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Pointe-au-Père is near the mouth of the St. Lawrence River and about 160 miles northeast of Quebec City, Canada. For many years, river pilots helped incoming vessels to steer safely toward Quebec City. The Montreal Ocean Steamship Company established the first lighthouse and foghorn on Pointe-au-Père in 1859. The government of Canada purchased the lighthouse two years later. After the original lighthouse was destroyed by fire, a new one was built in 1867. The first and second lighthouses were both wooden dwellings with lanterns on their roofs.



Pointe-au-Père Lighthouse, U.S. Lighthouse Society photo.



Cindy Larouche (Parks Canada)



Work on the extant lighthouse at Pointe-au-Père began in 1909. The octagonal tower, 92 feet tall, is made of steel-reinforced concrete. With its buttresses, the design was unusual for Canada. Today, the Pointe-au-Père Lighthouse National Historic Site offers climbs to the top of the tower and exhibits in the former keeper’s house.



Cindy Larouche is the manager of the Pointe-au-Père National Historic Site, and she also manages the Battle of the Restigouche National Historic Site. 



Here is a transcript of the interview:



JEREMY D'ENTREMONT



I'm speaking today with Cindy Larouche, who is the manager of the Pointe-au-Père National Historic Site in Quebec, Canada. We've covered lighthouses in Nova Scotia and British Columbia before on this podcast. This is the first time we're focusing on one in Quebec. Thank you so much for joining me today, Cindy.



CINDY LAROUCHE



Nice to meet you.



JEREMY



Likewise. Let's talk about the history of the lighthouse and so forth. But before we do that, I just want to ask you – I'm kind of curious to know a little bit about what led you to being the manager of two historic sites in Quebec.



CINDY LAROUCHE



Well, it was a happy coincidence that led me to become the visitor experience manager at two historic sites of Parks Canada. First of all, having a very great interest in travel, I first studied tourism and then I did a bachelor’s degree in history at the University of Quebec at Rimouski. I always been drawn to culture, education, and museum sector. And furthermore, I have worked in tourism and cultural development in various institutions in Gaspésie and the Lower St. Lawrence region. So when I saw that Parks Canada was looking to fill a position on its team, I told myself, Cindy, you must apply right away. There was a mix of my interest and it helped me to use my skills in many ways. I applied for my dream job and I got it. And I'm still here eight years later. Managing two incredible national sites and doing my best to keep employees happy at work and visitors enjoying their visit. 



JEREMY



Yeah. Well, that's great. You know, not everybody gets to find their dream job, so I'm happy that worked out for you. That's wonderful. 



CINDY LAROUCHE



Yeah. 



JEREMY



So besides the lighthouse site, you also manage the Battle of the Restigouche National Historic Site. Can you explain what that is?



CINDY LAROUCHE



Yeah, this national historic site highlights a very interesting but little-known event in the history of New France. It was the last naval battle that took place in the Restigouche River between the French and the British for the conquest of the North American territory. During this war in 1760, the colony of New France was forced to ask for reinforcements from France, which sent soldiers and ammunition and food to the fleet of six ships. In the end, only three ships including a frigate and two merchant ships ended up in the Restigouche River to hide. They were eventually sunk by British ships in a battle that took place and resulted in the victory of the British fleet. And for more than 200 years, the remains of the different ships remained underwater. But in the ‘70s, Parks Canada carried out archeological excavations, which brought to the surface parts of the Machault sh...