page_title: History of lighthouses in Canada
section_title: The Imperial Lights, 1857-60
hierarchical_section_title: History of lighthouses in Canada / The Imperial Lights, 1857-60
caption_attribution_description: English: The lighthouse in Point Clark.
context_page_description: The history of lighthouses in Canada dates back to 1734.
context_section_description: By the mid 19th century it was apparent that the economic development of British North America was being hampered by obsolete navigational aids. Lobbying by the Admiralty and by Canadian shipping magnates such as Montreal's Hugh Allan resulted in an ambitious 3-year building program, where all material and construction costs would be borne by Great Britain. The so-called Imperial Towers were tall conical towers of brick or masonry construction where, in some cases, the granite was quarried and prepared by Scottish stonemasons, and shipped to the colony as ballast. By 1850s standards they must have seemed Imperial, i.e. built to withstand the ages.
  Henri Maurice Perrault designed lighthouses in Lotbinière, Quebec (1860); Pointe-aux-Trembles, Quebec (1862); L'Islet, Quebec (1865); Port St. Francis, Quebec on Lake St. Peter (1865); Isle aux Prunes opposite Verchères, Quebec (1866); and a movable lighthouse at Isle aux Raisins, Quebec (1867).
  Four towers were built along the approaches to the Saint Lawrence: at fr:Cap-des-Rosiers on the Gaspe peninsula; in the Strait of Belle Isle; at Pointe Amour near L'Anse Amour on the Labrador coast; and at West Point on Anticosti Island. At 112 feet (34 m), the latter rivalled Cap des Rosiers as the tallest lighthouse in Canada until its replacement by an airport-type beacon and demolition in 1967.
  Six Imperial Towers were built on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay in Ontario, all first lit in 1858 or 1859, because commercial shipping traffic was increasing on the Great Lakes between Canada and the U.S. due to new trade agreements and the opening of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal locks in 1855. These are located at Point Clark, on Chantry Island, Ontario and on islands named Nottawasaga, Christian, Griffith, and Cove. Construction of these limestone towers was entrusted to John Brown (1808–76). They were all 80 feet (24 m) tall, with the exception of Christian Island, a 55-foot (17 m) tower comparable to Brown's 1858 lighthouse at Burlington, Ontario. The lighthouses at Point Clark, Chantry Island and Cove Island have been renovated and all six are currently automated lights. The other three vary in terms of the current condition; Griffith (on a private island), and especially Nottawasaga, are in greatest need of restoration.  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. 
  Construction of the 60-foot (18 m) wooden lighthouse built on a caisson offshore from Point Pelee in Lake Erie was also undertaken in 1859; it was replaced in 1902 by a lighthouse built of steel plates, which can be seen today at Lakeview Park in Windsor. The Fleet Street Lighthouse in Toronto harbour was built in the 1860s and in 1913 was moved to the corner of Lake Shore Boulevard and Fleet Street, where it can be seen today. The recently restored lighthouse at Brandy Pot Island near Riviere du Loup (PQ) dates from 1862, the same year a wooden lighthouse was built on Bellechasse Island.
  Kivas Tully designed a Lighthouse and Keeper's House, at Queen's Wharf, Tonronto, Ontario in 1861. The lighthouse was relocated in 1929 at Lake Shore Boulevard West and Fleet Street (Globe [Toronto], 14 June 1861, 3, t.c.) 
  Offshore from Vancouver Island on Canada's Pacific coast, the Imperial lighthouses at Race Rocks and what is now Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site were built by Herman Otto Tiedemann in 1860 to safeguard the approaches to the Royal Navy base at Esquimalt.
  An interesting screw-pile lighthouse was built at Sandheads off the mouth of the Fraser river in 1880; it was demolished in 1913 and replaced by a lightship. After building a long jetty to stabilize the channel location, in 1960 a new lighthouse was built at Sandheads.
caption: Point clark lighthouse
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