Description of Historic Place

The Malpeque Back Range Light is a square tapered tower clad in wood shingles, located in Darnley, on the north shore of Prince Edward Island overlooking the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

Heritage Value

The Malpeque Back Range Light, also known as the Darnley Point Back Range Light or Outer Range Back Light, is valued for its associations with the marine and navigational history of the area, for its contributions to the landscape and its importance to its community as a visual landmark.

A request in 1874 for a safer passage into Malpeque Harbour, resulted in the establishment of the Darnley Point Range Front and Back Lights in 1889 which worked in concert with the Fish Island Lighthouse. These initial range lights consisted of lanterns placed on 30' mast on a shed base. The lights were positioned about 1,444' apart. Slat-work previously used on the Brighton Beach light in Charlottetown was re-purposed and attached to the structure in 1892 to make the lights more visible in daylight. However, in 1897 more stable open-frame structures were constructed under the supervision of Milton Walsh to a Department of Transport design. The range lights, standing at just over 25', were later enclosed. They are similar in appearance, however, the Front Range has cornerboards and wooden bracketing supporting its gallery while the Back Range light does not have cornerboards and its gallery has iron support brackets. Both have a red vertical stripes or daymarks on the seaward elevations to improve visibility.

Lighthouse keepers responsible for the Front and Bank Range Lights have included: John D. Morrison (1889-1890), Cornelius Morrison (1890-1896), G.W.J. Wiggans (1896-1913) and C. Morrison for an unknown period beginning in 1913.

Not open to visitors, the Malpeque Back Range Light continues to be an important visual and cultural landmark in its community.

Source: Heritage Places files, Dept. of Fisheries, Tourism, Sport & Culture, Charlottetown, PE
File #: 4310-20/M47

Character-Defining Elements

The heritage value of the range light is shown in the following character-defining elements:

- the square tapered tower
- the cedar shingle cladding, painted white with red trim
- the red painted vertical stripe or daymark on its seaward elevation
- the placement of the projecting shed roofed door
- the lantern platform, with iron support brackets and balustrade
- the lantern housing
- the setting of the lighthouse within the coastal landscape