It comes as no surprise that the Louisiana Gulf Coast was and is a complex assembly of river and bayou outlets, bays, shoals, and islands. As one moves west from the Mississippi River passes, the influence of the massive deposition of river sediments diminishes. One positive consequence of this circumstance is that the foundation conditions for the construction of lighthouses were generally more favorable than those found at the Mississippi River passes. However, these more desirable soil conditions did not protect lighthouses from the possible disastrous consequences of Gulf storms and hurricanes. As with the previous lighthouse brief, this draws principally from the book, Lighthouses, Lightships, and the Gulf of Mexico authored by David L. Cipra.

Moving from west from Southwest Pass, lighthouses were sited at the following locations: Barataria Bay, Timbalier Bay, Ship Shoal, Atchafalaya Bay, Point Defer, Southwest Reef, Point Au Fer Reef, Vermillion Bay, Shell Keys, Trinity Shoal, Sabine Pass, Sabine Bank, and Calcasieu River. Rather than address all the lighthouses, an attempt will be made to consider only those of some significant importance. This brief, designated Part A, will be limited to a consideration of the lighthouses at Timbalier Bay and Ship Shoal.

Thought to be unnavigable, the results of survey of Timbalier Bay by the U. S. Coast Survey found 10 ft of water at Grand Pass, enough for steamers to enter the bay and follow Bayou Lafourche to an outlet on the Mississippi River near the present site of Donalsonville. Because of its strategic location, Donaldson was established in 1806 and “became an important trading post and one of the oldest settlements in the state” (https://waterheritageatchafalaya.org) . The bayou was dammed at Donalsonville in 1905, thus isolating the bayou from the water of the Mississippi River. This action resulted in turning the bayou into a “stagnant ditch.” This circumstance was subsequently reversed in the 1950’s by the installation of a pumping station to restore freshwater flow in the bayou.

In 1854, Congress appropriated $15,000 for a light station to mark the entrance to Timbalier Bay. The lighthouse was completed in 1857 at a location near the east end of Timbalier Island. Whereas a definitive description of the original lighthouse could not be found, it is believed to have been a brick masonry tower. As was the case for many lighthouses, its operation was discontinued during the Civil War, but it was refurbished and returned to service in September 1865. Erosion in the vicinity of the lighthouse and flooding around the base of the tower in the summer of 1866 caused the keeper at the time, Thomas C. Barton, to abandon his post and resign. Early the following year, the lighthouse lens was removed and stored for safety purposes in the keeper’s dwelling on which a light was hung from the roof. On March 29-30, 1867, a hurricane completely destroyed the lighthouse and keeper’s house. The keepers at the time escaped with their lives by clinging to an iron can buoy for several days before being rescued. Whereas the Lighthouse Board immediately requested authorization and funding from Congress for a replacement lighthouse, it was not until January 1875 that an iron screwpile tower was in place at a location inside the island and lit with a revolving second-order lens at a height of 125-ft. above sea level. Two problems emerged at the lighthouse in 1881: (1) the lens could not revolve due to canting of the tower and (2) lead from the protective coating on the tower was leaching into the drinking water cistern. The latter issue represented a serious health hazard to the keepers. Both problems were resolved only to experience the tower canting issue again in 1894. The canting problem proved to be too difficult to resolve, ultimately leading to the complete toppling of the tower. Fortunately, although damaged, the lens was saved. Until the lighthouse was replaced in 1917, a light was displayed from the roof of the keeper’s house. The third Timbalier Bay lighthouse (shown here) consisted of a light above the roof of a square dwelling resting on a platform supported by 25 iron-encased timber piles. Despite what would appear to be an indestructible foundation system, the hurricane of August 24, 1926, caused the lighthouse to tip. In an attempt to restore and protect the tower from future storms, more than 500 tons of rip rap were subsequently placed around the foundation piles only to have them washed away in 1931. The light was converted to “unwatched operation” in 1939 and left unmanned. Interestingly, the Coast Guard used the tower as a lookout for German U-boats that prowled the Gulf during WWII. The lighthouse was destroyed by Hurricane Juan in 1985.

In 1848, the Louisiana Legislature petitioned Congress to construct a lighthouse on the Isle Derniere or Last Island, a barrier island approximately 25 miles in length and at points one mile wide. It was located about 5 miles off the Louisiana mainland in the Gulf of Mexico and 90 miles or so west of the Mississippi River delta. In addition to serving to mark Ship Shoal located several miles southeast of the isle, one likely motivation for the lighthouse petition was the fact that the isle was a popular summer vacation destination, principally for residents of New Orleans. The isle offered hotels, gambling houses, saloons, and fine restaurants. Its Last Island Village included as many as 100 beach houses ranging from fine homes to temporary summer homes. Transportation to the isle was principally provided by the steamer Star from Bayou Boeuf. Passage involved crossing the Mississippi River on the Algiers train ferry followed by a ride on the New Orleans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad to the steamer terminal on Bayou Boeuf. If you read earlier briefs, you might recall that Charles Morgan bought and then operated the NOOGW railroad. Rather than constructing a lighthouse on the isle, it was decided to convert a revenue cutter into a lightship at a cost of almost $13,000 and station it at Ship Shoal. The lightship, renamed the Pleasonton in honor of Stephen Pleasonton, was placed into service on December 29, 1849. Pleasonton was the Fifth Auditor of the Treasury and was responsible for overseeing lighthouses in the US for over 30 years prior to the creation of the Lighthouse Board in 1852. It was at this time that the Board decided to replace the lightship on Ship Shoal with a permanent lighthouse, specifically an iron skeletal tower. In all, Congress allocated almost $90,000 (another source listed the amount spent for design and construction at $103,000) for the fabrication and installation of the lighthouse, a total significantly exceeding the cost of most of the lighthouses erected at the Mississippi River passes. In advance of the installation of the lighthouse on the shoal, a powerful hurricane struck the isle on August 10, 1856, resulting in the death of over 200 people out of some 400 people on the isle at the time. On the morning of Sunday the 10th, the steamboat ferry Star was headed towards the isle and lost its bearings. Consideration was being given to returning to the terminal in Bayou Boeuf. However, being concerned about the safety of the persons on the isle, Captain Abraham Smith of the Star continued the trip to the ferry terminal on the isle. The full force of the hurricane, equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane with winds up to 150 mph, hit the isle that afternoon at 3 pm. The winds were accompanied by a 13 ft surge. Despite being subjected to these dangerous conditions and having her top deck ripped off, the Star stayed afloat and provided shelter for 160 people or about 80 percent of the survivors. It is reported that a saloon keeper and crewman found a sailboat the next morning and were able make their way via the Atchafalaya River to Brashear City (later Morgan City) where they convinced a steamer to return to the isle and rescue the survivors. In addition to the deaths and devastation, the hurricane effectively split the isle in two and rendered it more or less uninhabitable. Today, the remains form the Isle Dernieres chain of five islands, three of which make up the Terrebone Barrier Islands Refuge- home for nesting water birds.

The design and fabrication of the Ship Shoal lighthouse was awarded to the I. P. Morris Company’s Port Richmond Iron Works in Philadelphia. In January 1858 and in advance of shipping the iron skeletal tower to Louisiana for installation, the tower was actually assembled at the Iron Works to ensure the satisfactory fit of the various components of the tower. Installation of the tower on the shoal was initiated by embedding eight vertical 30-ft. screw piles fifteen feet into the soils underlying the shoal. Once accomplished, the tower complex was erected on top of the installed system of screw piles. As installed, the base and light room of the tower rose some 25-ft. and 125-ft., respectively, above the water level. Rising from the base of the tower was a 2-story cylindrical keeper’s house. The light was equipped with a second-order Fresnel lens, a very large lens that would produce a very bright light over a significant distance, possibly as great as 20 miles. William Croft, the first keeper of record of the Ship Shoal Lighthouse, lit the light for the first time on February 29, 1860. Similar to other lighthouses along the Gulf Coast, the operation of the lighthouse was suspended for a period during the Civil War. Confederate forces removed the lighthouse’s Fresnel lens and stashed them away at Berwick City only to have Union forces restore the light with a new lens in November 1864. The original lens was recovered in 1865 and presumably re-installed. However, as early as 1866, a new problem arose similar to that experienced at the Timbalier Bay lighthouse. That is, keepers were becoming sick and even paralyzed. The problem was traced to lead leaching from the coating on the tower into the water collected in the tower’s cisterns. The solution- removal of the lead coating and replacement with a coal tar coating.

From time to time, storms/hurricanes have either interrupted the operation or threatened the stability of the tower. One such incident occurred in October 1868 as the result of what was described as a “severe cyclone”. The vibrations of the tower from the strong winds caused the oil in the reservoirs of the mechanism controlling the rotation of the lens to be spilled and shutting the light down for 6 hours. A more severe situation developed in 1870 at which time the erosion of the seabed had progressed to the point of affecting the stability of the tower. Specifically, the tower developed a significant lean to the northeast which resulted in irregularities in the operation of the lens. Efforts were made to correct the tower lean and stabilize the seabed by placement of concrete and ballast around the legs of the tower. While initially successful, it became a continual maintenance issue to replace material carried away by storm-generated currents.

The lighthouse continued to operate functionally and safely for almost 60 years at which time it was automated in 1929 despite a “noticeable lean.” Subsequently, the lighthouse continued to operate satisfactorily despite numerous storms until it was abandoned and discontinued in 1965.

At one time, there was a plan to relocate the main section of the lighthouse to Berwick, LA, to be displayed alongside the tower from the Southwest Reef Lighthouse shown here. This lighthouse was originally located at the end of the southwest reef to guide vessels into the Atchafalaya River. Its light was first lit on September 1, 1859. It is said to be one of only two such lighthouses of this type ever built. The plan to relocate the Ship Shoal Lighthouse and display it at Berwick never materialized.