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Porphyry Island

Coordinates: 48°21′02″N 88°38′09″W / 48.35056°N 88.63583°W / 48.35056; -88.63583
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Porphyry Island
Porphyry Island is located in Ontario
Porphyry Island
Porphyry Island
Geography
LocationLake Superior
Coordinates48°21′02″N 88°38′09″W / 48.35056°N 88.63583°W / 48.35056; -88.63583
Area107 ha (260 acres)[1]
Length3 km (1.9 mi)
Width0.5 km (0.31 mi)
Administration
Canada
ProvinceOntario
DistrictThunder Bay
Demographics
Populationuninhabited nature reserve

Porphyry Island is an island in Unorganized Thunder Bay District in northwestern Ontario, Canada.[2] It is the last island in a chain stretching south west of the Black Bay Peninsula in Lake Superior. It is located about 6 kilometres (4 mi) from Edward Island Provincial Park, 13 kilometres (8 mi) from Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, 14 kilometres (9 mi) east of Silver Islet, Ontario, and 42 kilometres (26 mi) east of the city of Thunder Bay.

The island and nature reserve take their name from the characteristic quartz and feldspar crystals, or porphyries found in the volcanic rocks.

The entire 107-hectare (264-acre) island constitutes the Porphyry Island Provincial Park or nature reserve.[3]

Point Porphyry Lighthouse

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The federal government established a lighthouse at Point Porphyry in 1873. This is located at the southwestern tip of the island.[4]

References

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  1. ^ Ontario Crown Land Use Policy Atlas
  2. ^ "Porphyry Island". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  3. ^ "Porphyry Island". Ontario Parks. 2002-11-12. Retrieved 2011-09-07.
  4. ^ Boegh, Beth (2005). "The Point Porphyry Light, Lake Superior : the Andrew Dick Diary and Reminiscences of Bob McKay from a Century of Lighthouse Keeping". Papers and Records. XXXIII. Thunder Bay Historical Museum Society: 17–41.

Sources

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