Peggy's Cove, Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada

 Nova Scotia is home to over 160 historic lighthouses, and these majestic beacons can be found throughout the province. Some of the lighthouses are world-famous! One of the most well-known lighthouses in Nova Scotia is Peggy's Cove Lighthouse, also known as Peggy's Point Lighthouse. It may be the most photographed lighthouse in Canada. It is located in the quaint fishing village of Peggy’s Cove along the South Shore, Peggy’s Point Lighthouse was built in 1915.

We visited Peggy's Cove as a half-day excursion we booked on our recent East Coast Princess Cruise.  It was the second time we saw this charming lighthouse as we visited it twenty years ago when we took our very first cruise to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary on the Queen Mary 2 during her maiden year.

It was wonderful to visit again and see this iconic lighthouse looking very much the same with the addition of a large network of viewing boardwalks surrounding it for safety.  The rock outcrop the lighthouse sits on can get very slippery and giant rogue waves can arrive, even on calm sunny days, which can be very dangerous.   Our excursion guide told us that over two hundred cruise ships visit Halifax each year and they expect that number to increase with time, so during the slow tourist time during the Covid pandemic, Canada invested in building the boardwalks to make the area safer for tourists.

Peggy’s Cove is famous for its picturesque, typically East-Coast profile, with houses perched along a narrow inlet and on wave-washed boulders facing the Atlantic.   

Despite being designated as a preservation area, it is still an active fishing and lobster trapping community with families who have lived there for many generations.

Below are two interesting informational placards about the fishing industry in the area....click on each photo two times to fully enlarge them to read the information:

This placard below describes how the natural beauty of Peggy's Cove has attracted many artists and photographers over the years:

One such artist who became famous as a painter, sculptor and illustrator was William E. DeGarthe. He was born in Finland in 1907 and immigrated to Canada when he was 19 years old. He apprenticed under Stanley Royle in Sackville, New Brunswick, while studying at Mount Allison University. William Edward DeGarthe paintings were of Peggy's Cove and the villagers and small coastal towns around it.  Degarthe's Peggys Cove home and studio has been transformed into the William E. deGarthe Gallery where 65 of his paintings and sculptures are on permanent exhibition. It is open from May 1 until October 31 each year.

An informational placard on the side of the DeGarthe gallery--click on to enlarge.

In the late 1970s, deGarthe began a ten-year project to sculpt a "lasting monument to Nova Scotia fishermen" on a 30 m (100 ft) granite outcropping behind his Peggy's Cove Home. In 1976 deGarthe invited one of his students, J. Rene Barrette (Lt. Col. Retd) to help him with the sculpture. They worked together for 5 years. The project was about 80-per cent complete when the artist died in 1983

Some close-ups of the sculpture.

The work depicts thirty-two fishermen and their wives and children enveloped by the wings of the guardian angel St. Elmo. It also features the image of Peggy, a legendary late-18th century shipwreck survivor deGarthe believed gave her name to the village. DeGarthe bequeathed the sculpture to the province of Nova Scotia and it can be viewed in a park located behind his former home/

Degarthe's ashes are interred inside the sculpture.

A last look at the picturesque village and lighthouse. We were happy to visit Peggy's Cove again and learn more about it!

My life lately:

I hope everyone is having an enjoyable summer! We have been busy as we helped move our community's historical society's large historical archive collection from one building to another. My husband and I have also been involved in a project with other volunteers to digitalize the many historical files and photographs for preservation purposes. We have many sites in our area on the National Register of Historic Places, so the work is very interesting  We also lost two dear local friends recently-- one was expected but one was not.  We hold our good memories of them both in our hearts. Cherish each day to the fullest!

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