Richelieu River, 124 kilometres in length, links the northern end of Lake Champlain to St. Lawrence River and was an important water route for cross-border trade between Canada and the United States until the advent of railways. To make navigating Richelieu River possible, the nineteen-kilometre-long Chambly Canal was built between Chambly and Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu to bypass a set of rapids. The canal’s nine locks opened in 1843 and are now part of the Lakes to Locks Passage, which connects the St. Lawrence River to the Hudson River. In 1900, 2,841 vessels passed through the canal.

In 1871, the Department of Marine received a memorial from the Board of Trade of Saint-Jean requesting that several lights and buoys be established along the Richelieu River “for the purpose of aiding and assisting the great, inland traffic” that was carried along that waterway. Most of this traffic was lumber from Ottawa. After consulting with Trinity House of Montreal, Peter Mitchell, the Minister of Marine and Fisheries requested $5,000 from Parliament for the construction of eight lights to replace temporary lights that had been maintained on the river at the expense of private individuals.

During the spring of 1873, James Sheridan erected the following lighthouses on the Richelieu River for a contract price of $3,785: two at Half-way Point, two at St. Valentine, and two at Lacolle. In addition to these six lighthouses, temporary lights were maintained at Bloody Island and Ash Island during the 1873 season. The temporary lights at Ash Island and Bloody Island consisted of lanterns set atop a tripod and were kept by Ira Hammond at the rate of $20 per month until permanent structures were built in 1875.

Denis Ménard was appointed keeper of the range lights at North of Halfway Point in 1873 at a salary of $12 per month. He placed the range lights in operation on April 28, 1873. The lights at North of Halfway Point were situated on the south side of Richelieu River, about five miles upstream from Saint-Jean and served to guide mariners between Halfway Point and Ile aux Noir.

In 1884, James Sheridan of Montreal was paid to increase the distance between the range lights and to increase the difference in their heights to make the range more efficient.

Denis Ménard looked after the range lights from 1873 until his death in 1890, when another Denis Ménard, likely the son of the first keeper, was placed in charge of the range lights. Denis Ménard kept the lights until 1903, when he was dismissed and Joseph Lord was made keeper.

In the spring of 1902, ice overturned the front lighthouse of North of Halfway Point Range. A temporary light was exhibited from a lantern hoisted on a pole until July 28, 1902, when the light was again exhibited from the front range tower. As part of the work of restoring the light, a new cribwork pier was built on the edge of the river, 345 feet in front of the old site. In this new location, the front tower was 1,158 feet from the back light. The front tower was decreased in height at this time so it was only thirteen feet high. A. Boivin was paid $708 for this work.

In 1913, the Geographic Board of Canada ruled that North of Halfway Point should be known as Pointe à la Meule, and the name of the range lights were accordingly changed as well. D Ménard was made keeper of North of Halfway Point Range in 1912, replacing Joseph Lord, and starting in 1913, he was listed as keeper of Pointe à la Meule Range.

There is no longer an active set of range lights at Pointe à la Meule.

Keepers: Denis Ménard (1873 – 1890), Denis Ménard (1890 – 1903), Joseph Lord (1903 – 1912), D. Ménard (1912 – at least 1923).

References

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

No range lights exist at this location today.

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