FHBRO # 90-90

LOL # 1018

BUILT 1863

POSITION 46 18 57.7 N 63 48 35.W on the outer end of the point, near Fernewood on the southern Northumberland Strait

LIGHT White: flash, 2 seconds; eclipse, 2 seconds; flash 2 seconds; eclipse, 6 seconds

FOCAL POINT 26.8 m (88 ft)

TOWER HEIGHT 18.3 m (60 ft)

NOMINAL RANGE 19.3 km (12 miles)

The North Cape, Seacow Head, and Cape Jourimain light towers are often called Sister Lights. These octagonal wood-frame towers were built in the Maritimes in the years immediately before and after Confederation. Constructed in 1865, 1863, and 1869-70 respectively, these towers are among the oldest wood-frame towers still standing in the Maritimes. Seacow and Jourimain were built at the narrowest passage of the Northumberland Strait as aids to navigation for fishing boats and other marine traffic passing through the Strait, and later served the CNR ferries plying between Port Borden, PEI and Cape Tormentine, NB. Each was the first permanent light on its site. All three light towers were automated between 1959 and 1969.

When Seacow Head Lighthouse was built, only six lights pre-dated it: Point Prim (1845), Blockhouse Point (1851), Panmure Head (1853), and Summerside, Fish Island, and Cascumpec (1856). Note that these six were lights, not necessarily lighthouses. Only Point Prim and Panmure Head were actual lighthouses.

The Seacow Head light tower is an octagonal tower 18.2 m (60 feet) tall, and each side measures 3.4 m (11 feet 3 inches) wide at the base. As it currently stands, it is a particularly well-proportioned example of a classically-inspired design, with pediments over its windows and door and an elegant flared cornice at the top of the tower. These classical elements were added to the rather plain original tower sometime between 1890 and 1921. The tower was reported to be a “heavy framed” structure. It was likely mortised and pinned, and “the whole screwed up tight and firm with wrought-iron screw bolts,” as were other towers on the Island from the same era. In summary, the century-plus light towers at North Cape, Seacow Head, and Cape Jourimain are all fine examples of heavy timber construction that are built to high standards, usually renovated sympathetically, and maintained in a similar fashion.

The light towers at Seacow Head and North Cape were commissioned by the government of Prince Edward Island. In 1945 there was a proposal to move the tower and dwelling back from the eroding cliff, but it is unknown if it was done. By 1921 there was a large barn or shed on the site. It is unknown when it was removed. The station was automated on November 12, 1959. The dwelling was sold on March 7, 1960, and removed from the site. In 1979 the tower was finally moved back from the eroding bank.

Mr. M.P. O’Raneghan, keeper of the Seacow Head light, was notable for his long tenure in the PEI Agency. He was appointed to Seacow Head on 21 April 1873 and served there at least 42 years.