Point Prim Lighthouse – Points East Coastal Drive
Listen to Karen tell the story
When the fathers of confederation gathered in Charlottetown to first talk about confederation in 1864, the Point Prim Lighthouse had already been lighting the way for steamships coming into Northumberland Strait for over 19 years! Built in 1864 after being petitioned by the Prince Edward Island Steam Navigation company to help the company secure the government’s lucrative mail contract by operating a steam boat between the Island and the mainland.
Read the story behind the politics of building Point Prim and how the current day Point Prim Lighthouse Society connected confederation and the lighthouse to secure funds to restore the lighthouse--- PEI History Guy
It is a majestic lighthouse: still in operation with a beacon, the first and oldest lighthouse on PEI and its only brick lighthouse and only one of several lighthouses in Canada that are round brick.
The lighthouse was awarded heritage protection by Fisheries and Oceans Canada in 2015 and divested to a volunteer community group, Point Prim Lighthouse Society Incorporated. So many of PEI’s lighthouses are left alone on PEI’s shores and fields, Point Prim Lighthouse is incredibility well maintained and lovingly restored including newly painted, a reinforced seawall, open air pavilion and expanded parking. It is a joy to visit and well worth the climb to the top. Artifacts to see as you climb the steep staircase to each level and finally reach the top to see the beacon light and the views at a height of 60 ft.
On our visit, we talked with the supervisor of the lighthouse Steven Taran, who is an excellent spokesman for the group and obviously proud of the society’s accomplishments. He told us how many of the volunteers are descents of lighthouse keepers
I’m not a big gift shop visitor, but if you visit the lighthouse, take the time to visit the gift shop. Beautiful stain glass, pottery, carpentry and yarns all created by local artisans, living within about 15 km of the lighthouse. If you have the time you can visit the artists and see what else they have you might like.
Point Prim, a proud lighthouse which has stood protecting mariners for over 170 years and a proud volunteer society which can take it into its future.
