In 1884, Parliament made an appropriation for the establishment of ranges lights to mark Orleans Channel, the channel on the north side of Île de Orleans, and that same year work began on three sets of range lights: one on the mainland near Ange-Gardien, and two on Île de Orleans at Sainte-Famille and Sainte-Pierre. Messrs. Nesbit and Auger, of Quebec, carried out the contract for the lights for $936, and the three ranges were placed in operation in 1885.

Original Ange Gardien Front Range Light Photograph courtesy Library and Archives Canada

An enclosed tower and a pole light were originally employed at each of the three ranges. At Ange Gardien Range and Sainte-Pierre, the enclosed tower housed the front light and the rear light was displayed from a pole, while the opposite was true at Sainte-Famille Range.

By 1917, when the following description of the Ange Gardien Range Lights appeared in the U.S Hydrographic Office’s The Gulf and River St. Lawrence, the rear light at Ange Gardien Range was also being displayed from an enclosed tower:

A square white lighthouse, with a red roof, 23 feet high, on the beach between l’Ange Gardien village and Montmorency Falls, on the mainland, northwestern shore, exhibits, at 20 feet above high water, a fixed white light that should be seen, in clear weather, a distance of 9 miles.

A square white lighthouse, with a red roof, 21 feet high, situated 26°, 473 yards from the preceding lighthouse, exhibits, at 33 feet above high water, a fixed white light that should be seen, in clear weather, a distance of 11 miles.

These lights in line 26° lead clear of all obstructions from intersection with Ste. Famille range to junction of Orleans channel with South channel opposite west point of Orelans island.

Ambroise Trudelle and Joseph Huot were hired as the first keepers of the Ange Gardien Range Lights, and each earned an annual salary of seventy dollars.

The lights of Ange Gardien Range were changed from fixed white to fixed green in 1951 or 1952, and at this time the original towers were still in use. By 1994, forty-four-foot-tall, square, skeletal towers had been erected for exhibiting the range lights, and similar structures remain in use today. The characteristic of the lights remains fixed green.

Keepers:

• Front: Ambroise Trudelle (1885 – 1902), Francois Gagné (1902 – 1909), Jean Gagné (1909 – 1911), John Gagné (1912), Frs. Doyon (1912 – at least 1923).
• Back: Joseph Huot (1885 – 1902), Olivier Paré (1902 – 1912), P. Vezina (1912 – at least 1923).

References

1. Annual Report of the Department of Marine, various years.

The front range light can be seen behind the car dealership at 5620 Boulevard Sainte-Anne (QC-138), while the rear light can be seen near 5777 Rue Dugal. Rue Dugal runs parallel to QC-138 on its northern side.

The range lights are owned by the Canadian Coast Guard. Grounds/towers closed.

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