Maria is a community in Quebec located on Cascapedia Bay, off of Chaleur Bay. Cascapedia Bay flows into the head of the bay, but is difficult to enter by boat due to extensive shoals of sand and mud near its entrance. Maria is situated roughly five kilometres west of the river entrance. In the early 1900s, Maria was described as a large and prosperous village with a railroad station, post and telegraph offices, and a 1,342-foot-long pier with a depth of five feet at low water at its outer end.

In 1914, L. Le Blanc of Carleton was contracted to build a wooden, enclosed tower on the outer end of the wharf at Maria. He received $190 for his work, while the lighting apparatus, inspection, and incidental expenses cost $223.71.

The following Notice to Mariners publicized the establishment of the new light:

Chaleur Bay – Cascapediac Bay – Maria – Light Established on Wharf

Position – Outer end of Government wharf at Maria.

Character – Fixed white light.

Elevation – 27 feet.

Visibility – 10 miles from all points of approach by water.

Order – Sixth dioptric.

Structure – Enclosed tower, square in plan, with sloping sides; square lantern.

Material – Wood.

Colour – White.

Height – 28 feet, from the top of the wharf to the top of the ventilator on the lantern.

Elz. Loubert was hired as the first keeper of the light and served through at least 1923. According to the St. Lawrence Pilot published in 1925, a storm destroyed the outer end of the wharf and carried away the lighthouse. A provisional fixed white light exhibited from the pole was established after the loss of the lighthouse. Light Lists for 1925 through 1932 indicate the provisional pole light was still in use, but the 1933 Light List shows that a white, square wooden, tower again marked the wharf. The tower on Maria Wharf appeared in the 1950 Light List, but was absent from subsequent Light Lists. Today, there is no navigational light at Maria and only remnants of the wharf remain.

Elz. Loubert (1914 – 1923).

References

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

No light exists at this location today.

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