Peggys Point Lighthouse

Peggy's Cove is one of the most popular tourist spots in Nova Scotia and the lighthouse may be the most photographed in the world. Visitors are able to mail their postcards at the Post Office inside the lower level of the lighthouse. Peggy's Cove and the lighthouse may be reached on Highway 333 from Halifax, or Highway 103 from Halifax to Exit 5 and then Highway 333.

Just 45 minutes from downtown Halifax, Peggy's Cove is the most popular of the day trips from Halifax and a highlight of the South Shore Lighthouse Route.

While no doubt the most well-known lighthouse in Canada and one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world, the history of the light at Peggy's Cove is little known. Various versions account for the name. Peggy is the nickname for Margaret and the community may have acquired the name from nearby Saint Margaret's Bay, especially as the point marks the eastern entrance to the bay. Other accounts suggest Peggy was an early settler. A popular romantic version says a woman named Peggy was the only survivor of a shipwreck and there are American families that claim descent from the shipwrecked Peggy.

In any case, it was decided to erect a light to mark the eastern entrance to St. Margaret's Bay in 1868. While best known as "the Peggy's Cove Lighthouse", it was and remains, officially known as the Peggy's Point Lighthouse as its purpose is to mark the point, not the cove. The cove has its own small light on the government wharf. The first lighthouse was a wooden tower, built atop a keeper's dwelling at the point. It was a red light and used a catoptric reflector (a round silver-plated mirror) to magnify the kerosene oil lamp.