Digest>Archives> Sep/Oct 2017

Swift Point Lighthouse Destroyed

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Photo by: Kelley Anne Loughery

The 1896 Swift Point Lighthouse on the St. Johns River in New Brunswick, Canada was destroyed by a fire this past June.

The fire was noticed by local residents of Millidgeville at about 10pm in the evening. Because of the remote location, by the time the fire fighters, who had to haul their gear by foot to the lighthouse, arrived at the lighthouse, the structure had collapsed.

Because of its location the lighthouse is also known as the Green Head Lighthouse. The cause of the mysterious fire is unknown, but it was likely caused by vandals. It the past, the lighthouse had been vandalized so many times that the Canadian Coast Guard finally just left the door open so vandals would not continue to cause damage by breaking in. The design was such that it was just an open space on the ground level with no stairs or ladder to access the levels above.

The Swift Point Lighthouse was one of six original lighthouse sites built on the St. Johns River and it was one of the oldest still remaining on the river. It was still an active aid to navigation. In 1914, a fog bell tower was erected at the site, but it had been removed a number of years ago.

This story appeared in the Sep/Oct 2017 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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