![]() Four are museums having collections of lighthouse-related artifacts.Īll information in the History section of this website was provide from the Lighthouses of Prince Edward Island - Beacons of Light website Visitors can climb right into their Lantern Rooms to view the working light. Architect Isaac Smith designed the 18.2 m (60 foot) round brick lighthouse that is one of the last of its kind in Canada.Īt present there are seven lighthouses on Prince Edward Island open to the public. The first lighthouse built on Prince Edward Island was the Point Prim Lighthouse in 1845. With all the marine activity, it was inevitable that numerous shipwrecks occurred with loss of lives and cargoes. Fishing vessels from Europe and the United States fished the rich waters surrounding the Island. Shipbuilding became a booming industry with hundreds of sailing vessels being launched from our shores, destined for all parts of the world. Thousands of immigrants arrived by ship and farm produce and lumber were exported. Strategically located along the sandy beaches, or standing sentinel atop high red cliffs, there are approximately forty-five beacons (lighthouses) still guiding mariners away from dangerous reefs and into safe harbours.ĭuring the 19th Century, the Island's waters were very busy. Although it is only 224 kilometers from North Cape to East Point, the undulating coastline stretches for 1,760 kilometers. Nowhere is their presence more valued than on Prince Edward Island. “Women have always worked, but the amount of prominence or the visibility of their work has been underplayed for a long time.For centuries, lighthouses have been symbols of hope, safety and refuge. “This was a very important position to have a woman in,” Cook said. When a Northshore-bound ferry caught fire in 1925, she saved more than 200 passengers. Norvell once rescued a Navy biplane pilot by rowboat. Riddle refused to abandon her post during a Category 4 hurricane in 1915. In the event of an emergency, the lighthouse keeper became a first responder. “ were weather stations, so recording the weather in the 1800s was an important job that required knowledge of meteorology.” You had to be your own electrician,” Cook said. “Responsibilities were kind of vast-lots of day-to-day maintenance and some scientific knowledge was required. ![]() They lived, worked, and raised children in the relative isolation of a 440-square-foot lighthouse, doing jobs that required round-the-clock vigilance. Little is known about Norvell’s predecessors, whose handwritten logs noted the daily weather in even, curling script. I just happen to keep a bigger light than most women because I have got to see that so many men get safely home,” Norvell said in a quote furnished by the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation Education Center. “There isn’t anything unusual in a woman keeping a light in her window to guide menfolk home. Elizabeth Beattie kept the lighthouse from 1847 to 1848 Jane O’Driscoll from 1850 to 1853 Mary Campbell from 1870 to 1895 her daughter Caroline Campbell Riddle from 1895 to 1924 and Margaret “Madge” Norvell from 1924 to 1932. “It is unusual that it happened so many times in the New Orleans area.”īetween 18, five women served as keepers of the New Canal Lighthouse. “Across the country, it wasn’t unusual for the man to die and the wife to take over,” Cook said. ![]() Even though women weren’t allowed to vote or own property in the mid-1800s, they could become lighthouse keepers. When a male lighthouse keeper died, members of his immediate family often inherited his job. “The job of lighthouse keeper was assigned to a man with the understanding that he would live there with his family, who would keep the lighthouse running like it was a small business,” said Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation Education Center director Chris Cook. ![]() Then, it served not only as a workplace, but also as a home for lighthouse keepers and their families. Situated on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain, the New Canal Lighthouse appears much as it did when it was first built in 1838-down to its original heart-of-pine floors and panoramic lakefront views. Shown here in a museum exhibit, Margaret “Madge” Norvell was the last woman keeper at the New Canal Lighthouse. ![]()
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