South Head Lighthouse

The South Head Lighthouse located on the southern entrance to the Bay of Islands is located on the west coast of Newfoundland near the town of Lark Harbour. Bay of Islands is an extensive inlet on the west coast of Newfoundland and is so named for the numerous islands located near its entrance. Situated at the head of the inlet and at the mouth of the Humber River is Corner Brook, now the second largest city in Newfoundland and home to Corner Brook Pulp & Paper Mill, a major employer for the region that was commenced operation in 1925. To help shipping reach the paper mill, a square wooden structure topped by an open wooden framework that supported an acetylene gas lantern was established on a stone cliff at South Head in 1925 at the southern entrance to the Bay of Islands. This tower was 6.1 metres (20 feet) tall while the light had a focal plane of 35.4 metres (116 feet). The tower was painted white, the lantern was painted red, and the characteristic of the light was fifteen white flashes per minute.

A fog alarm, housed in a one-storey structure, was also established in 1925 and sounded one 2.5-second blast in each minute. A one-storey dwelling was provided for the keeper.

Newfoundland became the tenth province in Canada in 1949, and over the next few years a “comprehensive scheme for modernization in conformity with the higher standard in the rest of Canada” was carried out in Newfoundland. As part of this modernization effort, a 10.7-metre concrete lighthouse, a double dwelling, and a storage building were constructed at South Head, and a new diaphone fog alarm was installed in the fog alarm building, which had been built in 1950.

The dwelling at South Head was intentionally burned in 1989, leaving just the octagonal concrete tower standing. The concrete octagonal tower was demolished in 2010 and replaced by a cylindrical, red and white striped, fiberglass tower that supports a solar-powered light