The French overseas territory (collectivité d'outre-mer) of Saint Pierre and Miquelon consists of a small group of islands in the entrance to Fortune Bay off the south coast of Newfoundland. Settled in 1604, the islands are the only remaining portion of France's former empire in North America. Currently the population is about 6000. Despite its small size the territory has six lighthouses, five active. The islands are accessible by air or by passenger ferry from Fortune, Newfoundland. Special thanks to André Lafargue for providing information on the history of these lighthouses, as well as excellent photos. The French word for a lighthouse, phare, is often reserved for the larger coastal lighthouses; a smaller light or harbor light is called a feu (literally "fire," but here meaning "light") or a balise (beacon). The front light of a range (alignement) is the feu antérieur and the rear light is the feu postérieur. In French île is an island, cap is a cape, pointe is a promontory or point of land, rocher is a rock, récife is a reef, baie is a bay, estuaire is an estuary or inlet, détroit is a strait, rivière is a river, and havre is a harbor. The lighthouses of the islands are operated by the territory's public works agency, the Direction des Territoires, de l'Alimentation et de la Mer (DTAM). ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from Volume H of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA numbers are from Publication 110. The lights of St. Pierre and Miquelon have been dropped from the List of Lights, Buoys, and Fog Signals of Fisheries and Oceans Canada; ex-CCG numbers are their former designations.
|
|
|
![]() Île aux Marins Light, Saint-Pierre, September 2021 Google Maps photo by Tourisme Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon |
|
|
Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: North: Southwestern Newfoundland | East: Southeastern Newfoundland
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index
Posted November 26, 2002. Checked and revised July 20, 2024. Lighthouses: 8. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.