Lighthouse at Market Square Traditional Cache
TheRetiredHiker&SpruceGum: Time to go !!
Lighthouse at Market Square
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The cache Lighthouse at Market Square is right up town and is a very busy spot in the summer.
There are actually three lighthouses very close to the cache.
The lighthouse close to the outdoor amphitheater is the old Digby Pier lighthouse and it is the only authentic lighthouse in the uptown area. It was moved to Saint John in 1970 and was erected on the Coast Guard base, only about 100' from where it stands today. In 1983 it was given to the city for the newly renovated Market Square area. The city did a nice restoration on the tower in 2010 but prior to that they were less than ideal custodians of the historic structure. Last year's development of the adjacent parking lot undercut the embankment the lighthouse sits on and will likely undermine its structural integrity if the bank erodes.
The lighthouse directly across the water from the cache placement is one of two notable imitation lighthouses in the province. This octagonal wooden tower is located on the North West corner of the Coast Guard base. It is equipped with a 4th order Fresnel lens from Briar Island, Nova Scotia and the 1911 lantern from Grindstone Island. It is also representative of the nine octagonal wooden towers that remain in New Brunswick
This lighthouse was built in 1985 under the direction of Larry Wilson who served as Base Commander at the time. Larry went on to serve as Maritime Regional Director until his retirement in 2008. Larry was a great lighthouse enthusiast himself and was instrumental in bringing like minded people together in 1996 for the first B.E.A.C.O.N. conference. It is due in large part to this that the region leads the way in lighthouse preservation advocacy in Canada.
Although the Coast Guard base is not open to the public, the lighthouse may be easily viewed from the boardwalk outside Market Square and the Hilton Hotel.
The third, and closest structure is not a lighthouse. It is simply a structure built to represent a lighthouse.
(Information provided by Red Witch, geocacher and lighthouse historian.)
NOTE: As of October, 2012, there are now only two lighthouse structures standing. The lighthouse close to the amphitheater, the Digby Pier Lighthouse, was moved back to Digby. Great fanfare accompanied the dismantling and moving of the lighthouse, including thousands of pounds of Digby scallops, a gift from the town of Digby, cooked and distributed among the many people who came to witness this historic event!
Please be very careful finding and replacing this cache. One false move and ... oops !
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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