The Department of Marine proposed the construction of a lighthouse on Point Maquereau (Mackrel Point) in its annual report of 1871 to “render navigation of Bay Chaleur easy and safe, both at night and in foggy weather. Point Maquereau is located on the Gaspé Peninsula and together with the northern tip of Miscou Island, where Miscou Island Lighthouse stands, form the narrowest part of the entrance to Chaleur Bay.

In 1872, contracts were awarded for the construction of lighthouses at both Point Maquereau and at Cap d’Espoir to mark the northern entrance to Chaleur Bay. The Annual Report of the Department of Marine of 1874 provides the following description of Point Maquereau Lighthouse:

A new lighthouse was erected during the past season at Point Maquereau, on the dividing line between the Counties of Bonaventure and Gaspe, near the entrance to the Bay of Chaleurs, and the light put in operation on the 15th August last. The light is a red and white revolving one, on the catoptric principle, making a complete revolution in two minutes, and will probably be seen at a distance of from twelve to eighteen miles. The tower is a square wooden building, 27 feet high, painted white. The cost of construction up to the 30th June last was $4,480.36. Mr. Alexander Brotherton was appointed keeper of this light on the 18th October, 1873, at a salary of $300 per annum.

An additional $655 was expended on Point Maquereau Lighhtouse in 1875, making the total cost for its construction $5,135.36. When supplies were landed at the lighthouse in 1876, Keeper Brotherton was given a Babcock fire extinguisher and one box of charges to protect the station, and he was taught how to use them.

Revolving lights could be difficult to maintain due to the moving parts. The apparatus at Point Maquereau had four No. 1 circular-wick lamps that were set in twenty-inch reflectors. In 1877, William Barbour, the engineer for the Department of Marine in Quebec, was sent to Point Maquereau Lighthouse to determine why the light had stopped revolving. He found that Keeper Brotherton had filed the thread of the regulating spindle causing it to jam in the wheel. Barbour installed a new spindle, overhauled the gear, and returned the machinery to good working order.

In 1896, a local mason repaired the foundation of the tower, which was in bad order. Additional work carried out that year included ceiling two rooms and renewing the flooring in the kitchen and the passageway. The following year, Keeper Auguste Bertrand, who had replaced Keeper Brotherton in 1877, was given $73 to hire help to remove stones and trees and repair bridges to improve the roadway that led to the lighthouse. In 1900, H. H. Robichaud, of L'Anse aux Griffons was paid $100 to drill a well at the lighthouse as there had been much difficulty in carting the necessary water to the lighthouse.

On August 30, 1905, fire destroyed Point Maquereau Lighthouse. A temporary light was shown from a lantern hoisted on a mast as soon as possible, and a contract for a new and improved lighthouse and a keeper’s dwelling was let. The following description of the replacement lighthouse comes from the Annual Report of the Department of Marine for 1906:

A lighthouse tower was erected on Macquereau point, on the site of the old lighthouse destroyed by fire on August 30, 1905. The tower is an octagonal wooden building, with sloping sides, painted white, surmounted by a circular iron lantern, painted red, and is 51 feet high from its base to the vane on the lantern. The light is a triple flashing white light, which shows groups of three bright flashes with intervals of 2 ½ seconds between flashes, followed by an eclipse of 10 seconds. The light is elevated 62 feet above high water mark, and is visible 13 miles from all points of approach by water. The illuminating apparatus is dioptric of the third order, and the illuminant petroleum vapour burned under an incandescent mantle.

A rectangular wooden dwelling, painted white, was erected near the lighthouse tower; a shelter shed was also built; and repairs made to the road. The tower and dwelling were erected under contract by Mr. John Landry, of, Gascons, Que., for $3,800; the total cost of the work being $4,545.05.

Barbier, Benard & Turenne of Paris, France supplied the triple-flashing, third-order lens used in the new lighthouse. The new light was placed in operation on August 5, 1906.

The wooden, octagonal lighthouse remained standing through at least 1964, but a red-and-white, square, skeletal tower that stood fifty-one feet high later replaced it. Light Lists show that the skeletal tower was on the point through at least 2011, but there is no light there today.

Keepers: Alexander Brotherton (1874 – 1877), Auguste Bertrand (1877 – 1914), Mrs. M.A. Bertrand (1914), J. Bertrand (1915 – 1918), A. Beaudin (1918 – 1926), J. Fullum (1926 – 1928), Joseph E. Sweeney (1928 – at least 1937).

References

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

No light exists at this location today.

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