Cherry Island is a small island located in St. Lawrence River just offshore from Saint-Anicet. In 1847, a lighthouse was built on the island in the form a white, square, wooden tower that stood thirty feet tall and exhibited a fixed, white light at a height of forty feet above the river. Edward S. Johnson was appointed the first keeper of Cherry Island Lighthouse in October of that year.

In 1858, a protection wall was built around the lighthouse, and the following year a dwelling was built for the keeper. An inspection report in 1877 noted that three mammoth, flat-wick lamps, set in sixteen-inch reflectors, were being used in the lantern room to produce the light. At that time, Keeper Johnson had a family of eleven.

In 1883, a new lighthouse was built on Cherry Island as the original one was “past repair.” The new lighthouse was a white, hexagonal, wooden tower that was forty feet tall and was topped by a red lantern room. This new tower was similar to the one built at Tobermory, Ontario two years later. The lightkeeping career of Edward S. Johnson lasted as long as the original lighthouse, as his service also ended in 1883. Isaac Johnson was appointed keeper in 1883, and he served until 1914, when a sixth order lens and a Blaugas installation were placed in the tower and the light was automated.

Blaugas was an artificially produced illuminating gas, similar to propane, that was named after its inventor, Hermann Blau of Augsburg, Germany. Blaugas was manufactured by decomposing mineral oils in retorts with heat and compressing the resulting naphtha until it liquified. The gas was transported in liquid form but would return to its gaseous state when released.

In 1926, the light emitted from Cherry Island Lighthouse was improved through the installation of a third-order lens. There is no longer an active light on Cherry Island.

Keepers: Edward S. Johnson (1847 – 1883), Isaac Johnson (1883 – 1914).

References

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

No light exists on Cherry Island today.

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