File:Coldspring Head Lighthouse.jpg

Coldspring Head Lighthouse.

The tower was built at a cost of $894 under contract to J. Harvey Brownell, who also began serving as the first keeper of the light on April 12, 1890. After just thirteen months at the post, Harvey resigned, and was replaced by his relative Alfred Brownell.

At the time the Coldspring Head Lighthouse was under construction work was well underway on the Chignecto Ship Railway, which was designed to haul ships on a railroad between Fort Lawrence on the Bay of Fundy and Tidnish on the Northumberland Strait. This seventeen-mile-long shortcut was designed to reduce the journey between the St. Lawrence and New England by several hundred miles, as vessels would not need to sail around the Atlantic Ocean side of Nova Scotia.

Work on the railroad began in October of 1888, but was never completed due to the 1890 collapse of Baring Brothers and Company, the London bank backing the project. When work halted, three-quarters of the project was complete, including the docks at Fort Lawrence and Tidnish, and thirteen of the seventeen miles of track. The failure to finish the project certainly diminished the amount of marine traffic that would otherwise have used Baie Verte.

Location: 100 feet from shore, north side of head Standing: This light is still standing. Operating: This light is operational Automated: All operating lights in Nova Scotia are automated. Date Automated: Automated by 1980 Began: 1890 Year Lit: 1890 Structure Type: Tapered Square wood tower, white, red lantern Light Characteristic: Flashing White (1992) Tower Height: 036ft feet high. Light Height: 060ft feet above water level.

Information from: www.nslps.com/index.aspx