Belyea's Point Light, Riverside lighthouse in Morrisdale, New Brunswick
Belyea's Point Light is an 11-metre landfall lighthouse on the Saint John River near Morrisdale, at the southern tip of Long Reach. The original 1881 tower was a white square wooden structure 12 metres tall; after the 1930 flood damage it was rebuilt on higher ground nearby. It shows a single green flash every five seconds at a focal plane of 14 metres.
In 1881 the Canadian Parliament allocated 800 dollars for a lighthouse at Belyea's Point, but the tender was won by Saunders Clarke, who priced the work at 395 dollars. The tower was finished the following year and entered service on June 1, 1882, with Spafford Barker Belyea as first keeper. Flooding damaged the original wooden tower in 1930, and it was rebuilt on higher ground nearby. The Canadian Coast Guard now owns and maintains it.
The lighthouse is named for Spafford Barker Belyea, its first keeper, and for Hendrick Belyea, the area's original United Empire Loyalist settler. Other lighthouses along the Saint John River, such as McCollgan Point and Robertson Point, are likewise named after the first owners of the land they stand on, who often became their first keepers.
The tower sits at an accessible location along the river and can be viewed from nearby shoreline areas and walking paths around Morrisdale. Visitors should check local conditions, as riverside access and visibility can change with the seasons and water levels.
During spring floods, the elevated structure appears to float on the Saint John River as water levels rise dramatically before returning to normal. This seasonal transformation reveals how powerfully the river can surge when snow and ice melt in the region.
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