Merrill Shell Bank Light

Merrill Shell Bank Light

undated photograph of Merrill Shell Bank Light (USCG)
Location	Mississippi Sound south of Pass Christian
Coordinates	30°14′33″N89°14′56″W / 30.2425°N 89.2489°W / 30.2425; -89.2489 [1]
Tower
Constructed	1860 (first house) 1883 (second house) [2]
Foundation	Screw-pile [1]
Construction	square wooden house [1]
Automated	1932
Light
Deactivated	1945
Focal height	42 ft (13 m) [1]

The Merrill Shell Bank Light was a screw-pile lighthouse which once stood on its eponymous shoal in the Mississippi Sound, west of Cat Island and south of Pass Christian, Mississippi. It was replaced by a skeleton tower on the same foundation.

History

The shoal was first marked by the hull of the former revenue cutter McLane serving as a lightship beginning in 1847, but this was replaced by a screw-pile light in 1860. The light was extinguished by the Confederates but was undamaged, and was re-lit in 1863. The house was damaged by fire in 1880, and was utterly destroyed in 1883 by another fire; it was rebuilt the same year. ^[3] In 1932 it was automated, and in 1945 the house was removed and replaced by a skeleton tower on the same foundation. ^[4] This tower was damaged by the hurricanes of 2005 and was discontinued in 2007. ^[5]

References

1. List of Lights and Fog Signals on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States. Government Printing Office. March 1, 1907. pp. 242, 243. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
2. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Mississippi". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2009-02-26.
3. Holland, Jr., Francis Ross (1988). America's Lighthouses. Dover. p. 145. ISBN   9780486139272 . Retrieved 2016-02-19.
4. "Merrill's Shell Bank Light". Lighthouse Explorer Database. Foghorn Publishing. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
5. Local Notice to Mariners: District 8: Gulf. January 17, 2007. United States Coast Guard: p. 25.