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Spencer's Island ; which is not an island ; was once Nova Scotia's premier shipbuilding community. Now greatly diminished from its glory days, it is an interesting little area with a bed and breakfast, historic lighthouse, campground, gift shop and restaurant. The former lighthouse now contains an interpretive centre.
The lighthouse was built in 1904 and first lit on July 15 of that year. The original project, supervised by the first keeper, Baxter McLellan, cost $645.87. The building, constructed of timber, was 33 feet high from the base to the ventilator on the lantern, with a main floor about l5 feet square and interior stairs leading up to the light. It was built on the beach, 63 feet back from the water to the eastward of the inner end of the Government pier. (Now gone.) The light was fixed red, visible for about 7 miles from all points of approach, with a seventh order dioptric lens.
The lighthouse still stands, but is much closer to the water. It does not have the old fog bell apparatus that was used many years ago because after it was de-commisioned a local had a little too much rum and decided to ring the bell with his shotgun for one last time... and you know the rest of the story..... There was a winding mechanism, and once wound, the bell would ring for about 12 hours before re-winding was necessary. The first keeper, Baxter McLellan, was paid $100 per year at his appointment in 1904.
The light was discontinued in the 1980's because commercial shipping no longer used the channel. It was acquired by the Spencers Island Community Association from the Federal Government after 2 years of negotiations. It opened to the public in 199I as a small museum with pictures of the sailing vessels built in local shipyards, artifacts and the like. In 1995 and 1996 major renovations were made, funded by local fund raising projects. In 2006, the Canadian Coastguard gave permission to turn the light back on. Instead of attracting ships, it now attracts tourists.
A nearby cairn tells the story of the Mary Celeste, a brigantine built here as the Amazon in 1861. She was wrecked off Cape Breton in 1867, but salvaged and re-registered in 1868 in New York as the Mary Celeste. In 1872 she was found sailing herself off the Azores, with not a soul left aboard. Her abandonment is one of the enduring mysteries of the sea, and has been the subject of numerous articles, plays and novels.
The beach area is a breeding site for the Double Crested Cormorant, Black Guillemot and Blue Heron. You can usually see herons feeding in a marsh located on the land side of the beach. This is the only local nesting site for the Black Guillemot, but herons and cormorants breed all along the coastline from here to Five Islands.
