The light house is the oldest in the province, built in 1845.
It is one of a few round brick lighthouses in the country. It sits on the southeast entrance of Hillsborough Bay directing ships safely to Charlottetown Harbour, Prince Edward Island.
Storyboard map: Point Prim, white pin, bottom R of center. Entrance to Charlottetown Harbour, top L of center
The tower is made of bricks of island sandstone, but two years after it was built, workers covered the brick because of its deterioration.
Storyboard photo: shingles over brick
While the light house keeper could stay in the structure, a keeper's cottage was nearby for his family. Today, the light is automated and the lighthouse is a museum, with artifacts from its earliest days as a manned structure.
The tower has four levels with steep ladder-like stairs.
The second floor houses information and various lights which lit the way for vessels for more than sixteen decades.
The third level has the living quarters of the light keeper while he tended the light.
At the highest level is the current light,
the fog horn
plus a great view of the Northumberland Strait and Hillsborough Bay.
Far in the distance, Nova Scotia is a faint line on the horizon.
Of the lighthouses we've visited on the island, this one is exceptional because it is open to the public and provides much historic information about island lighthouses in general and this one in particular. It was worth the visit!
25 comments:
What a gorgeous building, I love lighthouses. Although, I wouldn't want the job of re-painting those bricks, vertigo springs to mind! Wonder what it is about a lighthouse that makes them so appealing though, must be the shape, like windmills (although I wish the modern wind turbines looked more like traditional windmills, I think people wouldn't be so anti them, if they looked traditional, lol).
Thank you for taking me on this tour of the lighthouse. It truly is exceptional! If I ever make it to PEI, I will go visit this one. :-)
Lighthouses remain important. I lived near Lake Erie for many years, and we visited several lighthouses along the shore. The Point Prim lighthouse is exceptionally handsome.
Reading "The Light Between Oceans" has given me a better understanding of a Lighthouse Keeper's duties and responsibilities.
Very cool! Yes, I would imagine that sandstone bricks would deteriorate quickly.
We visited a few in NS but not Peggy. They were both grounds only. It must be a treat to actually get inside.
There is something very special about lighthouses. It must have been a lonely life for many. A lonely life of immense service in beautiful, exciting, dangerous surroundings.
Can you tell they tug at my heart?
Lovely! It wasn't open when I was there last year.
It is a beautiful building, and a reminder of an important history which is outlined there. I love lighthouse too, Ann.
Thisone is worth a visit. Wish I had photographed the stairs. Such a steep ladder!
When we visit an area, if there is a lighthouse, we want to see it. Those structures attract lots of people wherever they are located.
The book sounds interesting. I will look for it.
I can't imagine anyone thought sandstone bricks were a good idea.
It is great to see the inside. You need to visit the Cape Spear lighthouse in Newfoundland. Fabulous!
They tug at mine too. My mother was friend with a family who ran the lighthouse at the most easterly point in North America. She stayed at the lighthouse often and had great stories about the place. I have a.ways been fascinated with lighthouses.
It wii be open for your next visit, Karen! It is great to see the inside!
Interesting info on this lighthouse and the history of it through the years.
Great to have it open as a museum; all to often they stand empty, despite the constant flow of interested people who visit.
It is an interesting and beautiful place, Judith.
It is a great museum. The others we have visited are empty!
Always enjoy lighthouses. There are a lot around the Great Lakes.
They are fascinating places!
That is a wonderful old lighthouse and amazing to think that some of the fishermen from this port would have seen it centuries ago too. Sarah x
I always think of the lives saved by the work of those light keepers, most they never even know about.
Thank you for making me part of this beautiful trip dear Marie!
light houses are always fascinating to me !
though this one is quite old yet remarkably great
glad to see insidious glimpse of unknown world really
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