Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue is located on the westernmost point of Montreal Island in Quebec. Just offshore from Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue lies Île Perrot, and branches of Ottawa River flow around both sides of Île Perrot, linking Lake of Two Mountains to the north with Lake Saint-Louis and St. Lawrence River to the south.

A canal and lock to allow mariners to bypass the rapids at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue was completed in 1843. A lock had been built on the west side of Île Perrot in 1816, but that canal was private while Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Canal and its lock were public. A larger lock and canal were completed just east of the original one at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue in 1882, and the original lock was abandoned in 1909.

After the completion of the first Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Canal in 1843, navigation below the canal remained difficult as the channel was winding and shallow. To improve this channel, the Canadian government awarded a contract to Albert Becker Company in 1873 to construct a 1,200-foot-long approach channel that was flanked by two jetties lined with wooden planks. This feature still exists today and is known as Becker Dam.

The Department of Marine had six lighthouses constructed in 1874 along the lower part of Ottawa River, including two to mark Becker Dam, as described in its annual report of that year:

Six beacon light-houses of an inexpensive description were erected in the interests of the steamboat navigation of the Lower Ottawa, at the following points of that river, viz: Two at Caron’s Point, two miles below St. Anne’s, two beacons at St. Anne‘s, and two at St. Placide, about 17 miles further up the river. The beacons are square wooden buildings, and are lighted with lamps and reflectors on the catoptric principle. They were first put in operation on the 27th June last. Mr. Charles Gauthier, on the 1st May last, was placed in charge of the beacons of St. Placide at a yearly salary of $100, but no appointments have been made as yet to the charge of the others; they have been attended to by persons living in the vicinity. The cost of the construction of these beacons, including lighting apparatus, up to 30th June last, amounted to $1,618.20.

The two lights at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue were originally known as St. Ann’s Range Lights and were described as square, wooden buildings, painted brown, that were topped by wooden lantern rooms. A mammoth, flat-wick lamp, set in an eighteen-inch reflector, was used in each lantern room to produce a light with a height of twenty-one feet. Antoine Deschamps appears to have been the first official keeper of the range lights, but then in 1878, Joseph Pilon and A. St. Denis were placed in charge of the lights. This action was reversed after a few months and Keeper Deschamps looked after the lights until 1880. Toussaint de Repentigny was keeper from 1881 until 1901.

The early set of range lights served to guide mariners along the dredged channel for approaching the southern entrance to the canal at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. One of the wooden lighthouses was placed at the northwest end of the piers that protected the channel, while the other was placed at the southeast end of the channel.

After other ranges were established to guide mariners to the lock at Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, the original set of range lights below the lock was renamed Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Traverse. In 1908, the Ste. Anne Lock Range was modified to consist of an anchor lens lantern shown from a mast on the northeast pier of the canal, while the back light was located on the bank of the canal at the Canadian Pacific Railway Bridge, 415 feet from the front light. By 1920, the lock range was known as Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Upper Entrance Range, and a third set of range lights, established in 1912, was known as Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Upper Range.

A red light was exhibited from a white, square, wooden tower placed at the southeast entrance to the lock, and a separate keeper was assigned to look after this light starting in 1907. F.X. Demers was keeper of the lock light from 1907 until 1913.

In 2021, a modern light, known as Pointe de Brucy was exhibited from a skeletal tower at the location of one of the original range lights at the northwest end of the parallel piers near the southern approach to Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. Modern blue lights known as Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue were being exhibited from cylindrical towers near the location of the Upper Entrance Range in 2021.

Keepers (Traverse Range): Antoine Deschamps (at least 1876 – 1878), Joseph Pilon (1878 – 1879), A. St. Denis (1878 – 1879), Antoine Deschamps (1879 – 1880), Toussaint de Repentigny (1881 – 1901), Joseph L. Stocker (1902 – 1913), E. Pilon (1913 – at least 1923).

Keepers (Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Lock Light) : F.X. Demers (1907 – 1913), Charles Duquette (1914 – 1916), S. Briseboise (1917 – at least 1923).

References

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

The modern light is best seen by boat, but a distant view might be possible from the shore in the area.

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