Canada's lighthouses: They saved us, now it's time we save them
A former lightkeeper shares concerns over the state of Nova Scotia's lighthouses
Canada’s oldest operating lighthouse, the Sambro Lighthouse, is now easier to get to by boat thanks to retired Sambro fisherman Dennis Garrison.
He recently began offering tours with Crystal Crescent Charters that would allow people to disembark on the island to see the lighthouse, built in 1758, up close.
The Sambro Island Lighthouse Heritage Society was formed 10 years ago in 2014 to save it from being left to rot.
The Sambro Lighthouse is the oldest standing and operating lighthouse in the Americas. (Photo: Nathan Coleman/The Weather Network)
“When you step foot on this island, you can almost feel the broad sense of history,” Sambro Island Lighthouse Heritage Society President Stephanie Smith tells The Weather Network.
Her great-great grandfather was the third lightkeeper here, and her great-grandfather followed in his footsteps.
The Sambro Lighthouse has stood guard off Halifax for over 265 years. (Photo: Nathan Coleman/The Weather Network)
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Smith started a petition back in 2014 requesting the federal government continue to maintain it and secured 1.5 million dollars in funding for the cause. It continues to be maintained by DFO to this day.
“It really has been a success. This lighthouse has been saved,” she says.
While the Sambro Lighthouse has been a success story, former lightkeeper Chris Mills says 75 per cent of the roughly 160 lighthouses in Nova Scotia are in a really precarious position right now.
“The term we use is demolition by neglect. They have not been maintained, and then it reaches a point that they’re not safe to reenter into service. They’re being replaced by skeleton towers, and the lights are being literally left to fall down,” Mills tells The Weather Network.
Smith was himself a lightkeeper for 9 years, but it's now been over 30 years since the last staffed lighthouse in Nova Scotia closed in 1993—the Yarmouth light in Cape Forchu.
More information on the Sambro Lighthouse can be found here. (Photo: Nathan Coleman/The Weather Network)
“One of the really important things we did as lightkeepers was observe the weather and report weather to local fishermen who would call us on the radio so we were always there, always on scene. We were able to provide them with information that no one else could as accurately as we could,” says Smith.
While advances in GPS and radar have made the physical structures less relevant as they once were, Mills and the Nova Scotia lighthouse preservation society hope more will be done to keep lesser-known and remote lighthouses standing.
The best part about being a lightkeeper?
“The view of the sea every day. The parade of wildlife, whales, seals, seabirds, storms, the sunsets, the sunrises," says Smith.
You can see the full story in the video above.
