St. Paul Island North Point

In 1960 the light was electrified and in 1962 a white concrete tower was built to replace the aged timber structure. Even in recent times reaching the island was so difficult that the keepers got mail only once a month, weather permitting. The light is now automated and has been de-staffed.

In the early days, shipwreck survivors who managed to scale the rocky cliffs found no help for the island was uninhabited. When spring came, fisherman from the mainland would find frozen bodies huddled in crude shelters waiting for help that never came. Much publicity was given to the wreck of the Jessie. She was wrecked in a terrible snow storm and hand-written notes showed that some survivors lived for 10 weeks before exposure and lack of food took their toll. In 1832 the governments of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick set up rescue stations on the island. Demands were made for a lighthouse but nothing was done. One terrible night in 1835, a huge storm swept the Gulf and four ships were wrecked on the island's rocky shores.Finally, an act of the Nova Scotia Legislature in 1836 appointed commissioners for lighthouses on Scatarie Island (Off the coast south of Sydney, NS) and St. Paul Island. New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Lower Canada and Nova Scotia all contributed to the cost of the building and operation of the light, an indication of its importance to shipping.