Lighthouse DSC01066 - Peggy's Cove Lighthouse (7612052968)

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In the summer months it is almost impossible to get picture here without people everywhere. Tourists from bus tours and cruise ships that come to Halifax are the main reason, but it is also a very popular spot by the local people as it is only a short ride from the city and has cool breezes in the summer.

The is without a doubt the most well known lighthouse in Canada and one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world, the history of the light at Peggy's Cove is little known. Various versions account for the name. Peggy is the nickname for Margaret and the community may have acquired the name from nearby Saint Margaret's Bay, especially as the point marks the eastern entrance to the bay. Other accounts suggest Peggy was an early settler. A popular romantic version says a woman named Peggy was the only survivor of a shipwreck and there are even American families that claim descent from the shipwrecked Peggy.

It was decided to erect a light to mark the eastern entrance to St. Margaret's Bay in 1868. While best known as "the Peggy's Cove Lighthouse", it was and remains, officially know as the Peggy's Point Lighthouse as its purpose is to mark the point, not the cove. The cove has its own small light on the government wharf. The first lighthouse was a wooden tower, built atop a keeper's dwelling at the point. It was a red light and used a catoptric reflector (a round silver-plated mirror) to magnify the kerosene oil lamp. The wooden tower, built atop a keeper's dwelling was replaced by the present tower in 1915, a pleasing and stout concrete octagon 15.24 meters (50ft) west of the original light. The keeper's dwelling remained for many years nearby as did a tall flagpole displaying coded black cones and balls to warn of bad weather approaching. The new lighthouse showed a white light from a dioptric lens, a series of glass prisms, to magnify the light. Several colour and character changes followed, the most recent being the change from white to green and then to red.

Body of Water: St. Margaret's Bay

Region: South Shore

Scenic Drive: Lighthouse Route

Began and Lit: 1915

Structure Type: Octagonal concrete tower, white, red lantern

Tower Height: 15.24 meters (50ft)

Height Above Water: 20.42 meters (67ft)