Chandeleur Island Light

Last updated
Chandeleur Island Light
Chandeleur Island Light 02.jpg
c. 1986
Chandeleur Island Light
Location Chandeleur Islands, Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana
Coordinates 30°2′50″N88°52′41″W / 30.04722°N 88.87806°W / 30.04722; -88.87806
Tower
Constructed1848
FoundationPile
ConstructionIron
Automated1966
ShapeSkeletal with cylinder
MarkingsBrown with black lantern
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Fog signal none
Light
First lit1896 (most recent tower)
Deactivateddestroyed by Katrina, 2005
Focal height102 feet (31 m)
Lens3rd order Fresnel lens
Characteristic various, most recent: Flashing white
Chandeleur Light
Nearest city New Orleans, Louisiana
Area0.1 acres (0.040 ha)
Built1896
Architectural styleLighthouse Tower
NRHP reference No. 86001404 [1]
Added to NRHPJune 25, 1986

The Chandeleur Island Light was a lighthouse established in 1848 near the northern end of the Chandeleur Islands in the Gulf of Mexico, off the east coast of Louisiana. [2] Hurricane Katrina destroyed the light in 2005.

Contents

History

The first light was finished in 1848 with nine lamps in 21 inches (530 mm) reflectors about 55 feet (17 m) above the base. The tower and the keeper's house were destroyed by a hurricane in August 1852. [3]

A second, brick, tower was in operation by 1855, with a focal plane of 50 feet (15 m). By 1865 it had a 4th order Fresnel lens. This tower was the only building on the site that survived the hurricane of October 1, 1893, but it was badly damaged and was taken down. Congress appropriated $35,000 for its replacement. [4]

A new, iron skeleton tower with a 3rd order Fresnel lens (focal plane 102 feet (31 m)) was erected in its place in 1895. [5] The light figured in a case before the United States Supreme Court. After a barge carrying fertilizer ran aground, it was determined that the Coast Guard had been negligent in maintaining the proper operation of the light. The Court held that the United States was liable. [6] The light was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 as Chandeleur Light.

Erosion eventually left the tower standing alone in the water, with the last auxiliary building, a keeper's house, destroyed by Hurricane Camille in 1969. The tower was utterly destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, so that a visit by a research vessel the following spring found no trace of it. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bald Head Light</span> Lighthouse in North Carolina, US

Bald Head Lighthouse, known as Old Baldy, is the oldest lighthouse still standing in North Carolina. It is the second of three lighthouses that have been built on Bald Head Island since the 18th century to help guide ships past the dangerous shoals at the mouth of the Cape Fear river.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheffield Island Light</span> United States historic place

Sheffield Island Light is a historic lighthouse located at the southern end of the Norwalk Islands in Norwalk, Connecticut. It marks the west side of the mouth of the Norwalk River on northern Long Island Sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Poge Light</span> Lighthouse in Massachusetts, US

Cape Poge Light, sometimes called Cape Pogue Light, is at the northeast tip of Chappaquiddick Island that is part of Martha's Vineyard, off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chandeleur Islands</span> Island chain in the Gulf of Mexico

The Chandeleur Islands are a chain of uninhabited barrier islands approximately 50 miles (80 km) long, located in the Gulf of Mexico, marking the outer boundary of the Chandeleur Sound. They form the easternmost point of the state of Louisiana, United States and are a part of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge. They are an important migrating point for many birds on their way south, and are a prime marsh and forest wildlife area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amelia Island Light</span> Lighthouse in Florida, United States

The Amelia Island Light is the oldest existing lighthouse in the state of Florida in the United States. It is located near the northern end of Amelia Island in the northeastern part of the state. Its light marks St. Marys Entrance, the inlet leading to St. Marys River, the Cumberland Sound and the harbor of Fernandina Beach, Florida along the Amelia River. The white light flashes every ten seconds which turns red from 344° to 360° when covering the shoal water in the vicinity of Nassau Sound.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Egmont Key Light</span> Lighthouse in Florida, United States

The current Egmont Key Light dates from 1858. It is the oldest structure in the Tampa Bay area still used for its original purpose.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Marks Light</span> Lighthouse in Florida, United States

The St. Marks Light is the second-oldest light station in Florida, United States. It is located on the east side of the mouth of the St. Marks River, on Apalachee Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cana Island Light</span> Lighthouse

The Cana Island lighthouse is a lighthouse located just north of Baileys Harbor in Door County, Wisconsin, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Georgetown Light</span> Lighthouse in South Carolina, US

Georgetown Light is an active light on North Island at the entrance to Winyah Bay southeast of Georgetown, South Carolina. The light is maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard, and the lighthouse is now under the control of State of South Carolina as part of the Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center Heritage Preserve. The lighthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tawas Point Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

Tawas Point Light is located in the Tawas Point State Park off Tawas Bay in Lake Huron in Baldwin Township in Northern Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Sanilac Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

Port Sanilac Light is a United States Coast Guard lighthouse located on Point Sanilac, near Port Sanilac on the eastern side of Michigan's Thumb. It is an automated and active aid to navigation on Lake Huron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Manitou Island Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

South Manitou Island Lighthouse is located on South Manitou Island in Lake Michigan, 16 miles (26 km) west of Leland, Michigan. It is in Leelanau County in western Northern Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tarpaulin Cove Light</span> Lighthouse in Massachusetts, U.S.

The Tarpaulin Cove Light is a historic lighthouse on Naushon Island, one of the Elizabeth Islands of southern Massachusetts. It is located in the town of Gosnold, Massachusetts. Built on the site of a light station first established privately in the 18th century, the current tower dates from 1891. A keeper's house built at the same time has not survived. The light is 78 feet (24 m) above Mean High Water, and its white light is visible for 9 nautical miles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Libby Island Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, United States

Libby Island Light is a lighthouse on Libby Island, marking the mouth of Machias Bay, in Machiasport, Maine. The light station was established in 1817 and is an active aid to navigation; the present granite tower was built in 1823 and improved in 1848. Libby Island Light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places as Libby Island Light Station on June 18, 1976.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Petit Manan Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

Petit Manan Light is a lighthouse on Petit Manan Island, Maine. The island is at the end of a series of ledges extending out from Petit Manan Point, between Dyer Bay and Pigeon Hill Bay, that projects into the Gulf of Maine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baker Island Light</span> Lighthouse in Maine, US

Baker Island Light is a lighthouse on Baker Island, Maine, which is part of Acadia National Park. The light station was established in 1828 as a guide to the southern entrance to Frenchman Bay. The present tower was built in 1855; the well-preserved tower, keeper's house, and associated outbuildings were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gull Rock Light Station</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The Gull Rock Light Station is an active lighthouse located on Gull Rock, just west of Manitou Island, off the tip of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula in Lake Superior. The light was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984, even as its condition deteriorated, resulting in its placement on the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Canal Light</span> Lighthouse in Louisiana, US

The New Canal Light or was first established in 1838 at the north end of the New Basin Canal which ran from Lake Pontchartrain to the Uptown or "American" section of the city which today is known as the New Orleans Central Business District. The canal was filled in about 1950, but the lighthouse remained on a jetty extending into the lake on a half mile long stretch of the canal that was left and is still used as a small boat and yachting harbor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Round Island Light, Mississippi</span> Lighthouse in Mississippi, United States

Round Island Lighthouse stood from 1859 to 1998 on the southwest end of Round Island in the Mississippi Sound, 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Pascagoula, Mississippi. In September 1998, the lighthouse was toppled by Hurricane Georges. In 2010, the base of the structure and other lighthouse remnants were removed from Round Island and relocated within the City of Pascagoula for restoration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pass A L'Outre Light</span> Lighthouse in Louisiana, US

The Pass A L'Outre Light is a defunct lighthouse in the Birdfoot Delta in Louisiana, United States, located near the mouth of the Mississippi River. Erected to mark the then-active entrance to the river, it was abandoned as that channel silted up. It has been in the path of several noteworthy hurricanes, and was heavily damaged. It is on the Lighthouse Digest Doomsday List, and is critically in danger. The lighthouse is at the center of a nature preserve.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Louisiana". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
  3. 1 2 "Chandeleur Island, LA". LighthouseFriends. Archived from the original on 2013-08-06. Retrieved 2013-05-20.
  4. (28  Stat.   375)
  5. "Breton National Wildlife Refuge. Refuge brochure. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. August, 2006, p.4" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-27. Retrieved 2011-04-05.
  6. Indian Towing Co. v. United States 350 U.S. 61 (1955)