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When the West Point Lighthouse Museum was established in 1984, part of its mandate was to tell the story of the West Point Lighthouse and to relate something of the history and culture of the area, especially as it pertained to the sea-faring aspects of West Point as well as a little of how the old Lighthouse has given new life to our little community.
West Point Lighthouse has led or lighted the way a number of times over the years:
When it was first built in 1875, it was the first lighthouse on Prince Edward Island to be built by the new federal Department of Marine.
It marked the beginning of an architectural change as well. The lighthouses that had been previously built by the British Colonial Government were round or octagonal in style. West Point was the first of the square tapered towers on Prince Edward Island.
When the West Point Lighthouse Inn, Museum and Restaurant opened its doors in 1984, it became Canada’s first Inn in a Lighthouse. At that time, there were only three active lighthouse Bed and Breakfasts open in the USA and no other in Canada.
On May 21, 2001, the 125th anniversary of the Lighthouse opening, it again made history when it became the first functioning Prince Edward Island Lighthouse to be transferred from the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans to a community not for profit group, the West Point Development Corporation.
Our Lighthouse tells the story of how a determined small group of volunteers took a dilapidated old Lighthouse, one that they loved dearly, and transformed it into a vibrant economic success and nationally recognized historic icon.
