Newcastle, situated at the mouth of Newcastle Creek on Lake Ontario roughly eighty kilometres east of Toronto, was incorporated as a town in 1856. A private harbour was formed in the town by extending piers out into Lake Ontario from both sides of the mouth of Newcastle Creek.

In 1889, the Department of Marine agreed to furnish a small dioptric illuminating apparatus and oil to the Newcastle harbour authorities who had constructed a “very neat square wooden tower, surmounted by an iron lantern, rising from the roof of the company’s storehouse on the end of the wharf.” The fixed white light was placed in operation at the opening of navigation in 1890 and could be seen for ten miles from all points of approach. The light was elevated twenty-nine feet above the lake and replaced a small temporary light that the harbour authorities had previously maintained.

On March 21, 1913, a powerful storm carried away the outer ninety feet of the 800-foot-long pier on the east side of the harbour along with the lighthouse. By this time the importance of the harbour had waned, and the lighthouse was not replaced.

In 2021, a flashing green light, privately maintained by Newcastle Marina, was being displayed at the end of the western pier from a white cylindrical tower with a green upper portion.

References

1. Annual Report of the Department of Marine, various years.

The modern light can be seen at the end of the western pier at Newcastle.

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