Description of Historic Place

Wright's Front Range Light is a 3.7 m (12 ft) high building situated in an open field at Paul's Bluff, just west of Victoria, Prince Edward Island overlooking the Northumberland Strait. Wright's Front Range Light is visible from Victoria's waterfront.

Heritage Value

Wright's Front Range Light is valued for its historic use as navigational aid, its continuing visual presence, and as a symbolic reminder of Victoria's historic role as a marine transportation centre. The two sets of Palmer's and Wright's Range lights were used in conjunction with Leard's Range Lights to chart a safe course for ships to follow into the harbour.

In 1903 the current Wright's Front Range Light was constructed to replace the original 1894 range light structure. Wright's Front Range Light was named for its keeper, Charles L. Wright, who maintained the range light from 1894 to 1935 when care of the light was passed to his son Charles Evan Wright who watched over it until 1959. Due to shoreline erosion, the light was moved in 1986 to its current location. The Front Range Light was deactivated in 2011.

The short wooden tower is unusual in appearance as it is not surmounted by a lantern. The light is visible from the only window in the building which faces seaward. The tower is painted white with a red stripe on the seaward wall. Wright's Front Range Light is simple in design. It has no lantern or gallery and the interior is unfinished.

Wright's Front Range Light was crucial to the navigation of ships carrying visitors and residents and commercial goods into Victoria, which in the early 1900's was, along with Summerside, one of the most important harbours on the southwestern side of Prince Edward Island.

Source : Heritage Places files, Department of Education, Early Learning & Culture, Charlottetown, PE
File #: 4310-20/W14

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of Wright's Front Range Light is shown in the following character-defining elements:

- the overall massing of the building
- the square tapered construction
- the wood shingle cladding, painted white with red trim
- the door and one window on the south elevation
- the shed roofing over the door
- the fixed window with red trim
- the relationship of the lighthouse setting in the village of Victoria and its proximity to the harbour