bonavista Bay to the north.The nearby town of...
, Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
. It was built between 1841 and 1843 to mark the entrances to Bonavista and Trinity Bays and to aid mariners headed for Labrador. It is the fourth oldest lighthouse in Newfoundland. The two-story wooden building is built around a masonry tower surmounted by a lantern. The first lamps and reflectors came from the Bell Rock Lighthouse
Bell Rock Lighthouse
Bell Rock Lighthouse is the world's oldest surviving sea-washed lighthouse and was built on Bell Rock in the North Sea, off the coast of Angus, Scotland, east of the Firth of Tay...
in Scotland.. This apparatus was later replaced by a catoptric system from the Harbour Grace Lighthouse on the Isle of May in Scotland. In 1962 the lighthouse went dark, replaced by an electric light on a nearby steel skeleton tower.
In the 1970s the lighthouse was restored as a museum by the provincial government.
The building contains furniture and artifacts representing the pre-1870 period. The rare catoptric lighting system, made up of Argand oil lamps and parabolic mirrors of polished silver, is on display. There are also exhibits on local industry including coopering, fishing, whaling and sealing, as well as the ecological history of Cape Bonavista.
On August 3, 2001 a disastrous electrical storm struck Cape Bonavista. As lightning struck repeatedly all around the cape, the lighthouse tower was hit three times, igniting a fire. Quick action by the fire department prevented a much worse tragedy..