L'Anse-Saint-Jean, French for "The Cove of Saint John," is a village on the Saguenay River that was founded in 1838 by the Société des Vingt-et-un, a group of lumber prospectors and investors from Charlevoix which was responsible for opening up the Saguenay region to colonization. The government of the Province of Quebec commenced work on a pier at Anse St. Jean in 1875, and the Dominion Government completed the pier in 1882. The following description of the settlement is from the 1917 edition of the St. Lawrence Pilot: the Gulf and River St. Lawrence:

Anse St. Jean, on the southern shore and 22 miles up the Saguenay, is 1 ¾ miles wide and 1 ½ miles deep; there is a small islet off its northwestern point. St. Jean River and several small streams enter at its head. There is good anchorage for several vessels in 8 to 40 fathoms water, mud bottom, off these streams and along the edge of the bank, which dries out a quarter of a mile from the shore. A small village with a church stands on the southern shore; it has a telegraph office, and there is a prominent waterfall on the western side of this bay. There is a pier 366 feet long which has a depth of 7 ½ feet water at its outer end, on the southern shore.

Light – A fixed red light is shown from a lantern on the roof of the freight shed at the outer end of the pier in St. Jean Bay. Visible 6 miles.

In 1907, mariners were notified that the colour of the light at Anse St. Jean was being changed from fixed white to fixed red. The fixed red light was to be exhibited from a small hexagonal lantern on top of the freight shed. Prior to this time, the light was shown from the top of a brown mast near the freight shed.

F Lavoie was hired as keeper of the wharf light at Anse St. Jean in 1889. He served until 1915, when E. Lavoie took charge of the light. In 1929, the keeper was provided a hand-operated foghorn to sound.

The light atop the shed on the wharf was in use as late as 1960. The wharf still had a light in 1995, but there is no light marking the wharf today.

Keepers: F. Lavoie (1889 – 1915), E. Lavoie (1915 – at least 1923).

References

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

No light exists at this location today.

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