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Mohawk Island Lighthouse (ruin)

42.8347° N, 79.5228° W · Ontario · built 1848[1]

  • Ruin or relocated
  • Heritage lighthouse (HLPA) 2015
  • Last verified 2026-10

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Mohawk Island, Ontario, site of the ruined Mohawk Island lighthouse
Codell, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Toned for this site.

On a bare limestone island off Rock Point, the gutted stone tower of the old Gull Island light still stands upright after more than 175 years. Built in 1848 to guide ships toward the Welland Canal, it is a protected heritage lighthouse in a bird sanctuary, best seen from shore.

History

The Welland Canal opened in 1829 and was rebuilt in the 1840s, and ships bound for its southern end had to pass an offshore shoal near the mouth of the Grand River.[2,3] Construction of a light on what was then called Gull Island began in 1846 and was finished in 1848.[3]

The stonemason was John Brown, a Scot who, according to the Lighthouse Directory, went on to build the six Imperial Towers of Lake Huron.[3,4] His tower is a tapered stone cylinder about 18 metres tall, built into a rectangular keeper's dwelling, with hammer-dressed stone in a Neoclassical manner.[3] The federal heritage review office calls it the only surviving stone-built combined light tower and residence in Canada.[2]

The light was automated in 1933, and its importance faded after the canal entrance was realigned at Port Colborne in 1934.[5] It went out of service in 1969; Wikipedia says the mechanism was destroyed by fire, and the Lighthouse Directory says vandals broke in and smashed the lens. A buoy has marked the shoal since.[5,4,6] Fire later gutted the buildings, leaving roofless shells, yet the tower remains solid.[4,3]

The island passed to the Canadian Wildlife Service in 1976 and became the Mohawk Island National Wildlife Area in 1978, protecting large colonies of gulls, terns and cormorants.[5,7] The ruin was recognised as a federal heritage building in 1993 and designated a heritage lighthouse in 2015.[2,8] Landing is prohibited in the nesting season, and the shell is unsafe, so the lighthouse is admired from shore and from passing boats and kayaks.[3]

How to see it

Ruin or relocated Only ruins remain, or the tower has been moved from its original site.

Best public viewpoint
From the shore near Rock Point Provincial Park, where Parks Canada notes the ruin is well known to park visitors, or from the end of Pyle Road off Lakeshore Road southeast of Dunnville.[3]
Tower climbs
No public tower climbs have been offered, as far as our sources show.
Last verified
Last verified 2026-10

Access details last verified 2026-10. Hours, tours and ownership change. Check the operator before you go. Pier and breakwater lights can be dangerous in wind and waves; obey posted closures and never enter private or Coast Guard property.

Questions people ask

Can you visit the Mohawk Island Lighthouse?

Not on foot. The island is a National Wildlife Area where landing is prohibited during the nesting season, and the ruin is unsafe. It is well seen from the shore near Rock Point Provincial Park.

Why is it also called Gull Island Lighthouse?

Mohawk Island was formerly called Gull Island, after the gulls and terns that use it, and the 1848 light took that name.

Is Mohawk Island Lighthouse protected?

Yes. It became a Recognized Federal Heritage Building in 1993 and a designated heritage lighthouse under Canada's Heritage Lighthouse Protection Act in 2015.

Nearby lighthouses

Nearby shipwrecks

Nearby · Sponsored

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Sources

  1. Wikidata Q652226: Mohawk Island, Wikidata. Accessed .
  2. HistoricPlaces.ca - HistoricPlaces.ca, Canada's Historic Places (Canadian Register of Historic Places). Accessed .
  3. HistoricPlaces.ca - HistoricPlaces.ca, Canada's Historic Places (Canadian Register of Historic Places). Accessed .
  4. Lighthouses of Canada: Southwestern Ontario, Russ Rowlett, The Lighthouse Directory (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill). Accessed .
  5. Mohawk Island, Wikipedia. Accessed .
  6. List of Lights, Buoys and Fog Signals - Inland Waters, 2026 edition (Lake Erie pages), Canadian Coast Guard (Notices to Mariners). Accessed .
  7. Mohawk Island National Wildlife Area - Canada.ca, Environment and Climate Change Canada. Accessed .
  8. Heritage lighthouses in Canada (designated heritage lighthouses), Parks Canada. Accessed .
  9. Parks Canada - Mohawk Island Lighthouse, Parks Canada. Accessed .

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