It was decided to erect a light to mark the eastern entrance to St. Margarets Bay in 1868. While best known as the Peggys Cove Lighthouse, it was and remains, officially known as the Peggys Point Lighthouse, as its purpose is to mark the point, not the cove. The cove has its own small light on the government wharf. The first lighthouse was a wooden tower, built atop a keepers dwelling at the point. It was a red light and used a catoptric reflector (a round silver-plated mirror) to magnify the kerosene oil lamp.