R. Doug Wicker — Author

1836 Lighthouse

Our transatlantic voyage was coming rapidly to an end when Vision of the Seas made port in St. John’s, Newfoundland. From here we jumped aboard our latest tour with Ann’s Tours, whereupon we headed out into the countryside. One of our stops this morning was Cape Spear and the Cape Spear National Lighthouse Historic Park.

Cape Spear National Historic Park

At this park are two lighthouses. The one you see pictured in today’s article is the 1836 lighthouse. The other lighthouse of a more traditional design was built nearby in 1955, and you’ll see that one in this week’s Fun Photo Friday.

Cape Spear National Historic Park

The views from up here of the rugged, rocky coast are quite impressive:

Cape Spear

And if you time your shot you may capture a crashing wave:

Cape Spear

Yet some scenes from here can be almost serene, such as this image of a fishing boat:

Cape Spear

You’ll see more of Cape Spear and week after next, as we actually made two stops here this day. The pictures shown in this article were taken at about 10:00 a.m., whereas our next visit here came a little after 3:00 p.m.

Fresnel Lens

While we’re here, did you ever wonder what makes the beacon from a lighthouse built hundreds of years ago so bright and focused? It was a marvelous invention known as the Fresnel lens, invented by Frenchman Augustin-Jean Fresnel in the early 19th century. You can see one such example in the image above. The 1836 lighthouse didn’t originally use the Fresnel lens. When first operational it used Argand lamps focused by curved reflectors. Only later would this system be upgraded to the Frensel.

Now for one last morning look of the 1836 lighthouse at Cape Spear:

1836 Lighthouse