Lake Memphremagog is a fifty-five-kilometre-long fresh water glacial lake that straddles the international border between Vermont and Quebec. Seventy-three percent of its surface area is in Quebec, but the majority of the lake’s watershed is in Vermont. The lake has twenty-one islands and drains into Magog River in Quebec.

Lake Memphremagog lies within the territory that was inhabited by the Abenaki tribe, and its name is derived from the Algonkian word Mamlawbagak, which means “a long and large sheet of water.”

Newport, Vermont is situated on the southern end of the lake, while Magog, Quebec is located at the northern end of the lake, where it empties into Magog River.

In 1878, the Department of Marine had five small lighthouses built to improve navigation on Lake Memphremagog. The following information on these towers is from the Annual Report of the Department of Marine for 1878:

An appropriation was made by Parliament at its last session of $1,000 for the erection of five small beacon light towers on Lake Memphremagog, and tenders were invited and the contract for the construction of these lights was awarded to Mr. Nathan A. Beach, of Georgeville, for $975. The towers have been built to the satisfaction of the Department, and the lights were shown for the first time in September last. Temporary keepers were employed to attend to them during the balance of the season, and were allowed remuneration for their services at the rate of one dollar per week during the time the lights were in operation.

Another light was also established in 1878 in the form of a lantern on a pole that was shown from Witch Island, just south of the railway wharf at Magog. This light was not under the control of the Department of Marine. In 1882, the Department of Marine contracted J.E. Davidson of Georgeville to build a pier and lighthouse on a shoal near Witch Island for $500. This new light, which was placed in operation at the opening of navigation in 1883, was in the form of a twenty-one-foot-tall, square, pyramidal tower that displayed a fixed white dioptric light. The light could be seen in clear weather for roughly fourteen kilometres from all points of approach except westward.

In the spring of 1900, ice carried away the lighthouse at Witch Shoal, but that same summer a new tower was built that was twenty-three feet tall. The illuminating apparatus in the new lighthouse was a seventh-order lens. D. Mullins of Magog built the new lighthouse at a cost of $420.

J.E. Peters was responsible for Witch Shoal Lighthouse from 1883 until 1919, when C.H. Cavell assumed responsibility for the light.

Light Lists indicate that a square wooden tower was on the shoal near Witch Island through at least 1949. Today, a red mast with an orange rectangular daymark displays a flashing red light during the navigation season. This light is known as Old Witch Shoal.

Keepers: W. Sheppard (1881 – 1882), D.E. Peters (1883 – 1919), C.H. Cavell (1919 – at least 1923).

References

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

A modern mast light is exhibited on the shoal today.

Find the closest hotels to Witch Shoal Lighthouse