Point Clark, Ontario

:"This article is about the lakeside community in Ontario. For the city with a similar name in Alaska, see Clark's Point, Alaska"

Point Clark is a lakefront town on Lake Huron, in Canada. It is south of Kincardine and north of Goderich. Main streets include Huron Road and Lakerange Road. Point Clark is served by Highway 21 (Ontario). It is a cottage town, and has a rare Imperial Tower style lighthouse. There is a sandy beach and a small harbor with a boat ramp. There are two streams/rivers that run into Lake Huron around Point Clark: Clark's Creek and Pine River. There is a separate harbor in the mouth of the Pine River. Amberley is just outside and to the south of Point Clark and Lucknow is to the south-east of Point Clark.

History

Point Clark was originally called simply, The Point, in 1850. Then the name was changed to Pine Point because a lantern was hung from a pine tree to warn sailors before there was a lighthouse. Finally the name was changed to the current name, Point Clark, after settlers moved in from Clark Township, Huron County.

Lighthouse

Point Clark is known for its lighthouse which warns sailors of the reef 2 miles off the Lake Huron coast. It is 87 feet (26.5 m) tall, made of limestone and has 117 steps. The 12 sided cast iron [ [http://www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/on/clark/index_E.asp Parks Canada - Point Clark Lighthouse National Historic Site of Canada ] ] lantern was first lit on April 1, 1859. The Point Clark lighthouse was the first Ontario lighthouse to be designated a National Historic Site by Parks Canada. The lighthouse was built by John Brown in the well-known series of the six Imperial Towers.cite web|url=http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/lighthouse/onlh.htm|author=Rowlett, Russ|title=The Lighthouse Directory|accessdate=8 September|accessyear=2008] Its light characteristic is a single white flash every ten seconds, emitted at a focal plane height of 93 feet (28.5 m).

The lightkeeper's house is now a museum operated by the Township of Huron-Kinloss and tourists can tour the lighthouse from mid June to Labour Day. [ [http://www.huronkinloss.com/pointclark.htm Point Clark Ontario Canada ] ]

Wind farm

There is a wind farm being made near Point Clark, developed by Suncor Energy Products Inc. and Acciona Wind Energy Canada over 3,600 hectares of land. There are 38 turbines being erected and each has a capacity of 2000 kilowatts. It is estimated the wind farm will generate over 216,000 megawatt-hours per year of energy which is enough to power 22,000 homes. [ [http://www.powerauthority.on.ca/Page.asp?PageID=924&ContentID=5108 OPA - Ontario Power Authority: Ripley Wind Power Project (76 MW) - Huron/Kinloss TWP ] ]

External links

* [http://www.huronkinloss.com/pointclark.htm Point Clark Official Government]
* [http://www.brucecoastlighthouses.com/point_clark.cfm Lighthouse Information]
* [http://www.pcba.ca/ Point Clark Beach Association]

References