Peggys Point Lighthouse
by Kristin Elmquist
Title
Peggys Point Lighthouse
Artist
Kristin Elmquist
Medium
Photograph
Description
Peggys Cove is one of the busiest tourist attractions in Nova Scotia and is a prime attraction on the Lighthouse Trail scenic drive. The community's famous lighthouse marks the eastern entrance of St. Margarets Bay and is officially known as the Peggys Point Lighthouse.
Peggys Cove has a classic red-and-white lighthouse still operated by the Canadian Coast Guard. The light station is situated on an extensive granite outcrop at Peggys Point, immediately south of the village and its cove. This lighthouse is one of the most-photographed structures in Atlantic Canada and one of the most recognizable lighthouses in the world.
Visitors may explore the granite outcrop on Peggys Point around the lighthouse; despite numerous signs warning of unpredictable surf (including one on a bronze plaque on the lighthouse itself), several incautious visitors each year are swept off the rocks by waves, sometimes drowning.
The first lighthouse at Peggys Cove was built in 1868 and was a wooden house with a beacon on the roof. At sundown, the keeper lit a kerosene oil lamp magnified by a catoptric reflector (a silver-plated mirror) creating the red beacon light marking the eastern entrance to St. Margarets Bay. That lighthouse was replaced by the current structure, an octagonal lighthouse which was built in 1914. It is made of reinforced concrete but retains the eight-sided shape of earlier generations of wooden light towers. It stands almost 50 ft high. The old wooden lighthouse became the keeper�s dwelling and remained near to the current lighthouse until it was damaged by Hurricane Edna in 1954 and was removed. The lighthouse was automated in 1958. Since then, the red light was changed to white light, then to a green light in the late 1970s. Finally to conform to world standards the light was changed to red in 2007.
Uploaded
October 4th, 2012
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Comments (10)
Gary F Richards
Outstanding Peggys Point lighthouse composition, lighting, shading, color and artwork! F/L voted
Susan Crossman Buscho
Like this picture of Peggy's Lighthouse. Have taken many pictures of it myself. Congratulations on the feature.
Kristin Elmquist
Thanks, Carol, for featuring this image in the Beautiful Scenery Group. I appreciate it. :)
Kristin Elmquist
Thanks, Anne, for featuring this image in the Lighthouses Group. I appreciate it. :)