The Construction and Design of the Lighthouses

1. Point Clark

2. Chantry Island

3. Cove Island

4. Griffith Island

5. Nottawasaga Island

6. Christian Island

7. White Fish Island

8. Mississagi Strait

9. Isle St. Joseph

10. Clapperton Island

11. Badgeley Island

 The Builder The Board contracted John Brown, a Scottish stone mason from Torold, Ontario to erect eleven lighthouses on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay. Though he had never built a lighthouse, Brown was an experienced contractor whose quarry skills had been used for all the replacement locks on the Welland Canal. He was also wealthy, a key determining factor, as his reserves could help him weather the financial risks involved in this project, which was far from straightforward. The Undertaking Build eleven tall stone towers in a near wilderness, accessible only through little known, dangerous waters. To begin, Brown had dolomite limestone quarries opened at three locations, including the western escarpment of Owen Sound.

That stage went relatively smoothly. Transporting the cut stone to the sites was a different matter, Four supply boats went down with their loads before even reaching the sites, One was sunk by an ice floe, and countless times materials were swept off the decks. Because of the constant delays, workers sat idle, a situation doubly vexing to Brown because he had to pay dearly just to induce these men to step foot on these remote, blackfly infested shores. 1857 depression - It quickly became apparent that the estimates of the costs involved had been grossly underestimated, the depression ensured that no more provincial funds were forthcoming. Of the eleven towers planned, only six were actually built: Chanty Island and Point Clark on Lake Huron; and Cove Island, Griffith Island, Nottawasaga Island and Christian Island on Georgian Bay. The Dwellings The keepers’ houses were completed first, presumably to provide shelter at each site.

They were styled after simple Scottish cottages and constructed adjacent to the towers with the same heavy limestone providing a pleasing composition. Doors, windows and chimneys were all symmetrical, and the roofs were originally slate. The ground floor is an open room with a large hearth, a small parlor and bedroom, with additional bedrooms upstairs. Kitchens were a later addition in the rear. The Towers The six completed towers were a testament to Brown’s unwavering standards, craftsmanship and exceptional stonework. Foundations were built securely, and walls at the base of the towers were made from five to seven feet thick of two rows consisting of stone filled with rubble. The inner structures were heavy timbers. Steep stairways lead through metal fireproof floors into the lantern rooms. The top floors were laid with “I” beams and lengths of railway iron mortared into the stonework for the pedestal of the light to sit upon. The cast iron lantern rooms were bolted to a high ring of strong granite though which a doorway lead outside to the gallery for outside maintenance. On the outside only the finest white dolomite limestone “hammer-dressed” to give a rustic appearance until the 1870's when they began to be white-washed. Mortar was processed on site to the highest standard, for Brown had earlier won awards for the quality of his masonry cement. Round-headed doors, narrow window staggered around the circumference with a slight cobbling below the lantern. Atop each tower is a red polygonal cast iron lantern enclosing rows of rectangular window panes. The lantern is surmounted by a dome topped by a ball pinnacle, and is encircled by a round gallery with iron railing. Bronze lion head rain spouts were mounted around the lantern. (Cove Island was said to be one of the most significant to see for this wave of design.) The finest French Fresnel lenses were ordered from Paris, but were delayed because of a backlog resulting from a massive U.S. lighthouse building program. In the meantime, keepers were installed to provide temporary lights on the towers.

Despite Brown’s financial reserves, he was losing 1,500 pounds on each tower and was near bankruptcy. He petitioned the Governor General for more funds, citing unforseen delays and the “boisterous state of the weather” among other uncontrollable circumstances. He concluded his letter with the entreaty: “he [the petitioner] does not seek for profit whatever but trusting to your Excellency’s justice that the public benefits to be immediately derived form these important works will not be obtained at his cost and ruin.” 1858- Specially trained French technicians came to Canada to finally install the cast iron lantern rooms and complex lenses. William Scott, the head engineer, described the triumphant moment the Cove Island light burst into life: The effect from a distance is grand beyond description as it seems to gather together, rolling itself up into a dark cloudy night and then bursting out into a brilliant flame that illuminated the whole horizon; and cannot be better illustrated , than by sudden appearance of a brilliant sun braking out of a dark cloud. Cove, Nottawasaga and Griffith were lit late in 1858, Christian the following spring. Each has distinctive lights. Cove and Nottawasaga had strong “second order” lenses - Cove because it marked the entrance to Georgian Bay and had to be seen from a great distance, and Nottawasaga because Collingwood was developing into an important harbour. Griffith was given a slightly less powerful third order lens, and Christian, a still weaker fourth for local traffic. The final cost of the six towers was so prohibitive that none of their kind were ever built again on Georgian Bay.

WOODEN TOWERS FROM 1867 ON The Second Wave

~Confederation the New Dominion Of Canada The Dwellings The earliest frames were attached to the towers and provided living quarters in both. Other dwellings were simple cottage designs. Fog Alarm Buildings The plants were simple, wood-framed buildings. Their main features were: double doors facing the water large enough to admit heavy machinery; big window to ensure good light; and a single roof dormer on which to mount a fog horn. The Towers 1860's - Towers were freestanding, short, square and box-like 1870's - They changed to square tapering towers set on a stone foundation with a square walkway around a polygonal lantern. Some were freestanding while others had attached dwellings. Ones with attached dwellings generally had three stories, and the dwellings with one and a half stories. These ones were the more picturesque of this wave and were built mostly at the more isolated locations. The original lanterns in these places were made of wood and later replaced with safer metal ones only when funding permitted. 1860's Confederation - in 1867 emphasis was put on lighting the waterways as quickly as possible to assist the increased traffic on the upper Great Lakes. Stone lighthouses were preferred with whale, coal oil and other flammable fuels but were too expensive for Canada. Newer towers, even their lantern rooms, would have to be built of wood which was in plentiful supply. This emphasis on economy and simplicity was set out by the Canadian Lighthouse commissioner in the 1872 Department of Marine and Fisheries’ Annual Report. 1866 -1867 the first simple frame lighthouses built at Little Current, Clapperton Island, Spider Island and Killarney. 1870's- shipping on Georgian Bay and the North Channel expanded in farming, timbering, and fishing. More lights were built to guide vessels all around the Bays, into harbours, marking shipping passages, and warning of hidden dangers. Lonely Island was built in 1870 to mark the shipping route up to the North Channel; Red Rock , built in 1870, guided vessels into Parry Sound; and in 1875, Gin Rock facilitated schooner traffic in and out of Penetanguishene Midland.

Members of the Trinity House, the English lighthouse authority, made an inspection tour of Canadian lighthouses and were amazed The job Not only had the job been done, but it had been done for a fraction of what it would have cost in either the United States or Britain. A coastal lighthouse that would cost $100,000 in Britain could be erected in Canada for $8,000. The lights of Georgian Bay were being erected for even less, between $300 and $2000. Whereas British and American lights were constructed of expensive stone, were fitted with sophisticated lenses, and burned expensive oils, the Canadian lights were built of wood, used simple but effective reflectors, and burned an inexpensive fuel- coal or kerosene. Invented by a Canadian, kerosene had proved to be so much cleaner and brighter that conventional oils that it actually made up for the inferior lighting apparatuses. Due to the praise from the Trinity eventually Britain and the U.S. switched over. 1880's early - The massive boom in Forestry, Grain, Coal, and Stone caused major problems and despite the successful lighthouse building program, the scene was set for numerous disasters. The competition was so intense that there was always pressure to sail. Fleets of schooners, some carrying 600,000 feet of lumber squeezed in their holds or piled precariously on their decks, filled the horizon. Grain Schooner Captains from as far as Chicago and Milwaukee took more and more chances, racing to be the first into Collingwood, Owen Sound, and Midland, for to be second could mean delays of up to a week if elevators were full of delayed loads. Often ships ran late into the season when the weather was the most dangerous and often they were overloaded and undermanned. More and more ships were wrecking on unmarked shoals and ledges or being lost in the brutal fall weather. The Waubuno went down in November 1879 with all hands lost. The Regina sank in September 1881 and the Jane Miller (November 1881) was never found. Crushing losses to the communities, they were to culminate in the Asia - the worst disaster even in Georgian Bay.

NEW BUILDING TECHNOLOGIES The Third Wave

~Post Asia and The Twentieth Century The Dwellings After 1900 Dwellings became two-story “foursquare” designs. With little wasted space, these were functional and easy to maintain. Floors were painted grey, softened by wainscoting and painted pastel colored walls such as yellow, blue, green or pink. In the late 1950-1860's bungalows were built at the many stations so that keepers and assistants could have separate dwellings. The Towers After the Asia, a tapering polygonal tower became more popular for its strength, durability and appeal. In the mid 1890's another style appeared; a frame dwelling with a short tower on the roof. The height of the towers was according to need and topography. The higher the cliff the shorter the tower so it would not be obscured by the fog. For greater distances, they were built taller and on low laying sites or offshore islands. Local navigation were shorter towers on low lying rocks. 1880's Post- Asia with the need for more lighthouses, the Bruce Peninsula was well settled, and commerce was booming. Lights were built at Big Tub (Tobermory) in 1885, Cabot Head in 1895, Flowerpot in 1897, and at many other locations around the Lakes. Steam fog alarms and other navigational aids were added where necessary. 1903 - with the most important lighthouses completed, the now strong running Department of Marine and Fisheries established the Dominion Lighthouse Depot at Prescott, Ontario. Center for experiments of illuminations, light station equipment designs and manufacturing. This reduced Canada’s former dependence on foreign suppliers. An agency was established at Parry Sound in 1905 to carry out the region’s operations from a more accessible base. 1906 - with continuos upgrades and advanced technologies in lighthouse construction, new shapes and materials such as steel skeleton towers were introduced. In 1906 a major advance was made with the introduction into Canada of reinforced concrete for lighthouses. The second tower built at Cape Croker in 1909 was one of the earliest experiments in the material. At the time, reinforced concrete was not at all widely accepted and frowned upon by the Royal Institute of British Architects and seen as a “treacherous and unreliable material.” 1920's - The passenger and freight trade to way-ports along Georgian Bay’s shores declined and The famous steam barges or “lumber hookers” that once plied the waters were rarely seen. 1936 - the Department of Transport was created with jurisdiction over the country’s major transportation systems. After WWII the quick boom in economic and social change proved to bring life back into the lighthouses again. 1940's late- radio beacons were installed, and slowly more diesel plants were installed to provide electricity to the larger stationed lighthouses and their dwellings. 1950-1960's - Separate houses were built for the assistants. An army of the steel skeleton towers began replacing many of the remaining lighthouses. 1962 - the Canadian Coast Guard formerly created under the authority of the Department of Transport was handed the job of gradually automating the lighthouse stations which led to the inevitable de-staffing, and for many their destruction.

The late 1700's the beacons were consisted of open wood or coal fires set in grates high in a tower on a hill. The first changes were turning these into rings of candles by the British. Although an idea improvement, the lights were weaker and often did more harm to mariners looking for fast warnings.

1763-Liverpool, England, the oil-burning lamp was first used in a lighthouse. A giant step forward but due to the diverse oil sources from coconuts to sperm whale oil, they smoked and blackened the glass - poor combustion.

1780's- Aime Argand of Geneva developed a burner with a circular sleeve-like wick inside a glass chimney. This corrected the combustion problem and left a brilliant, steadily burning, non-smoking clear flame - unless the oil was poor quality. Many of the first keepers of the Imperial Towers in Georgian Bay complained of the poor performance due to old and too thick sperm whale oil they received, which gave them more hours of work cleaning.

Architectural design in some lighthouses also proved to caused uneven air flow. The solution was to change the position of the stairs into circular ones, and install extra doors.

1860 - With the rising cost of oil, and the decreased availability of sperm whales, the newer Colza oil from the Dutch and French were introduced to Ontario Lighthouses. Colza oil made from a variety of Swedish turnips, was almost half the price of whale oil and was preferred for its almost flicker-free flame and non-clogging properties.

1846 - Dr. Abraham Gesner (Canadian) invented Kerosene (coal-oil); the most important development. The distilled coal fuel burned more brightly then all previous oils and was cheaper. The problem was the design of the lighthouse wicks were not adaptable to this new fuel and had to wait nearly 2 decades for the Canadian Lights to be fitted with the proper flat-wick lamps.

1869 - The new Department of Marine and Fisheries sent out 36,000 gallons of coal oil to be used in lighthouse under their Dominion under strict rules and regulations. Fuel was shipped, stored, and strictly measured for each lamp.

Early 1900's - new discoveries with the vapor from coal oil led to the 345% increase in candle power over flat-wick lamps. Most major lighthouses converted to this new system. This proved to be another leap forward, except for clogging. If a steady eye wasn’t on the flame in case of flare ups, a clog not caught in time could cause days worth of cleaning.

At the same time, Acetylene gas made its appearance. It’s poisonous, colorless, and highly flammable, made from the reaction of water and calcium carbide. Being so explosive it was more suited towards buoys and beacons, sometimes causing accidental deaths of ships and their crew. Eventually when dissolved and stored safely, the fuel became less dangerous, more effective, and longer lasting.

WWII - Coal oil became a valuable commodity and most lighthouses were supplemented with the alternative Distillate (or “desolate”). Most keepers attempted to use this inferior oil for furnaces and lanterns and keep there remaining kerosene for the lamps. Some unlucky keepers also received their entire shipment in this alternative and were forced to use it in the lamps. Some of them clogged and caused days of cleaning. After enormous complaints sent to the Department, the vile “distillate” was sent back and the precious kerosene was returned.

1895- The first Canadian lighthouse to have electricity in Reed Point, NB after being created in the early 1800's. In 1909, Cape Croker had both its tower and its Fog Alarm Plant electrified. Gradually over the next fifty years most were converted. Inaccessible sights were brought diesel generators to bring the electricity, unfortunately eliminating the need for maintenance and special care managed by its keepers.

Today most of the remaining lighthouses, beacons and buoys have been converted to use Solar Powered Energy.