Hampton Lighthouse with pier Photograph courtesy Nova Scotia Archives and Records

Hampton Lighthouse is a white wooden pepper-shaker tower standing 10.1 meters tall and topped with a red roof. The tower was built in 1911 by Joseph Marshall under a contract to J. F. Titus for $585. An additional sum of $89 was spent for inspection fees and for the purchase of the site from Lloyd Brooks. Herbert Foster was hired as the first keeper of the lighthouse at an annual salary of $180, and he looked after the lighthouse until at least 1923. As no dwelling was associated with the lighthouse, the keepers lived in their own homes in the village.

The original sixth-order lens remains in place atop the lighthouse. A kerosene lamp, which had to be lit at dusk each evening and extinguished at dawn, was the light source until the light was electrified in the 1940s.

The lighthouse overlooks picturesque Chute Cove where, depending on the tide, vessels bob lazily on the water or rest on the gravel bottom. The surrounding evergreens have matured until they virtually obscure the light from the water.

In 2001, ownership of Hampton Lighthouse was transferred from the Department of Fisheries and Oceans to the Hampton Lighthouse Society. This was just the second lighthouse in Canada to be transferred under the 96-1 Directive (Cape Forchu was the first), and the first to be transferred to a non-profit organization. On November 15, 2007, Hampton Lighthouse was designated a Provincial Heritage Property which ensures the lighthouse will not be structurally modified and also helps in obtaining funding. The name of the organization was changed to the Hampton Lighthouse and Historical Society in 2008 to better reflect its mission.

Keepers: Herbert Foster (1911 – at least 1923), Vernon Dunn (1920s – 1950s), Claude Hamilton ( – 1957), Frank Copley (1957 – ).

References

1. Annual Report of the Department of Marine and Fisheries, various years.
2. Lighthouses & Lights of Nova Scotia, E.H. Rip Irwin, 2003.

Turn off Highway 101 at Exit 20 and continue west on Route 1 for 1.8 km (1.1 miles) to Church Street in Bridgetown. Turn right onto Church Street, which turns into Hampton Mountain Road, and continue for 9.4 km (5.9 miles) to a stop sign. Turn left onto Shore Road, drive for 0.9 km (0.6 miles), and then make a right turn onto Hampton Wharf Road. You will find Hampton Lighthouse on the right after 0.3 km (0.2 miles). Parking is at the base of the hill adjacent to the wharf.

Hampton Lighthouse and Historical Society opens the lighthouse from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays from July through mid-September.

The lighthouse is owned by Hampton Lighthouse and Historical Society. Grounds/tower open.

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