Wolfe Island (Ship Harbour) Light, Eastern Nova Scotia

Thanks to Linda Fahie for these rare photos of the lost lighthouses of Wolfe Island, Nova Scotia. The island is located off the entrance to Ship Harbour on the Atlantic coast about 120 km (75 mi) east of Halifax.


Photos courtesy of Linda Fahie; all rights reserved. Used by permission.

The photo above represents the first lighthouse on Wolfe Island, built in 1895. According to Chris Mills, it is very similar to the lighthouse built that same year at Gillis Point on St. Patrick's Channel in the Bras d'Or Lakes passage, Cape Breton Island. (At Gillis Point, the light tower still stands, but the dwelling has been removed.) Kraig Anderson's research found that the addition on the left in the photo was built in 1917. Light lists in the collection of Michel Forand indicate that this lighthouse, variously called Wolf Point, Wolfe Island, or Ship Harbour, remained in service until at least 1938. Anderson's research indicates that the lighthouse was replaced in 1948.


Photos courtesy of Linda Fahie; all rights reserved. Used by permission.

This photo represents the second lighthouse on Wolfe Island, apparently built in 1948. This design, a square 2-story dwelling with a lantern centered atop a pyramidal roof, was popular in Nova Scotia throughout the first half of the twentieth century. The 1904 Gilbert's Cove Light is the oldest surviving example. Similar lighthouses continued to be built in the 1930s, including the 1937 lights at Queensport and at Black Rock Point. We do not know when this lighthouse was deactivated. Linda Fahie reports that the building has been destroyed since this photo was taken. The modern light at this location (Notmar #585) is shown from a 6 meter (20 ft) triangular skeletal tower.

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Posted November 5, 2004. Checked and revised April 7, 2024. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.