FHBRO # 90-265

LOL # 947

BUILT 1880

POSITION 46 20 45.1 N 62 14 50.7 W on SE of breakwater

LIGHT White: flash, 2 seconds; eclipse, 2 seconds

FOCAL POINT 26.2 m (89 ft)

TOWER HEIGHT 10.1 m (33 ft)

NOMINAL RANGE 20.9 km (13 miles)

The square tapered wooden light tower on Knight’s Point is an aid to navigation for marine traffic on the Northumberland Strait. It is a major coastal light for a large number of small fishing vessels, draggers, and commercial vessels entering Souris Harbour, and for the Magdalene Islands ferry service.

The lighthouse was built in 1880 by Peter Alyward of Souris who bid $630 for the work, and put into operation in November of that year. In 1881 construction of a keeper’s dwelling attached to the tower was begun by Andrew Leslie. It was completed in 1882 at a cost of $732. It was removed in 1959.

The Souris East tower, typical for its era, is constructed of wood and clad in wooden shingles. The tower has a bracketed cornice. It is otherwise typical of the well-proportioned (but minimally-decorated) square tapered towers favoured by the Department of Marine and Fisheries at the end of the 19th century. The round lantern is unusual for this style of tower and had the appearance of being too narrow and tall for the structure. A porch was added in 1961. Inside is a straight flight of stairs with two landings.

Its old 4th order lens was replaced with another 4th order lens in 1961, the same year the light was electrified. The lantern dates from at least 1933, but is not likely the original. Until 1974 two men worked shifts of eight and sixteen hours, seven days a week. That’s when modernization took place and only one man was needed to run the lighthouse and fog alarm. Previously they had to go up to the top of the lighthouse every three hours and fifteen minutes to wind up the weight to keep the light revolving. The only difference now is that there is a gear box and electric motor driving what the weights used to do. The fog alarm system used to be at the end of the breakwater and they had to go out there whenever there was fog or snow.

One of the first mercury vapour lamps used by the Canadian Coast Guard was installed at this site. Until 1961 vapour mantle lights or 500W lights had been the departmental standard. In a test of the new technology the Coast Guard installed 400W mercury vapour lights at Belle Isle N.E., Bird Rocks, and Souris East in the Charlottetown Agency, and at Point Petre, Ontario. Souris East keeper Donald Osborne reported a “very bright light,” as did the other keepers and mariners. The test was successful; mercury vapour lamps remain a departmental standard today.

A dwelling added to the tower in 1881-82 was detached and removed from the station property in 1959. An oil shed was built in 1911. A pump house was added about 1947 and in 1951 the “old barn” was torn down and replaced, presumably by the storage shed recorded in 1957. A new dwelling built in 1959 was written off in July 1991. A fog alarm building was erected on the breakwater, off the site, in 1955, but the fog alarm was later transferred to the shed on the property. The site today includes the tower, dwelling, and fog alarm shed.

The lighthouses at Souris, North Cape and Cape Egmont all have telecommunications equipment.

The first light keeper was Angus MacDonald. He was followed by Maxwell Lavie and George MacDonald. In 1918, Frank McIntosh took over. He was responsible for keeping the lighthouse and the operation of the breakwater light as well as the fog alarm. His son, Andrew, temporarily took over when Frank’s health began to fail. When Frank retired after twenty-one years of duty, Andrew took over from 1935 until 1939. George Campbell replaced Frank until he retired. He was replaced in 1960 by Donald Osborne. Frank McIntosh’s first grandson, Francis, son of Andrew, assisted Osborne in looking after the light. He was the keeper for thirty years. The Souris East light station was the last of the 76 on the island to be automated. On June 18, 1991, keeper Francis McIntosh was officially replaced by technology.