Formal Recognition Type

Municipal Heritage Building Structure or Land

Heritage Value

Southern Head Light Tower has been designated a municipal heritage site by the Town of Lushes Bight-Beaumont-Beaumont North for its historic, aesthetic and cultural value.

Southern Head Light Tower has historic value due to its age and historic use. The 1902 Annual Report of the Department of Marine and Fisheries noted that a new light station was under construction on Long Island, Notre Dame Bay. This station was located on Southern Head, at the eastern extreme of Long Island, and it seems to have been in use by June of 1904. Long Island is surrounded by many other islands, making navigation aids necessary. The light tower had a fourth-order lens that provided a focal plane of 31.5 meters. Lighthouse keepers tended to the kerosene lamp that produced the light. Some of the early keepers include S. Parsons (1904-1905), followed by Samuel Short (1906-1910), Joseph Short (1911) and Temple Short (1912-?). Joseph Burton was also a keeper but his tenure is unknown. Lighthouse keepers and their families stayed in a residence close to the tower. The families grew vegetables, maintained root cellars, and homeschooled their children. In 1931, the light source was converted to acetylene gas and the light tower was automated, as fulltime staff were no longer needed to maintain the light. The light tower was solarized in 1987. In 2009 the original Southern Head Light Tower was dismantled by the Canadian Coast Guard and replaced with a 9-metre-tall aluminum structure. However, the Coast Guard kept the pieces of the original tower and in 2015 it was re-erected on the western end of Long Island, where the ferry to Long Island lands.

Southern Head Light Tower has aesthetic value due to its method of construction and its environmental setting. Many light towers of the same design and era where erected around the province as navigational aids. Many have since been replaced with metal skeleton towers. Southern Head Light Tower was a landmark in its original location and has become one in its new location. It is the first large structure residents and visitors see as they approach Long Island by boat. Although it is subdued in terms of design and ornamentation, this simplicity speaks to a concern for function and results in a simple yet dignified facade.

Southern Head Light Tower has cultural value due to its connection to the communities on Long Island. For almost a century it was part of the built landscape on the eastern end of the island. Some residents can trace their ancestry back to the early lighthouse keepers. The commitment shown in relocating and reassembling the tower speaks to the value residents place on it as a part of their built heritage.

Source: Town of Lushes Bight-Beaumont-Beaumont North Council Meeting Motion #19-41, May 15, 2018.

Character Defining Elements

All those aesthetic features which relate to the age, style and purpose of the structure, including:
-size, style and placement of lantern room;
-size, style and placement of gallery surrounding the lantern room;
-window size, style, trim and placement;
-size, style, trim and placement of exterior doors;
-simplicity of exterior decoration;
-white paint on exterior;
-cast iron construction;
-height and massing;
-location and orientation of light tower, and;
-viewscapes to and from the light tower.

Community

Lushes Bight

Municipality

Town of Lushes Bight-Beaumont-Beaumont North

Civic Address

Main Road

Construction (circa)

1903 - 1904

Builder

Government of Newfoundland