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Griffith Island, Georgian Bay

Griffith Island

Geography
Location	Georgian Bay, Lake Huron
Coordinates	44°50′36″N 80°54′22″W
Administration
Canada
Demographics
Population	Uninhabited

Griffith Island is a 4.66 kilometer squared island in the Lake Huron's Georgian Bay, 20 miles from Owen Sound, Ontario. It is the home to the Griffiths Island Lighthouse, one of the six Imperial Towers constructed 1959 and the earliest lighthouses built on Lake Huron by the Canadian government. It was one of three islands marking the entrance to Colpoy's Bay.

Geography

Griffith Island, once known as Deer Island, is one of three islands that surround the entrance to Colpoy’s Bay along with Hay Island and White Cloud Island. is a 4.66 Km2 island in the Lake Huron's Georgian Bay, 20 miles from Owen Sound, Ontario.

History

Ojibway land

According to oral history and archaeological evidence, before the 19th century, all of the modern Bruce Peninsula (known as the Saugeen Peninsula), including Griffith Island, was home to two Ojibway reserves: the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation at Cape Croker and the Saugeen First Nation at Chippewa Hill (collectively known as the Saugeen Ojibway Nation). The history of the First Nations suggest that in the early 1800's pitched battles were fought on the islands and inland along the shore of Georgian Bay and Lake Huron between Ojibway warriors and the Iroquois. On Griffith Island, as well as Cabot Head, evidence of war weapons has been found where tradition indicates another victory occurred.

In 1836, the Saugeen Ojibway signed the Manitoulin treaty negotiated by Sir Francis Bond Head. The treaty lead to a number of land cession agreements and in 1854, the Peninsula iteslf was ceded under the Saugeen Surrender with several other negotiations taking place during the following decades that saw more land given up, including the Colpoys Bay reserve near Wiarton (1861) and the reserve territory at White Cloud Island (1885). In 1896, a sixteen-acre section of Griffiths Island, was surrendered at the cost of five dollars an acre to the Department of Public Works.

Light station

The lighting of the Canadian side of Lake Huron began with the establishment of the Goderich lighthouse (at Goderich), a wooden structure built in the early 1830s, that was later replaced in 1847 by a newer building, a short distance west. Apart from this one light station, mariners remained completely without the navigational aid of either lights or buoys along Lake Huron's Canadian shore as well as the entirety of Georgian Bay. It was not until 1851, that a series of range lights were constructed at Owen Sound Harbour. Throughout the 1850's marine traffic on Lake Huron increased dramatically owing mainly to the opening of the Bruce Peninsula to settlement which saw large numbers of people coming into the area. An increase in the usage of steamships, inparticular at night, worsened the number of marine casualties which resulted in a pressing need for the establishment of more navigational aids. The growing marine traffic of the area resulted in increasingly more crowded shipping lanes on western Georgian Bay. To remedy this situation, the Board of Works contracted John Brown, a Scottish stone mason, in 1855, to erect the stonework for a series of eleven light towers with dwellings which would light Lake Huron and Georgian Bay from Point Clark to Christian Island.

Griffith Island was chosen as the location for one of these new lighthouses, which would become called the Imperial Towers. This new light on Griffith was to mark the western limits of Georgian Bay, offer a turning point for vessels bound for Wiarton, and act as a refuge for ships during foul weather. The lighthouse was errected in 1857.Both Meaford and Thornbury had pierhead and range lights since the 1870s but at that time the only staffed lighthouses could be found at Presqu'ile Provincial Park and on Griffith Island. Off the western shore of Georgian Bay, Griffith Island lies at the entrance to Owen Sound and is of help to vessels entering Colpoys Bay, where good shelter and anchorage can be had.

The Island is off limits to boaters, except in emergency. The lighthouse is still in operation today, althought automated.

Griffith Island Lighthouse

Griffith Island Light [[File:Commons to Wikidata QuickStatements.svg|20px|link=https://quickstatements.toolforge.org/#/v1=Q56707397%7CP31%7CQ39715%7C%7CQ56707397%7CP571%7C%2B1851-00-00T00%3A00%3A00Z%2F9%7CS143%7CQ328%7C%7CQ56707397%7CP729%7C%2B1889-00-00T00%3A00%3A00Z%2F9%7CS143%7CQ328%7C%7CQ56707397%7CP2048%7CTower –U11573%7CS143%7CQ328%7C%7CQ56707397%7CP2923%7C45.3 mU11573%7CS143%7CQ328%7C%7CQ56707397%7CP2929%7C26 [[nauticalU93318%7CS143%7CQ328%7C%7CQ56707397%7CP1030%7C%22Fl.%20W%207.5s%22%7CS143%7CQ328%7C%7CQ56707397%7CP18%7C%22Griffith%20Island%20lighthouse.jpg%22%7CS143%7CQ328]]

Location	Griffith Island, Georgian Bay, Lake Huron
Coordinates	44°51′02″N 80°53′29″W
Tower
Constructed	1851
Construction	Limestone
Height	Tower – 80 ft (24 m)
Shape	Conical
Markings	White
Light
First lit	1889 (current tower)
Focal height	45.3 m (149 ft)
Lens	hyperradiant Fresnel lens (1858)
Range	26 nmi (48 km; 30 mi)
Characteristic	Fl. W 7.5s

Griffith Island Lighthouse was constructed in 1959 as one of the six Imperial Towers-the earliest lighthouses built on Lake Huron by the Canadian government. The towers were comissioned in 1855 by the Board of Works who contracted John Brown, a builder from Thorold, Ontario, to build eleven lighthouses and dwellings which would see the lighting of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay between Point Clark and Christian Bay. The locations of the towers were chosen based on known water traffic patterns; each lighthouse marked a prominent navigational hazard which was already well recognized. Sites were also chosen based on their proximity to good anchorages. Although eleven were comissioned only six of the towers were eventually completed.

Five of the towers are 80 feet tall; that at Christian Island is 55 feet. The rock courses at the bottom of the towers reach some seven feet thick, and the walls at ground level are six feet thick, tapering towards two feet thickness at the top. Though the lighthouses are conical, their interior diameter is 10'6 throughout. The towers and dwellings are constructed of limestone, with granite added to the towers to support the lantern rooms. The lanterns are made of copper alloys, glass, and cast iron. The towers are whitewashed and painted with red trim. Each was initially equipped with a Fresnel lens; they were the first Canadian lighthouses so equipped.

The Griffith Island light, along with the towers at Chantry, and Nottawasaga Island, remain in fairly good shape except for a requirement for interior maintenance. The houses at all three sites however are in ruins due to persistant vandalism. Limestone keepers house is a ruin. The Griffith lighthouse is located at the northeast end of the Island with it's tower rising 25.8 metres [85 feet] above the waters of Georgian Bay. It features a fixed white light. Griffiths Island has been a striking landmark for mariners since 1859. Even before that, it was one of three islands marking the entrance to Colpoy's Bay. It is now privately owned.

Modern Use

Griffith island is home to a private hunting club. Griffith Island. Holsworth (1973) reported the results of a controlled hunt on the 466 ha Griffith Island (Georgian Bay, Ontario, Canada) wherein the deer population was reduced from about 300 to 100 during eight hunting trips between October 1967 and April 1968. Population estimation was based on Holsworth’s (1973) best estimate of 300 deer at the start and known removals. Hunter-hours and kill were recorded for each day (Holsworth, 1973, p. 330). We modeled deer killed/hour as a function of declining density over the eight hunting trips.