WHEN THE FRASER RIVER gold rush created a boom in ocean traffic to Vancouver Island in the 1850s, the British government decided to erect the first permanent lighthouse on the British Columbia coast on little Fisgard Island, at the gateway to Esquimalt Harbour. The Fisgard lighthouse first beamed its Fresnel light across the tide-churned Strait of Juan de Fuca in 1860 and George Davies of Wales became the first of 21 keepers to climb the corkscrewing iron staircase to the top of the 14-metre-high tower to light the beacon that kept mariners off the shoals. Davies’ wife Rosina assisted him and is considered Canada’s first female lighthouse keeper.

Although lighthouse keeping has always had a romantic air, life was difficult. “Every room in the house is so Damp, that when the Frost sets in, all the plastering and whitewash … fall off,” wrote William Bevis, one of Fisgard’s early keepers. “Myself and Mrs. Bevis are much troubled by pains in the limbs such as we have never before experienced.”

Bevis eventually succumbed to the dampness — he got sick, requested leave and died within two months — and his wife took over his post. Another keeper fell overboard and drowned while rowing the short distance between the lighthouse and the mainland. A few years earlier, this same accident-prone fellow hurt one of his eyes when his gun went off while he was hunting a mink on the shore rocks. His replacement lasted a mere 12 days before he quit, citing boredom. Even visiting the lighthouse had its perils: in 1865, five Christmas guests capsized and disappeared, leaving only their wrapped presents floating on the water.

In 1929, Fisgard was automated and in 1951 a causeway was built to link it to the mainland. Today, Fisgard is a national historic site. Located 14 kilometres west of downtown Victoria, it’s a popular summer spot for picnickers. Celebrating its sesquicentennial anniversary this year, it remains one of more than 40 working lighthouses on the West Coast. Although modern ships all have GPS, radar and detailed charts, Fisgard’s revolving light continues to help sailors navigate the confusing shallows into Esquimalt Harbour.

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HALIFAX HAS A LONG and storied history as a military town. It was vital to the English in their fight against the French for control over Canada, endured the world’s biggest pre-nuclear explosion during the First World War and was on alert for German submarines during the Second World War. “Halifax’s fortunes waxed and waned,” says Carla Wheaton, a cultural resource manager with Parks Canada., “depending on whether there was a war going on.” As such, Halifax Harbour developed a five-pronged defence complex, all of which are now national historic sites, that tell of how military technology evolved from cannon balls to quick-fire guns.

— Mathew Klie-Cribb

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