Ontario's Provincial Plaques

Here's where you can learn a little Ontario history.

Port Burwell Lighthouse 1840

Photo by Alan L Brown - August 28, 2004

Photo by Alan L Brown - August 28, 2004

Plaque Location

The County of Elgin
The Municipality of Bayham
In Port Burwell, at the lighthouse on County Road 19, 1 block south of County Road 42

Plaque Text

The Port Burwell lighthouse was constructed in 1840. It was part of a national network of light stations equipped with beacon lights to warn or guide ships at sea. The Port Burwell light was used to aid navigation and commercial shipping of local timber on Lake Erie. The octagonal, tapered tower is 13.7 metres high but, because of its location on a hilltop, the lantern is 29.3 metres above the water. Its fixed, white light was visible for 19 kilometres. For over 100 years the Sutherland family kept the light, until it closed in 1962 when the Canadian Coast Guard began decommissioning light stations. In 1965, the Village of Port Burwell acquired the structure. It is the oldest wooden lighthouse on the Canadian shore of Lake Erie and one of the oldest surviving lights in Canada.

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