Coffin Island Lighthouse is situated on Coffin Island in Liverpool Bay. The island itself was named after one of the grantees of Liverpool, Peleg Coffin. The original lighthouse was erected at the island’s southern tip in 1811-1812 at a cost of approximately £536. Known at the time as Liverpool Light, it was one of the earliest beacons in service in the province, along with Sambro, Shelburne and Brier Island. Built of wood, the octagonal building stood 75′ high and sported horizontal red and white stripes. Liverpool’s most prominent citizen of the time, Simeon Perkins, had the honour of laying the cornerstone on July 24, 1811 at a time when the island was known as Bear Island.

In its design, the lighthouse incorporated the very latest in technology, holding the distinction of having the first revolving light in Nova Scotia. Known at the time as a catoptric light, the massive clockwork mechanism turned fourteen Argand lamps and highly polished parabolic reflectors. Revolving every two minutes, the light could be seen up to 15 miles away in good conditions and early 19th Century accounts describe it as the best on the coast.

Sadly, the lighthouse was struck by lightning on June 19, 1913 and the subsequent fire destroyed the structure and all of the outbuildings. A year later a 52′ steel reinforced concrete lighthouse was completed. James Edward Wentzell went on to man the light for 47 years.

Mother Nature took its toll on this second lighthouse and in 2006 a fiberglass structure replaced the World War I era building that was endangered by shoreline erosion. A little further back from the shore than its predecessors, the light can still be viewed from Moose Harbour, Fort Point Lighthouse Park and less visibly from the Beach Meadows lookoff on Brooklyn Shore Road.

Coffin Island Lighthouse is only reachable by boat, however it can be seen from Fort Point Lighthouse Park.

GPS: 44.034403, -64.628577