The Department of Marine and Fisheries erected a new pair of range lights and included the following description of them in its annual report.

The range lights in Cascumpeque Harbour, on the north of Gulf of St. Lawrence coast of Prince Edward Island, which had been temporarily discontinued and again put in operation on the 15th June, 1897, and which will hereafter be known as the Northport range lights, have been improved by substituting for the masts heretofore used open skeleton lighthouse towers, and by changing their position, to give a better lead through the existing channel.

Each tower is an open framed wooden building surmounted by a square wooden lantern and has its side facing the channel slatted to make it more conspicuous as a leading mark. The whole building is painted white. The lights are as heretofore fixed red and should be visible three miles over a small arc on each side of the line of range.

The front range tower stands on the bank 990 feet W. ¼ N. from the position formerly occupied by the front range mast near the outer end of the Queen’s Wharf. It is 29 feet high from the ground to the vane on the lantern. The light is elevated 31 feet above high water mark.

The back range stands 1125 feet W. ¼ N. from the front one, it is 41 feet high and the light is elevated 42 feet high above high water mark.

Two additional range lights have been established on Savage Island, inside the sand hills on the south side of Cascumpeque Harbour . The lights are fixed white catoptric lights, shown from lanterns hoisted on masts, with a small hut at the base and a diamond shaped day beacon at the head of each mast, the whole structure painted white.

Vessels entering Cascumpeque Harbour keep the Savage Island range lights in one until the Northport range, being careful not to overrun the line of range, as the channel at the point of intersection is narrow and the tide strong.

The Northport range leads in to the wharf clear of all obstructions.

In 1903, the towers which formed the Northport Range were enclosed and painted white. A new front range light was installed in 1962, and the structure formerly used for the front light took the place of the rear tower. The former rear range tower was sold and incorporated into a dwelling. The height of the rear range tower was increased by 1.8 m (6 feet) in 1970, which resulted in the structure having its unique long neck.

William Champion served as keeper of the Northport Range Lights from October 25, 1897 until at least 1905.

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References

1. Annual Report of the Department of Marine and Fisheries, various years.
2. Sessional Papers of the Dominion of Canada, various years.
3. Binder on the Lighthouses of Prince Edward Island, Carol Livingstone, 2002.