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Cape Bonavista Light is a
The lighthouse at Cape Bonavista 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 constructed around a masonry tower surmounted by a lantern.
The first lamps and reflectors came from the
Aids to Navigation
''Canadian Coast Guard''
Cape Bonavista Lighthouse Provincial Historic Site
''Provincial tourism site'' {{Authority control Bonavista Bonavista 1843 establishments in North America 1843 establishments in the British Empire 19th-century establishments in Newfoundland Historic buildings and structures in Newfoundland and Labrador
lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lens (optics), lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways.
Ligh ...
located on 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 sout ...
, Newfoundland
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...
. The lighthouse, which operated from 1843 until 1962, is now a provincial museum, containing an exhibition about life in a lighthouse during the 1870s.
History
The lighthouse at Cape Bonavista 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 constructed around a masonry tower surmounted by a lantern.
The first lamps and reflectors came from the Bell Rock Lighthouse
The Bell Rock Lighthouse, off the coast of Angus, Scotland, is the world's oldest surviving sea-washed lighthouse. It was built between 1807 and 1810 by Robert Stevenson (civil engineer), Robert Stevenson on the Bell Rock (also known as Inchca ...
in Scotland. This apparatus was later replaced by a catoptric system from the Isle of May in Scotland, first installed in Newfoundland in 1850 by Robert Oke at the Cape Pine lighthouse, later moved to the Harbour Grace Island lighthouse, and finally to Cape Bonavista. Both the historic light mechanisms that ended up at Cape Bonavista, the one from the Bell Rock and the one from Isle of May were installed by Robert Oke, who served as the first Chief Inspector of the Newfoundland Lighthouse Service. In 1962 the lighthouse went dark, replaced by an electric light on a nearby steel skeleton tower.
In the 1970s the lighthouse was restored for use as a museum by the provincial government. The building contains furniture and artifacts representing the pre-1870 period. The rare catoptrics
Catoptrics (from ''katoptrikós'', "specular", from ''katoptron'' "mirror") deals with the phenomena of reflected light and image-forming optical systems using mirrors. A catoptric system is also called a ''catopter'' (''catoptre'').
Histor ...
lighting system, made up of Argand oil lamps and parabolic mirrors of polished silver, is on display. Exhibits on local industry include 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 more severe damage.
See also
*List of lighthouses in Newfoundland and Labrador
This is a list of lighthouses in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada.
References
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External links
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{{Lighthouses of Canada
Lighthouses in Newfoundland and Labrador,
Lists of lighthouses in Canada, Newfoundland and ...
* List of lighthouses in Canada
This is a list of lighthouses in Canada. These may naturally be divided into lighthouses on the Pacific coast, on the Arctic Ocean, in the Hudson Bay watershed, on the Labrador Sea and Gulf of St. Lawrence, in the St. Lawrence River watershed ...
References
External links
Aids to Navigation
''Canadian Coast Guard''
Cape Bonavista Lighthouse Provincial Historic Site
''Provincial tourism site'' {{Authority control Bonavista Bonavista 1843 establishments in North America 1843 establishments in the British Empire 19th-century establishments in Newfoundland Historic buildings and structures in Newfoundland and Labrador