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The Panmure Head Lighthouse is exceptionally well built and over the years has required no major repairs, a tribute to its good

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 16, 2019

2. Panmure Head Lighthouse (west elevation)

The marker is mounted near the lighthouse entrance.

craftsmanship and materials. The excellent functional design of its structure is reflected in its heavy timber-frame construction on a stone foundation. The Panmure Head Lighthouse establishes the picturesque maritime character of the region, fitting comfortably in its surrounding marine and agricultural environment. As the tallest built structure visible from the water, it exhibits a certain domestic charm. The lighthouse is well known to local residents and visitors, as it still serves its original purpose as a navigational aid for recreational, fishing, and commercial traffic.

The following character-defining elements of the Panmure Head Lighthouse should be respected: its location at the north end of a sandy beach on Panmure Island; its intact, as-built structural form, height, profile, and balanced proportions based on the standard design of octagonal, tapered, wooden towers; its octagonal cast-iron lantern; its platform supported by scrolled brackets and surrounded by a metal railing; its tall octagonal wood-frame tower with tapered sides and a corbelled cornice; its six-over-six multi-paned windows; its sole entry doorway with red asphalt shingles pediment; its exterior walls covered with shingles; its simple interior layout with wooden ladder-type stairs; its traditional red and white exterior colour scheme, consisting of a white tower and gallery, with red features such as the trim of the door and windows, the railing of the gallery, the lantern, and the roof; and, its visual prominence in relation to the water and landscape.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 16, 2019

3. Panmure Head Lighthouse (southeast elevation)

Excerpt:  The Panmure Head Lighthouse is a 58 foot octagonal, tapered, wooden tower surmounted by a twelve-sided, cast-iron lantern. It is located at the north end of a sandy beach on Panmure Island and marks the entrance to Georgetown Harbour on the east coast of Prince Edward Island.

The Panmure Head Lighthouse is an excellent example of the development of marine aids to navigation along Canada’s coastal and inland waterways. Constructed in 1853, it was the second lighthouse built in Prince Edward Island. The lighthouse guides ships into Georgetown Harbour and keeps them clear of the dangerous Bear Reef to the south.

The Panmure Head Lighthouse is an excellent example of the socio-economic development of the nearby coastal communities of Georgetown and Montague, which were shipbuilding and commercial centres. The lighthouse supported fishing boats, steamers, and schooners serving these communities and the surrounding region. It also serves cruise ships heading towards the St. Lawrence, oil tankers servicing P.E.I. ports like Charlottetown, lobster and other fishing boats, as well as recreational traffic in the local area known as Three Rivers.

Excerpt:  A petition by several inhabitants of King’s County was presented to the House of Assembly of Prince Edward Island in 1849 noting the large number of vessels that frequented Georgetown Harbour and the great risk and loss to such shipping caused by the absence of a lighthouse near Georgetown. After a similar petition was presented to the House of Assembly the following two years, a special committee recommended that the Lieutenant Governor procure the requisite plans and estimates in 1851. The Lieutenant Governor requested that Captain Henry W. Bayfield, who was surveying the Gulf of St. Lawrence, give his opinion on the best location for a lighthouse near Georgetown. Captain Bayfield’s response included the following: “A light properly placed on Panmure Point, the north east extremity of Panmure Island, would answer the double purpose of leading into the Harbour of Georgetown, and of guiding vessels clear of the dangerous Bear Reef; whilst its disappearance behind Boughton Island would, in like manner, be a guide to vessels all along the coast, far up towards the East Point; it would thus be far more useful as a Coast Light than it would be if placed on Boughton Island.”