6 Nova Scotia lighthouses to visit this summer
Canada's Ocean Playground is dotted with lighthouses, but how do you know which six to visit this summer?
Joanne McCormick, president of the Nova Scotia Lighthouse Preservation Society, says the trips below will offer more than photogenic scenery.
"Our lights are an emotional and cultural tie to our past, and we must not just let them fall into the sea," she said.
"We live on the ocean. What else do we have here, for heaven's sake, but our lighthouses, little white churches, and our way of life? And the stories surrounding our lights are AMAZING."
The NSLPS put us in touch with Rip Irwin, author of Lighthouses and Lights of Nova Scotia. He's visited hundreds of lighthouses across the province.
We asked him for six lighthouses that aren't Peggys Cove to illuminate your travels. (No offence to Peggys Cove, but we figure you've been there.) The text is drawn from the NSLPS website and other sources.
Cape Forchu, Yarmouth
The Cape Forchu lighthouse, on a headland at the southwestern tip of Nova Scotia, is the light for the town of Yarmouth and its harbour. The structure rests 37.5 meters above sea level, is nestled into jagged rocks and offers a breathtaking natural vista.
Low Point, Sydney
Low Point is an octagonal concrete tower, 20 metres high, painted white, with a red painted iron lantern. The lantern is from the original Chance Bros. Fresnel lens. The lens has been removed.
Sambro Island, off Sambro Head
Sambro Lighthouse is the oldest standing and operating lighthouse in the Americas. Legislation to establish the lighthouse was passed at the first session of the Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia in 1758.
You'll need to hire a boat to get out there and wander around the pretty island.
Western Light, Brier Island
The original wooden lighthouse here was the first lighthouse on the province's southwest coast. In 1818, it was described as "so vilely constructed and ill lighted" that it was a hazard.
By 1832, it had been rebuilt with less vile construction. That light was an octagonal wood tower with a metal lantern.The building was painted white, with three red bands. A large fog-signal building also stood on the site.
That tower burned in 1944 and was replaced by the current concrete tower.
Gilbert's Cove, near Digby
This is a square keeper's house painted white with the lighthouse lantern atop the roof. Whereas most lighthouse keepers lived separately from the light itself, the lighthouse keeper and family lived in this lighthouse for over 50 years.
It is perched upon a small point of land 4.5 metres above high water level. The lighthouse is one of only three of this type left in Nova Scotia.
The light tower with its catwalk, nine metres above the base of the solidly built house, has inside steep-stair accessibility. Painted wooden floors and interior walls add to the building's sturdy and residential character.
Louisbourg
This is the third lighthouse built at Louisbourg. It was completed in 1923, a year after the second light burned. It is a white concrete octagonal tower, 15 metres high.
Several modifications have been made to the characteristic of the light over time.
