Newport Point is situated on the Chaleur Bay, between Newport to the south and Chandler to the north. In 1895, the Department of Marine had a lighthouse constructed at Newport Point as described in its annual report for that year:

A new lighthouse was erected on Newport Point, on the Chaleurs Bay, coast of Gaspe, and put in operation for the first time on the 18th September, 1895. The lighthouse is a square, wooden, pyramidal building, painted white, surmounted by a square wooden lantern, and is 27 feet in height, from its base to the vane on the lantern. It stands on the bare rock in the middle of an island off the extremity of the point.

The light is fixed white, elevated 36 feet above high water mark and should be visible 12 miles from all points of approach seaward. The illuminating apparatus consists of a single lamp, strengthened by a pressed glass lens.

Tenders had been called for the erection of this lighthouse, but the lowest received amounted to $825.00; the department considering this price altogether too high, had the tower erected by days’ labour, the work being put in charge of Mr. Chisholm, a carpenter from Nova Scotia agency previously employed in similar work, who had the structure built at a cost of $294.57.

James Jessup served as the first keeper of the lighthouse. Solomon Grenier took charge of the lighthouse in 1897 and served until 1912. In 1898, Keeper Grenier was give a hand-operated foghorn that he was to use to answer signals from passing vessels. The wooden tower was still in use in 1955, but by 1959 an Aluminum-colored, skeletal, steel, tower that was twenty-five feet tall and showed a flashing white light and replaced it and the light was made unattended. Around 1950, a set of range lights were also established at Newport Point to guide mariners into the harbour. In 2021, modern lights marked Newport Point and also served as a range for the harbour.

Keepers: James Jessup (1895 – 1897), Solomon Grenier (1897 – 1912), A. David (1912 – 1920), J. Grenier (1920 – at least 1923).

References

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

Modern lights mark Newport Point today.

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