Verchères Traverse Lighthouse, Quebec Canada at Lighthousefriends.com

	Verchères Traverse, PQ

Description: Range lights, known as Vercheres Traverse, were established on May 1 1902 to indicate the axis of the ship channel in crossing from the straight cut that then extended between Contrecoeur and Ile aux Prunes to the straight cut that extended between the point above Verchères and Cap St. Michel curve.
The Annual Report of the Department of Marine for 1902 provides the following description of the range lights.
The front light erected on the south shore of the river 8,570 feet N 57° 50' E from Vercheres village church is fixed white catoptric elevated 36 feet above the summer level of the river visible eleven miles in and over a small arc on each side of the line of range and is shown from a square wooden tower with sloping sides surmounted by a square wooden lantern standing upon a cribwork pier.
The pier and tower are white and the lantern roof red; the height of the tower from the pier to the ventilator on the lantern is 23 feet.
The back light distant 1,900 feet N 70° E from the front light is fixed white catoptric elevated 43 feet above the summer level of the river visible twelve miles in and over a small arc on each side of the line of range and is shown from an octagonal wooden lantern built on the summit of the second old stone windmill below Vercheres. The windmill is whitewashed and the lantern is painted white with red roof. The height of the building from the ground to the ventilator on the lantern is 41 feet.

The first keeper of the front light was F. Xav Chicoine, and the first keeper of the rear light was Philèas Charbonneau.

The windmill, the most historic structure in Verchères, was erected between 1710 and 1737. The first recorded documentation of the windmill, built at the request of Jean-Baptiste Jarret, second Lord of Verchères, is in the Feodary Act of 1737 that mentions a "windmill built of stones, making flour...". The structure operated as a mill for over 150 years, but in 1902 it began working as a navigational aid for boats, a function it kept until 1949, when it was acquired by the municipality of Verchères. The communal mill was renovated in 1991 to restore its original purpose, and it is now open to tourists during the summer.

Location: Located at the intersection of Rue St.-Étienne and Rue Madeleine, near the marina in Verchères.
Latitude: 45.778038
Longitude: -73.356608

For a larger map of Verchères Traverse Lighthouse, click the lighthouse in the above map or get a map from: Mapquest.

Travel Instructions: From Autoroute 30, take Exit 147 for Verchères and drive northwest on Montée Calixa Lavallée for 3.4 km (2.1 miles). When the road ends, turn right onto Route Marie Victorin (QC-132) and then make your first left onto Rue Madeleine. The Verchères Traverse Lighthouse (windmill) is found at the end of Rue Madeleine.

Grounds open, tower closed.

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