Harbourville’s 1922 lighthouse

A natural and safe cove, the tower with a beacon fuelled by oil was placed at the furthest end of the Harbourville pier to warn vessels of the proximity of the structure that jutted out beyond the harbour.

The most recent tower built prior to 1922 had been erected around 1914 and needed extensive repairs after eight years. A clever option was to provide a safety light in connection with a structure funded by the Marine Department of Nova Scotia.

Rather than be erected at the furthest end of the pier, the impressive structure was built at the head of the breakwater. The new location allowed the lighthouse better protection from the elements, but, set so far back from the end of the pier, a good number of people now felt it was a safety hazard.

There had been a few minor complaints, but one particular incident occurred only weeks after the new light was up and running showed cause for concern. With a full cargo of fertilizer on board his vessel, Captain Haggerty was entering the harbour after dark. All that prevented a near collision with the pier was the keen observation of his look-out man, who spotted the danger just in the nick of time. Had they relied on the light for guidance, the disaster would have incurred great expense to the boat and wharf; more importantly, the lives of the ship’s crew had been put in danger.

Captain Curry, owner of the schooner the Nina C was making his return trip after dark to Harbourville from Saint John with a full cargo of merchandise, and staying off the breakwater for quite some time before he could locate the end of the pier, remarked he would have had an easier time had there been no light at all!

In mid-July of 1922, another captain who had no idea the light had been moved, ran his vessel straight through the Perry-owned fishing seine on the western end of the pier, damaging it beyond repair.

If complaints from the seamen were not enough, the lighthouse was also a menace to ever-increasing automobile traffic. Heading over Givan’s Hill towards the wharf at night, drivers were blinded by the light that was quite close to the road, and, in a couple of incidences, lost control of their vehicles.

Numerous pleas for action had been ignored and, finally, in May 1929, the residents of Harbourville and seamen working from the wharf signed a petition forwarded to Ottawa through the federal member, J.L. Illsley. The action was ignored and Captain I. Bloomfield Morris suggested further petitions engaging the signatures of mail-couriers and local farmers, who felt the lighthouse should either be moved or discontinued, and that a safer location eastward of the wharf might be “of some use as an ornament to that obsure locality.”

Complaints continued and the summer of 1935 would have been an opportune time to move the lighthouse, as its foundation was crumbling and coming dangerously close to toppling into the harbour. However, employing 30 men to repair the wharf, the lighthouse remained exactly in the same annoying spot.

Eventually, the lighthouse beacon was discontinued and an electric lightbulb hanging off a pole served as a beacon at the northern end of the pier.

Despite the problems with its location, the Harbourville lighthouse did attract tourists and was a popular centre for taking photos.

Thirty-nine years after the lighthouse was built, the structure was due for new windows and several repairs. Much regret was expressed - but only after it was too late - and the old, familiar landmark was torn down in 1961.