The Historic Lobster Cove Head lighthouse
Lobster Cove Head lighthouse has marked the marine approach to
Rocky Harbour
and the entrance of Bonne Bay since 1897. The light is still run by the Canadian
Coast Guard. It is now automated, but the light keeper's house is open as a park
interpretive exhibit.
The exhibit interprets how people have lived along this coast and harvested the
sea for more than 4,000 years. Original artifacts, historical documents, and
photographs (many donated by local and former residents) help to make the story
come alive.
The exhibit shows how marine resources and the availability of raw materials for
tools accounted for the prehistoric camps of Maritime Archaic Indians and
Palaeo Eskimos in the park area. The seasonal fishery for salmon and cod by
Europeans in the 1800s led to the growth of communities. The rapid changes of
the 20th century have shifted lifestyles away from the sea and lessened
dependence on its resources. The last wall of the exhibit pays tribute to the
Lobster Cove Head lighthouse keepers.
One room portrays the light keeper's den as it might have looked in the early
part of this century. In the building's small theatre, an eight-minute
audio-visual program called Constant Forces reminds viewers that the environment
continues to shape life along this coast.