Cow Head Lighthouse

The lighthouse was erected on the west coast of the Great Northern Peninsula in 1908 and activated in 1909 with a fixed white light visible from 43 m above high water 15 miles away. The lighthouse served to guide ships and small boats into the harbour from 1909 to 1979. It was later replaced with battery operated harbour buoys.

The lighthouse measuring 18ft tall is one of many along the Northern Peninusla that were architecturally different and unique. The cast iron cylindrical tower has a second storey balcony, a witch’s hat roof and an arched doorway. Originally this iron tower painted with red and white vertical stripes, and its lantern and dome were painted white. It was painted solid white in 1978 when becoming battery operated.
The lighthouse was restored in 2002 with some of the funding from the funding that the Central Development Association received under the Canada-Newfoundland Comprehensive Economic Development Agreement to undertake improvements in Cow Head.

The first light keeper was Jesse Payne. He lived in a 3-bedroom house in a sheltered area west and below the lighthouse. Jesse’s duties entailed lighting the kerosene light at dusk and extinguishing it at dawn every day from spring to late December when navigation was open. He was succeeded in 1949 to 1953 by his son John L., otherwise known as “Lighthouse Jack”. Jack only needed to visit the tower occasionally to clean the lens and ensure proper light operation when the acetylene light with an automatic timer was installed in 1952. The reduction in his duties resulted in his pay cut and relocation to Tuckers Cove where he worked as a fisherman. Jesse, John L.’s son and Jesse’s grandson, was the final lightkeeper.

The lighthouse was an important social gathering for the community and would be a spot for picnics on Sundays.