Gallows Point Light – Protection Island
Gallows Point (originally Execution Point) takes its name from the fact that two native murderers were hanged there in 1853. Sixty years later, just offshore in the same immediate area, the dynamite carrier S.S. Oscar exploded, damaging much of downtown Nanaimo.
The fixed red light, first installed at nearby Gallows Point in 1900, was replaced by a more powerful beacon in 1905 and was initially operated by miners from the Western Fuel Company. In the 1920s, a foghorn was also installed to reinforce safety and navigational concerns. The light was eventually automated and remains an aid to navigation.