Pass Christian Light

Last updated
Pass Christian Light
Pass Christian Light USCG.jpg
Pass Christian Light (USCG)
Pass Christian Light
Location Pass Christian, Mississippi [1]
Coordinates 30°18′50″N89°15′3″W / 30.31389°N 89.25083°W / 30.31389; -89.25083
Tower
Height30 feet (9.1 m)(2nd)
Shapeconical tower [1]
Light
First lit1831 [1]
Deactivated1882 [1]
Lenslamps w/reflectors
fourth-order Fresnel lens (2nd)

The Pass Christian Light, in Pass Christian, Mississippi, was one of the first lighthouses built in the State. First lit in 1831, it was deactivated in 1882 and later demolished.

History

The Pass Christian Light, along with the Cat Island Light, was built by Winslow Lewis, constructor of many early lighthouses. The tower was originally 28 feet (8.5 m) and equipped with an array of eight lamps and reflectors, first lit in 1831; in 1857 this was replaced with a fourth-order Fresnel lens. [1] The lighthouse and keeper's dwelling sat in the center of town on the main street on a half-acre (0.2 ha) plot purchased for $250 from Senator Edward Livingston of Louisiana. [2]

The obscuring of the beacon by obstructions became a theme of the history of the light. In 1860, for example, complaints were registered as to a cupola on an adjoining store; proposal was made to increase the height of the tower in order to clear the obstruction. [3] At the same time consideration was made of selling the property and building a new light at a different site, as the current site had become more valuable as a result of its central location in town. [3] This came to naught amid the Civil War, for Confederate forces took the lens from the tower, and the light went dark until 1866. [1] [4] Restoration of the beacon came at the behest of citizens of the town, and the old lens (which had been located at war's end) was returned to the tower. At this time it appears that the tower was raised by two feet. In 1878 the dilapidated keeper's house was replaced with a much larger dwelling. [1]

By this time obstruction of the beacon had become an issue again, but this time the culprit was trees which had grown up on a neighboring lot. The owner refused to remove or trim the trees, and the lighthouse board concluded that the light was not useful and should be discontinued. [1] [4] Although objections were raised by shippers and local residents, they were to no avail: the light was extinguished in 1882 and the property sold the year after. [3] The lighthouse itself was demolished. [4]

Related Research Articles

The Sands Point Lighthouse is located in the Incorporated Village of Sands Point in the Town of North Hempstead, in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. The fourth lighthouse to be established on Long Island, this 1809 stone tower was built by an American Revolutionary War veteran who stayed on as its first keeper for many years. The Lighthouse is sometimes referred to the Mitchell Lighthouse, after Samuel L. Mitchell, the man who fought for it to be constructed.

<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">Cape Fear Light</span> Lighthouse in North Carolina, US

Cape Fear Lighthouse was a coastal beacon built in 1903, replacing the Bald Head Lighthouse as the main navigation aid for Cape Fear and the Frying Pan Shoals off the coast of the U.S. state of North Carolina. It stood near the cape on Bald Head Island. It was a steel octagonal pyramidal skeleton frame lighthouse, as opposed to the conical brick lighthouses usually associated with the state. It was painted red and white horizontal stripes: three white and two red and housed a first-order Fresnel lens produced by the Henry-LePaute Company in France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Presque Isle Light</span> Lighthouse in Michigan, United States

The New Presque Isle Light was built in 1870, at Presque Isle, Michigan, east of Grand Lake, and sits on the namesake peninsula. It is one of 149 lighthouses in Michigan, more than any other state. Because of changing shoreline particularly, or alternatively deterioration of the original building, it is not uncommon for a replacement lighthouse to be placed in the vicinity of an earlier light, in this case, the Old Presque Isle Light.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pensacola Light</span> Lighthouse in Florida, US

The Pensacola Light is a lighthouse at Pensacola Bay, in Florida. It is the third iteration of what was originally a lightship, the Aurora Borealis, and remains an aid to navigation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ponce de Leon Inlet Light</span> Lighthouse in Florida, US

The Ponce de Leon Inlet Light is a lighthouse and museum located at Ponce de León Inlet in Central Florida. At 175 feet (53 m) in height, it is the tallest lighthouse in the state and one of the tallest in the United States. It is located between St. Augustine Light and Cape Canaveral Light. Restored by the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse Preservation Association, the lighthouse became a National Historic Landmark in 1998.

<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. It is located on the east side of the mouth of the St. Marks River, on Apalachee Bay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montauk Point Light</span> Lighthouse in New York, United States

The Montauk Point Light, or Montauk Point Lighthouse, is a lighthouse located adjacent to Montauk Point State Park, at the easternmost point of Long Island, in the hamlet of Montauk in the Town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York. The lighthouse was the first to be built within the state of New York, and was the first public works project of the new United States. It is the fourth oldest active lighthouse in the United States. Montauk Point Light is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 2012, it was designated as a National Historic Landmark for its significance to New York and international shipping in the early Federal period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Dungeness Light</span> Lighthouse

The New Dungeness Lighthouse is a functioning aid to navigation on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, located on the Dungeness Spit in the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge near Sequim, Clallam County, in the U.S. state of Washington. It has been in continuous operation since 1857, although the current lighthouse tower is 26 feet (7.9 m) shorter than when first constructed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alcatraz Island Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse in the San Francisco Bay, California

Alcatraz Island Lighthouse is a lighthouse—the first one built on the U.S. West Coast—located on Alcatraz Island in California's San Francisco Bay. It is located at the southern end of the island near the entrance to the prison. The first light house on the island was completed in 1854, and served the bay during its time as a Citadel and military prison. It was replaced by a taller concrete tower built in 1909 to the south of the original one which was demolished after it was damaged due to earthquake in 1906. The automation of the lighthouse with a modern beacon took place in 1963, the year Alcatraz closed as the Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. It is the oldest light station on the island with a modern beacon and is part of the museum on the island. Although when viewed from afar it easily looks the tallest structure on Alcatraz, it is actually shorter than the Alcatraz Water Tower, but as it lies on higher ground it looks much taller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beavertail Lighthouse</span> United States historic place

Beavertail Lighthouse was built in 1856 and is the premier lighthouse in Rhode Island, marking the entrance to Narragansett Bay. The 64-foot (20 m) lighthouse lies on the southernmost point of Conanicut Island in the town of Jamestown, Rhode Island in Beavertail State Park, on a site where beacons have stood since the early 18th century. The light provides navigation for boats and ships entering Narragansett Bay in the East Passage between Conanicut Island and Newport, Rhode Island on Aquidneck Island. Other lighthouses are visible from Beavertail Lighthouse, such as Castle Hill Lighthouse, Point Judith Light, and Rose Island Light.

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

The Hog Island Light was a lighthouse roughly marking its eponymous island, and thus the north side of the Great Machipongo Inlet on the Virginia coast. Originally, no light existed between Cape Henlopen, Delaware and Cape Charles. In 1830 the United States Congress appropriated money for a coastal beacon in the general vicinity of Chincoteague Island. The following year, the Collector of Customs in Norfolk selected Assateague Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heligoland Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse on the island of Heligoland, Germany

Heligoland Lighthouse is located on Germany's only offshore island, Heligoland. Constructed during World War II as an anti-aircraft tower, it was turned into a lighthouse in 1952. It features the strongest light on the German North Sea coast with a range of 28 nautical miles (52 km) so that it can be seen as far as on the East Frisian or the North Frisian islands and Halligen. The lighthouse is operated by the Tönning water and shipping authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rawley Point Light</span> Lighthouse

Rawley Point Light is a lighthouse located in Point Beach State Forest, near Two Rivers, Wisconsin. At 111 feet (34 m) tall, it is the tallest lighthouse on the Wisconsin Shore and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

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

The Ship Shoal Light is a screw-pile lighthouse located in the Gulf of Mexico southwest of the Isles Dernieres off the coast of Louisiana. It is currently abandoned.

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

The South Fox Island Light was a light station located on South Fox Island in the north end of Lake Michigan. There are two towers standing at the site: the first is the original brick keeper's house and tower, while the second is a skeletal tower moved to this site from Sapelo Island, Georgia in 1934. Neither is operational. The station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2021.

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

The South Pass Light, also known as the Port Eads LighthouseSouth Point Light, or Gordon's Island Light, are a pair of lighthouses located on Gordon's Island at South Pass, in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana (USA), one of the primary entrances to the Mississippi River Delta from the Gulf of Mexico. The light station was established in 1831 and is still active.

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

The Chantry Island Lighthouse, officially known as Chantry Island Lightstation Tower, is a lightstation on Chantry Island, off the coast of Southampton, Ontario in Lake Huron. It was constructed in the years 1855 through to 1859, by John Brown of Thorold, Ontario, under the authority of the Province of Canada and is recognized as one of the six Imperial Towers. Virtually identical, they were completed in 1858-1859 on Lake Huron and Georgian Bay and are among the few lighthouses on the Great Lakes made of cut limestone and granite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gannet Rock Lighthouse</span> Lighthouse

The Gannet Rock Lighthouse is a Canadian lighthouse located on a rocky islet 8 miles (13 km) south of Grand Manan in the Bay of Fundy. It was first lit in 1831 and was staffed until 1996. It was solarized in 2002 and remains operational in 2023. It was declared "surplus to requirements" by the Canadian Coast Guard in 2010 and is no longer being maintained.

<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. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Mississippi". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2009-06-12.
  2. Cuevas, John (2011). Cat Island: The History of a Mississippi Gulf Coast Barrier Island. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. pp. 107–109. ISBN   9780786485789.
  3. 1 2 3 Holland, Francis Ross (1981). America's Lighthouses: An Illustrated History. Dover. pp. 144–145. ISBN   9780486255767.
  4. 1 2 3 Cooper, Forrest Lamar (2011). Looking Back Mississippi: Towns and Places. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 70. ISBN   9781617031489.