Description of Historic Place

Located on North Wallace Road, along the north side entrance to Wallace Harbour in the County of Cumberland, Nova Scotia, Mullins Point Upper Range Lighthouse is a one-and-a-half storey wood frame structure, with the lighthouse mounted on the hip gable roof of the keeper's dwelling. The lighthouse and surrounding property are included in the provincial designation.

Heritage Value

Mullins Point Upper Range Lighthouse is valued because its design of having the entire lighthouse mounted on the hip gable roof of the keeper's dwelling is very rare in Maritime Canada, and it is also valued as a highly visible landmark as seen from the Sunrise Trail route along the northern shore of Nova Scotia.

Built in 1894, the range lights at Mullins Point date to the heyday of coastal shipping in the late 1800s, when great quantities of lumber and quarried building stone were being shipped from the area.

The structure became obsolete in 1985, when the range lights were replaced by steel skeleton towers with day marker panels. The upper range light was purchased by its current owner from Crown Assets Disposal, with the condition that it be removed from the site. The lighthouse was then moved about a mile along the shore.

The structure is of typical wood frame construction, but unique in design. The entire lighthouse is mounted on the hip gable roof of the keeper's dwelling, rather than just the lantern. This arrangement was necessary to fulfill the rear range light function, which required that the rear light be located well inland of the front light on the shore and be raised up well above the level of the surrounding trees.

Although the integrity of the structure, as far as function is concerned, has suffered a little from being moved off its original site, this is more than compensated for the fact that it is now highly visible from the Sunset Trail. It is a local landmark and one of the few remaining unaltered structures of this kind in Nova Scotia.

Source: Provincial Heritage Program property files, no. 114, 1747 Summer Street, Halifax, NS.

Character-Defining Elements

Character-defining elements associated with the unique style of Mullins Point Upper Range Lighthouse include:

- the form and massing of the lighthouse;
- lighthouse tower mounted on the roof of the keeper's dwelling;
- one-and-a-half storey wood frame structure;
- hip gable roof;
- square pyramidal tower with square lantern;
- context and visibility of building on a point along the shoreline.