In 1884, Parliament made an appropriation for the establishment of ranges lights to mark Orleans Channel, the channel on the north side of Île de Orleans, and that same year work began on three sets of range lights: one on the mainland near Ange-Gardien, and two on Île de Orleans at Sainte-Famille and Saint-Pierre. Messrs. Nesbit and Auger, of Quebec, carried out the contract for the lights for $936, and the three ranges were placed in operation in 1885.

An enclosed tower and a pole light were originally employed at each of the three ranges. At Ange Gardien Range and Saint-Pierre, the enclosed tower housed the front light and the rear light was displayed from a pole, while the opposite was true at Sainte-Famille Range.

In 1908, the following description of Point St. Pierre Range Lights appeared in the U.S Hydrographic Office’s The Gulf and River St. Lawrence:

Point St. Pierre – A square white lighthouse, with a red roof, 23 feet high, on point St. Pierre, and close to the high-water mark, exhibits, at 20 feet above high water, a fixed white light that should be seen, in clear weather, a distance of 9 miles.

A mast 50 feet high, with a white shed having a red roof, at its base, and situated 218°, 180 yards from the preceding lighthouse, exhibits, at 50 feet above high water, a fixed white light that should be seen, in clear weather, a distance of 12 miles.

These lights in line 218° lead clear of all obstructions from midchannel opposite Ste. Famille wharf to intersection with Ste. Famille range.

In 1909, Goold, Shapley, & Muir, Brantford of Brantford, Ontario provided a three-section, steel, skeletal tower to be used to display the rear light at Saint-Pierre Range for $502.80. Over the next year, O. Tremblay supervised the day labour that erected the skeletal and made needed alterations to the old front lighthouse tower. This work cost $1,652.34. The light exhibited from the new rear tower had a focal plane of sixty-four feet.

Jean Roberge and Honoré Roberge were hired as the first keepers of Pointe Saint-Pierre Range Lights, each earning an annual salary of sixty dollars.

The lights of Pointe Saint-Pierre Range were changed from fixed white to fixed green in 1953 or 1954, and at this time, a square, wooden tower was still being used to display the front light and the 1909 tower was still being used to display the rear light. By 1994, square, skeletal towers had been erected for exhibiting the range lights, and similar structures remain in use today. The characteristic of the lights remains fixed green.

Keepers:

• Front: Jean Roberge (1885 – 1897), Olivier Vezina (1897 – 1912), A. Asselin (1912 – at least 1923).
• Back: Honoré Roberge (1885 – 1908), Jacques Roberge (1908 – at least 1923).

References

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

Modern lights mark this range today.

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