LOL # 993

BUILT Established 1851. Present lighthouse built in 1876

POSITION 46 11 26.2 N 63 07 47.2 W West side of entrance to Charlottetown Harbour near Rocky Point

LIGHT White: flash, 3 seconds; eclipse, 1 second

FOCAL POINT 17.1 m (56 ft)

TOWER HEIGHT 12.2 m (40 feet)

NOMINAL RANGE 30 km (18 miles)

The original light at the Blockhouse site was simply a lantern placed on the roof of a square blockhouse in 1851 to guide ships into the harbour. It was the second light (not lighthouse) on Prince Edward Island; Point Prim having been built in 1845. It serves as an outer harbour light for Charlottetown Harbour.

The tower is 12.2 m (40 feet) in height, surmounted by an octagonal lantern. The two story dwelling has a flat roof – the only one of that style on an Island lighthouse. Pictures taken in the 1890’s show a railing around the roof and a wooden fence beside the veranda. The flared cornices on the tower and dwelling and the pediment tower windows were installed between 1890 and 1914 (perhaps after 1906). The cornices were originally bracketed and the windows were similar to the windows presently in the dwelling. A porch once ran down the dwelling’s south elevation, but was removed about the same time as the roof balustrade and attached shed. The building is shingled on the outside, as are most wooden lighthouses, and lined with what has been described as “tongue and groove wall boarding” on the inside. The ground floor of the dwelling was designed with a kitchen, parlour and two bedrooms. The second floor has four more bedrooms and a bathroom. The dwelling is larger than most of the Island’s lighthouses.

Site plans of 1920 and 1962 show a barn west of the tower, and three sheds are shown in the 1962 plans. The old barn was replaced in 1954. The site is otherwise believed to be relatively unchanged.

The first lighthouse keeper was A. S. McNeil. He was followed by Nelson Currie who started on May 2, 1912. He is assumed to have stayed until William Stanley Taylor began on October 15, 1936. He continued as keeper until February 3, 1963, and then became caretaker of the lighthouse until January 1, 1967. The lighthouse was automated on July 25, 1962. His son, Merrill Taylor, leased the lighthouse as a summer residence until 2000.

The Blockhouse Lighthouse is located immediately south of Port la Joye/Fort Amherst National Historic Site in the rural community of Rocky Point. Charlottetown is located 5 km down the harbour.