Cape North Lighthouse, Lighthouse in Alta Vista, Ottawa, Canada

Cape North Lighthouse is a 29-metre cylindrical tower of 32 bolted cast-iron plates, painted in a red and white checkerboard pattern with a red lantern. Built in 1856 for Cape Race, Newfoundland, it was moved to Cape North, Nova Scotia, in 1908 and now stands landlocked in the Technology Park of the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa.

The tower was cast in England by Trinity House and installed at Cape Race, Newfoundland, in 1856. When a larger light was built there, the 32 cast-iron plates were unbolted, shipped and reassembled at Cape North, Nova Scotia, in 1911 with a new Chance Brothers Fresnel lens. It served until 1980, when the Canadian Coast Guard transferred it to the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa.

The tower's red and white checkerboard pattern was painted to keep it visible in dense fog and against snowy landscapes. Its Fresnel lens, made by Chance Brothers of England, floated in a bed of mercury and was turned by clockwork before electrification. The museum offers guided tours of the lighthouse in summer.

The tower stands in the Technology Park of the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, not on a coast. The museum runs guided tours of the lighthouse in summer; an earthquake on 3 July 2010 caused a mercury spill inside, forcing a temporary closure and a costly cleanup before it reopened.

The tower is made of 32 cast-iron plates bolted together, a modular design meant to cut costs and allow assembly in remote spots by local, unskilled labour. A 2010 earthquake caused a mercury spill inside, forcing a costly cleanup and a temporary closure.