Pointe-au-Père Lighthouse National Historic Site of Canada, Quebec
Posted by: 
colincan
N 48° 31.045 W 068° 28.133
19U E 539221 N 5373947
Pointe-au-Père Lighthouse is one of Canadas most impressive coastal navigational aids. Only Cap-des-Rosiers Lighthouse is taller. Technological advances to warn vessels i.e. acetylene lamps and the diaphone fog alarm, were implemented here.
Waymark Code: WMTP52
Location: Québec, Canada
Date Posted: 12/21/2016
Views: 18
The second tallest lighthouse in Canada is located just east of Rimouski on a headland jutting out into the St Lawrence River. The original lighthouse at Pointe-au-Père was built in 1859. Subsequently a regular house topped by a lantern was constructed. The current buttressed and reinforced concrete tower was erected in 1909, but it no longer acts as a navigational aid, that role now carried out by an automated beacon on a frame structure that was installed in 1975. Pointe-au-Père is one of just 14 or so lighthouses across the country designated of national historic significance. It was plaqued by the federal government in 1982. It is operated by Parks Canada and open to visitation in season. Nearby one can also visit the submarine Onondaga and a museum which recounts the story of the sinking of the Empress of Ireland just offshore (that happened in May 1914 when the passenger ship collided with a Norwegian collier resulting in the deaths of over 1,000 people, Canada’s second most deadly maritime disaster after that of the Halifax Explosion). The lighthouse complex was renovated 2016-2017. The site includes the light keeper’s residence, the assistant light keepers residence and a fog alarm building. Pointe-au-Père has traditionally been the point where vessels arriving from the open ocean have taken on pilots for the tricky inland leg of the voyage which takes ships further up the estuary.
Classification: Administered Site
Province or Territory: Quebec
Location - City name/Town name: Pointe-au-Père
Link to Parks Canada entry (must be on www.pc.gc.ca): [Web Link]
Link to HistoricPlaces.ca: [Web Link]
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