Summer events planned to celebrate West Point lighthouse turning 150 years old

Thinh Nguyen · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 04, 2025 7:00 AM EST | Last Updated: March 4

The West Point lighthouse is turning 150 this summer, and plentifulness of events are planned to people the occasion.

Construction of the chiseled striped square-tapered operation began successful 1875. Since then, the western Prince Edward Island landmark has been featured successful galore tourism promotions arsenic good arsenic connected postage stamps.

Joanne Boulter is portion of the 15-person committee organizing the day celebrations. She is helping enactment unneurotic an creation grounds for the opening time connected June 7, featuring artwork inspired by the iconic lighthouse's history.

"The lighthouse, it's conscionable truthful majestic — like wherever it sits — and it's portion of the community. It's a pride," she told CBC's Island Morning.

The grounds volition beryllium held astatine the West Point Harbourside Centre, and Boulter said preparations are going well.

"Some radical astatine our gathering person miniatures that they did of the lighthouse that they are besides going to bring to the Harbourside," she said. "I person immoderate paintings, immoderate photos. I besides person immoderate wood art. So I privation to get the connection retired and get more."

She encourages anyone with artwork honouring the landmark to scope retired done the West Point Lighthouse Inn and Museum's Facebook page.

Posting 150 days of history

To people the milestone, the lighthouse's Facebook leafage is sharing regular posts highlighting moments from its past and present. By the clip the actual anniversary time arrives, determination volition person been a full of 150 posts celebrating its agelong history.

Standing astatine conscionable implicit 20.6 metres (67 feet, 8 inches) from basal to vane, the West Point lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse connected the Island.

Its archetypal keeper, William Anderson MacDonald, dedicated 50 years to the occupation without taking a azygous time off. One of the societal media posts describes however MacDonald erstwhile walked much than 70 kilometres to the North Cape lighthouse connected the northwestern extremity of the Island to question proposal from its keeper.

"He didn't instrumentality it lightly," Boulter said.

After MacDonald retired successful 1925, Benjamin MacIsaac took implicit arsenic keeper until 1963, erstwhile the lighthouse became automated and nary longer required a full-time keeper.

Over the years, stories person circulated astir the lighthouse being haunted by its erstwhile keepers.

"My ma utilized to unpaid there. And determination was a communicative that she turned the airy retired and went to leave, and past the airy was backmost on," Boulter said.

"So she went backmost successful and turned it off, came backmost retired and went to leave, and the airy was backmost on.

"She decided, if they privation it on, she'll permission it on."

Bringing backmost traditions

The lighthouse has seen changes implicit the years.

It was primitively painted reddish and white, but successful 1915, the reddish stripes were changed to achromatic due to the fact that achromatic was much resistant to fading, Boulter said.

She adds that the tract besides erstwhile had a tiny chowder house, which yet grew into a fashionable restaurant.

In summation to the creation exhibit, this summer's celebrations volition see a meal theatre accumulation called Willie and Bennie: Beacons of Light, which tells the stories of the lighthouse's longest-serving keepers. The accumulation is presently successful development.

Boulter said the committee is besides moving connected bringing backmost summertime festival traditions, including vessel races and fireworks.