page_title: Cove Island Light
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Cove Island Light / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Lightstation Annex, Cove Island, Georgian Bay - Lake Huron
context_page_description: The Cove Island Light, at Gig Point on the island, is located in Fathom Five National Marine Park, but is not part of the Park. It is situated on the Bruce Peninsula, Ontario Canada. It has been a navigational aid in the narrow channel between Lake Huron and Georgian Bay since 30 October 1858. It was the first of six stone Imperial Towers to be completed; all were illuminated by 1859. Most other lighthouses of the era were built of brick, wood, iron or concrete.
  The six were 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. The settlement of the Bruce Peninsula was also well underway by then, making the lighthouses even more useful. They acted as navigational aids for the boats and ships on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. All are currently operating as automated lights.
  The Tower, Cove Island, Ontario, was formally registered on the Canadian Register of Historic Places on 14 November 2014. The federal government restored the site in 2015-2016.
context_section_description: The origin of the Imperial designation 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. All six Imperial towers, along with a limestone lightkeeper's dwelling, were constructed by John Brown (builder) from Thorold, Ontario, a contractor and stonemason.
  The design aspects of the tower are virtually identical to those of the Point Clark Lighthouse, well described in a Government of Canada document.
  The lamp itself underwent several transformations starting with an Argand lamp fueled with sperm whale oil, then a flat wick coal oil lamp, replaced with an oil vapour light about 1900. Vapourized kerosene was burned to keep the beacon aglow. An on-site generator provided electricity during the 1950s and in 1971, an underwater power cable was laid from Tobermory to the island.
  The powerful "second order" Fresnel lens was manufactured by the Louis Saulter Company in Paris and installed by workmen from France inside the polygonal lantern with its three rows of rectangular glass panes.
  Similar in style to the other Imperial Towers lighthouses on Chantry Island, at Point Clark and on Griffith Island, Georgian Bay, the Cove Island lighthouse has 5 sets of stairs with 15 steps each, one set with 11 steps and the final curved iron stairway to the lamp room has 9 steps (total: 95 steps). An iron door leads into the lamp room. The stone lightkeeper's cottage adjacent to the tower was built at the same time. The "new" lightkeepers house was built in 1970 a short distance from the tower.
  This lightstation was continuously manned from 1858 to 1991, making it the longest keeper-occupied light in Ontario.
  The lighthouse tower, the original house and fog plant, a workshop, the assistant keeper's house and the modern lightkeeper's house make up the lightstation today. The light is currently a valuable aid to navigation operated by the Canadian Coast Guard; it is the only Imperial Tower that is still using the original Fresnel lens. Although the facility has been renovated, access to the island is restricted so tours are not available. Views from the ferry or a private boat are excellent.
caption: Lightstation on Cove Island
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