Other Name(s)
Palmers Rear Range Light
Leards Range Front Lighthouse
Victoria Seaport Museum
Links and documents
Construction Date(s)
1879/01/01
Listed on the Canadian Register:
2012/11/09
Statement of Significance
Description of Historic Place
The Leards Range Front Lighthouse is a 35' square pyramidal tower with a flared cornice, topped with a lantern and platform, located on the edge of the village of Victoria, Prince Edward Island overlooking its harbour and the Northumberland Strait.
Heritage Value
The Leards Range Front Lighthouse is valued for its age, construction method, its associations with the marine and navigational history of the area, and its importance to its community as a cultural destination and visual landmark.
Land for the Leards Range Front Lighthouse was purchased from Donald W. Palmer in 1879 and construction began that year. James Barclay was hired to build the structure to a Department of Marine and Fisheries design. The lighthouse is rare in that it houses two lights - Leards Range Front and the Palmer Range Rear. Victoria Harbour, or Crapaud Harbour, as it was once known, has three pairs of range lights: Leards, Palmers and Wrights. After Summerside, Victoria was the most important harbour on the southwestern side of Prince Edward Island with daily steamer service from Charlottetown for many years.
The Leards Range lights were established following a number of years of makeshift lights on poles or masts, sometimes attached to homes, or, from the window of a residence, to guide marine traffic.
During the summer months, Leards Range Front Lighthouse is operated as the Victoria Seaport Museum and interprets the marine history of the village. Leards Range Front Lighthouse continues to be an important cultural destination and visual landmark in its community.
Source : Culture and Heritage Division, Department of Tourism and Culture, Charlottetown, PEI
File #: 4320-20/L2
Character-Defining Elements
The heritage value of the lighthouse is shown in the following character-defining elements:
- the overall massing of the building
- the square tapered tower
- the flared cornice
- the cedar shingle cladding, painted white with red trim
- the placement of the projecting pedimented door
- the lantern platform with railing
- the lantern housing
- the size and placement of the sash windows
- the window trim
- the relationship of the lighthouse setting in the village of Victoria and proximity to the harbour
Recognition
Jurisdiction
Prince Edward Island
Recognition Authority
Province of Prince Edward Island
Recognition Statute
Heritage Places Protection Act
Recognition Type
Designated Historic Place
Recognition Date
2012/10/03
Historical Information
Significant Date(s)
n/a
Theme - Category and Type
- Expressing Intellectual and Cultural Life
- Architecture and Design
- Developing Economies
- Communications and Transportation
Function - Category and Type
Current
- Leisure
- Museum
Historic
- Transport-Water
- Navigational Aid or Lighthouse
Architect / Designer
Department of Marine and Fisheries
Builder
James Barclay
Additional Information
Location of Supporting Documentation
Source : Culture and Heritage Division, Department of Tourism and Culture, Charlottetown, PEI
File #: 4320-20/L2
Cross-Reference to Collection
Fed/Prov/Terr Identifier
4320-20/L2
Status
Published
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Wright's Back Range Light
Wright's Back Range Light is a square tapered tower reaching a height of 9.8 m or 32' situated on Birch Point, which overlooks Paul's Bluff and the Northumberland Strait just…