These are some of the stories I’ve collected of my grandfather, William Lamondin, growing up in a lighthouse.

The Lamondin family has lived in Britt, Ontario since before the town had this name. I’ve heard stories about when Britt was a logging town, when the coal docks were the centre of activity, when the railway was installed, when electricity arrived, and when the lighthouse became automated and no longer required a keeper. As my parents drive up and down the Britt road, they recite histories of the buildings and the families, sometimes going back a hundred years.