2014 - Vancouver - Alaska Cruise - Lighthouse Park - Point Atkinson Lighthouse

            The ms Zaandam is passing Point Atkinson Lighthouse in West Vancouver BC.

Lighthouse Park is a popular park in West Vancouver, Canada. It covers about 75 hectares (190 acres) and it is almost completely covered with rugged, virgin rainforest. At the southernmost tip of the peninsula is Point Atkinson Lighthouse with an impressive landmark lighthouse built in 1875. Point Atkinson was first charted and named by Captain George Vancouver in 1792 and is a National Historic Site of Canada.

The park contains the city's last remaining stand of first-growth Douglas fir, as well as some magnificent Western hemlock and Western Redcedar. Whereas most of the region has been logged, the trees in what is now the park were spared as they provided a necessary dark background for the lighthouse. The area was thus set aside in 1881 as the lighthouse reserve. Some ancient trees reach heights of up to 200 feet (61 m) and are around 500 years old.

There is a network of hiking trails in the park, some of which are fairly rough and can be slippery when wet. The park receives more than 50 inches (1,300 mm) of rain annually and has an abundance of various ferns, berries and mushrooms.

VANCOUVER SUN 26 AUG 2013:
When the Point Atkinson lighthouse was built 130 years ago, it was designed to protect shippers in the Strait of Georgia. Now the lighthouse itself is in need of a benefactor.

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the District of West Vancouver are discussing ways to put the lighthouse into the hands of the community after Point Atkinson — along with 18 other B.C. lighthouses — was deemed “surplus” to the federal government’s needs three years ago and offered up for sale or transfer.

“In reflection, (the federal government) realized some of the national historic sites aren’t going to go to the highest bidder,” said Brent Leigh, deputy chief administrative officer at the District of West Vancouver, which has a co-management agreement with the government to maintain the lighthouse.

“They expect to work with the district in a community-based program that would ensure that we retain community use ... Point Atkinson is one of our most beloved community assets.”

Originally built on a rocky cliff in 1875, the lighthouse has been more than just a beacon of hope for shippers over the centuries. It has also recorded a series of historical firsts as time went on, as chronicled in the book Keepers of the Light, written by one of the last lightkeepers, Donald Graham:

1774: Captain Vancouver rows past the point and names it for a ”particular friend.”

1872: The Marine Department awards contract to Arthur Finney to build the lighthouse.

1875: New lighthouse exhibits fixed white light illuminated by two coal oil lamps and silver-plated copper reflectors.

1875: Edwin Woodward and his wife land at the station.

1876: James Atkinson Woodward, the first white child born in West Vancouver, is born there.

1881: 185-acre park created as a Lighthouse Reserve.

1889: Scotch siren fog signal, powered by a coal-generated steam plant installed to help shippers navigate the fog.

1912: Original tower replaced by 60-foot-high concrete tower. Light replaced by a vaporized oil lamp.

1960: Vaporized oil lamp replaced by electric light bulb.

1994: Lighthouse designated a National Historic Site.

1996: Point Atkinson refitted with an automated solar-powered light.

Donald Graham and Gerry Watson were the last lightkeepers. Graham’s wife Elaine still lives in the cottage at Lighthouse Park.

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Taken in: Canada / British Columbia / Horseshoe Bay (show map)

Taken on: June 1, 2014

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