The following extracts taken from early Victoria, British Columbia (BC) newspapers are credited to Leona Taylor for her excellent work in indexing the papers. Full information can be found here: “Index of Historical Victoria Newspapers“, 2007-09.
As I was collecting this information from the newspaper archive website, I noticed that many articles were in consecutive order and applied to Lennard Island, so I collected them all together here. It is a bit long, but interesting, as it describes the building of a lighthouse from the ground up as they say. Take note of the dates at the end of each article. it surely was not done overnight. More extensive information can be obtained from the actual scanned copies of the newspapers themselves on the above website.
************************************
Five new lighthouses are to be established in British Columbia waters. Colonel W P Anderson, chief Engineer of the Department of Marine & Fisheries, who has just completed his tour of inspection of the aids to navigation and lighthouses in these waters has located the sites of several newlighthouses… The 5th light to be established by the Marine and Fisheries Department will be placed on Lennard I at the Southeast entrance of the East channel to Clayoquot Sound. The site for this light was selected by Colonel Anderson on his recent visit to Clayoquot on Dominion Government Steamer Continue reading Lighthouse History – 22 – Lennard Island (1902-09-13 to 1909-10-12)→
I received the email below from a Ms. C. Burke in October 2010, and she passed on the information to me that her mother had related about the early days at Chrome Island lighthouse. I am sorry I did not get it published earlier, but I was working on getting this site in operation before I added a lot of new writings.
I can vouch that 100% of the manned stations on the BC coast are still maintained in pristine condition as mentioned in the story below – the keepers are proud of their work and their stations. – JC
**********************************
My mother has dictated some memoirs to me of her summers at Hornby Island Lodge 1, which was built by her parents, R.L. (Bob) and Mary (Molly) Hunt. They purchased all of Tribune Bay in 1925 and created the resort.2 I will be publishing Mom’s memoirs to a blog. Continue reading Chrome Island c. 1930s→
This film on DVD was a new release in 2010. It does not appear to be available in the PAL format for Europe and other countries.
A must see if you love romance and the idea of romance near a lighthouse, then I guess the film is for us. If you have seen it, tell us what you thought of it in comments.
Click the thumbnail photos below to see a full-sized picture at the Picasa Web Album of Paul Kurbis. He is a sports fishing guide in British Columbia, Canada. These were taken on a visit to McInnes Island lighthouse in 2008.
Lighthouse Chronicles – Twenty Years on the B.C. Lights
These are the first-hand stories of Flo Anderson and her husband Trevor and their four children as left left the city life in 1961 for a life on the British Columbia lighthouses.
They worked as lighthouse keepers for the next twenty years at Lennard Island, Barrett Rock, McInnes Island, Green Island and Race Rocks.
The book is interesting as it is written from a woman’s point of view.
Many B&W photos give illustration to the narrative.
Paperback: 224 pages Publisher:Harbour Publishing (1998) Language: English ISBN-10: 155017181X ISBN-13: 978-1550171815 Product Dimensions: (9″ x 6″) 22.9 x 15.2 x 2 cm Availability: Used (Out of Stock)
McInnes Island (marker with "A" - left) & Shearwater (far lower right)
McInnes Island had a light since 1921. There still are the remains of a wood post and a cement footing high on the SW corner of the island. But then in the early 1950s the Canadian government let a contract to build a lighthouse on the island. This was awarded to Stewart & Slade Construction who worked through 1953 and 1954 to complete the construction.
Ken Stewart 1953
In August of 1953,1 a young man, aged 19 years old at the time, was in the work crew hired by Stewart and Slade Construction. He was actually a relative of the boss as his Dad owned the company! His name was Ken Stewart and he worked with a group of other young men to build the lighthouse. Continue reading Building a Lighthouse – McInnes Island c. 1953→
Following along on the Lighthouse Lapel Pins collections, how many of you knew there were two Canadian lighthouse coins issued?
2004 Sambro Island lighthouse $20 coin
The first Canadian lighthouse coin was issued in 2004 and is from the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) lighthouse series depicting the Sambro Island Lighthouse which was built in 1758 and remains North America’s oldest operating lighthouse. It is located at the mouth of Halifax Harbour, Nova Scotia.
The quantity minted was limited to 25,000 but only 17,515 were actually struck. Because of this this coin will be the lowest mintage coin in this series. It is now worth approximately $60 CDN (2011).
2005 Gibralter Point lighthouse $20 coin
The second Canadian lighthouse coin was issued in 2005, also by the Royal Canadian Mint with a limited mintage of 14,006. It depicts the Gibraltar Island lighthouse on Toronto Island, Ontario, Canada. A special feature of this coin is the high-tech minting technique which accentuates the beam of light from the lighthouse. It is also worth around $60 CDN (2011). If you want it with all the original RCM packaging, then it can be purchased for $109.88 (2011) from Colonial Acres Coins.
That’s it! There doesn’t seem to be anymore. Is there word of any more being issued? I do not know. Keep your eye out for the next one at the RCM website or sign up for the email newsletter.
*******************************************
2003 Maine quarter (25 cent piece)
The US issued on June 02, 2003 a Maine State quarter depicting the Pemaquod lighthouse and is the 23rd quarter to be released in the U.S. Mint’s 50 State Quarters program. The Maine State quarter was the first U.S. coin to depict a lighthouse and it was only issued in a mintage of 448,800,000.
Launched in 1999, the United States Mint’s 50 State Quarters Program was a 10-year initiative that honored each of the nation’s states in the order that they ratified the Constitution or were admitted into the Union. Each quarter was produced for about 10 weeks and will never be produced again.
The 50 State Quarters were released by the United States Mint every ten weeks, or five each year. Each quarter’s reverse commemorated one of the 50 states with a design emblematic of its unique history, traditions and symbols.
A new Lighthouse Quarter from the US is to feature Acadia lighthouse. It is to be released in the Summer of 2012 – US Mint to Feature Acadia Lighthouse
*************************************
Early Roman coin showing a grain ship and the lighthouse at Alexandria (left)
The only other coin I can find with a lighthouse is one issued in AD 190 – 182 by the Romans. It depicts the famous lighthouse of Alexandria which fell down in 1323.
Are there any other coins in the world depicting lighthouses? Please drop me a comment or place a message in my Guestbook.
******************************************
2011-10-18
I was planning a holiday to Turkey, and for some reason one of my searches turned up an eBay page offering Turkish silver coins for sale. They are very beautifully engraved coins with lighthouses on them. Only two have been issued.
The first issued in 2008 depicts the Kizilada lighthouse in Fethiya, Turkey. The second issued in 2010 depicts the Ahikari lighthouse in Istanbul, Turkey.
[nggallery id=16]
[update]
June 13, 2012 – Acadia National Park Quarter Products On Sale The United States Mint has started accepting orders for a number of numismatic products featuring the Acadia National Park Quarter. This coin represents the thirteenth release of the ongoing America the Beautiful Quarters
Program.
The reverse design of the quarter includes a view of the Bass Harbor Head Light House, which incorporates representative elements of the park including the lighthouse, the coastline, pine trees, and the ocean. Inscriptions surrounding the design include “Acadia”, “Maine”, “2012”, and “E Pluribus Unum”.
Workboat over the side CCGS Camsell - photo John Coldwell
– by Reg Gunn (First Mate on the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Sir James Douglas)
To see what life was like in the workboats that delivered our groceries and took us off for holidays, check out Reg Gunn’s article Life in the Canadian Coast Guard below.
I was talking with Reg Gunn and he told me “I remember when it was first published I received favourable comments from other Coast Guarders who also had enjoyed working the workboats on the west coast.”
It was a big one with a lot of energy. To slow down would have put us at risk of being carried forward up the shore. The stern went violently up and I felt my weight double. As I looked down the length of the boat, it was easy to see we were not in a very good position. I noted the crew were getting the pike poles ready for what ever came next. I thought to myself, this day has not improved. I knew the next thing would be the stern would go down just a fast and I would be floating in air.
At the top I kicked in the throttle and braced with all my strength as we went down. The stern met the next swell and we shipped considerable water but not enough to kill the engine. I opened the throttle again and backed up and over the next swell. On the back of the next one I did a full powered one eighty degrees turn to get us clear. I slowed and moved over to the lee of the aerial anchor rock. We could assess our situation here and get ready to go out through the gap.
I looked at our passengers. They were soaked. I said, “Are you all right there?” Mrs. Pearce said, Apart from being a bit wet, we are fine. Thought you were going to put us back ashore again their Reg. I was glad when you changed your mind!” Continue reading A Trip by Workboat from Carmanah Point c. 1970s – Part 2→
The following extracts taken from early Victoria, British Columbia (BC) newspapers are credited to Leona Taylor for her excellent work in indexing the papers. Full information can be found here: “Index of Historical Victoria Newspapers“, 2007-09.
************************************
W P Daykin, of Carmanah Point, who came from the West Coast lighthouse with his son in an open boat in 45 hours, has been conducting some signalling experiments, using a 25-candle power incandescent light. Mr Daykin sent messages from the vicinity of the Marine hospital, which were received by Mr E J Haughton of the Canadian Pacific Railway telegraph staff, without difficulty. Mr Daykin, who has had long experience in signalling in connection with his extended lighthouse service, has invented a new system of signalling by night, using the Morse code. In the past signals have been sent by flashes and fixed glares of a white light, but Mr Daykin has substituted a red light, by placing a red glass in front of the light, for the dash, thus avoiding confusion which has occurred in the past regarding the duration of the dot or dash shown by the white light. [Colonist, 1903-04-25] Continue reading Lighthouse History – 21 (1903-04-25 to 1904-04-17)→
The following extracts taken from early Victoria, British Columbia (BC) newspapers are credited to Leona Taylor for her excellent work in indexing the papers. Full information can be found here: “Index of Historical Victoria Newspapers“, 2007-09.
This film on DVD was a new release in 2010. It does not appear to be available in the PAL format for Europe and other countries.
