Spencer Point is situated on Cobequid Bay, the easternmost part of Minas Basin, at the west side of the entrance to Great Village River. Spencer Point was used as a gathering spot for residents of nearby Great Village during the summer, and it was also home to the Spencer family. In 1863, the government placed a cupola on William Spencer’s house at a cost of $164.21 for displaying a light, and this light was placed in operation on July 4, 1863. William Spencer was paid $50 annually to keep the light, and he served until his death in December 1869.

Robert A. Spencer, William’s son, was appointed keeper on April 5, 1870 at an annual salary of $100. Robert Spencer served as keeper for nearly fifty years. In 1919, his daughter Annie replaced him as the official keeper.

In 1874, three lamps were being used atop the dwelling: two A lamps, set in twelve-inch reflectors, and a third lamp without a reflector. These lamps consumed about 100 gallons each year, with the oil being stored in two tanks. In 1877, the lantern room on the Spencer’s dwelling was described as having eight sides and a diameter of four-and-a-half feet. Three of the sides of the lantern room were dark, while glass, measuring twenty-two by twenty-three inches, was used in the other five sides. The Spencer’s house was a rectangular, wooden dwelling, situated at the southeast extremity of the point, and the light was displayed at a height of twenty feet during the navigation season.

In 1915, Spencer Point Light was improved through the substitution of a fifth-order lens for the catoptric apparatus formerly used.

The kerosene lights were replaced with electric lights in 1950, when electricity was finally extended to the Spencer’s Point area. The light was decommissioned about 1965, when the local salmon fishery collapsed and the lighthouse was no longer needed. The Spencer’s House fell over the eroding bluff in a winter storm in early 1972.

Keepers: William Spencer (1863 – 1869), Robert A. Spencer (1870 – 1919), Annie J. Spencer (1919 – at least 1923).

References

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

No light exists at this location today.

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