Pass Manchac Light

Pass Manchac Light
Location Pass Manchac, Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana
Coordinates 30°17′48.1″N 90°17′53.7″W / 30.296694°N 90.298250°W / 30.296694; -90.298250Coordinates: 30°17′48.1″N 90°17′53.7″W / 30.296694°N 90.298250°W / 30.296694; -90.298250
Year first constructed 1837
Year first lit 1857
Automated 1941
Deactivated 1987
Foundation Stone
Construction Brick
Tower shape Cylindrical
Markings / pattern White
Height 40 feet (12 m)
Original lens 4th order Fresnel lens
Characteristic Pre 1865: Fixed red
Later: Fixed white
Fog signal 1,200 pounds (540 kg) mechanical bell, 1898
ARLHS number USA-582 (historic light)
USCG number

4-10422 (current skeleton tower)[1][2][3][4][5]

Pass Manchac Light
Nearest city Ponchatoula, Louisiana
Area less than one acre
Built 1857
Architectural style Masonry lighthouse
NRHP Reference # 86001554[6]
Added to NRHP July 09, 1986

Pass Manchac Light was a historic lighthouse in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana, which was originally established in 1838, to mark the north side of the entrance to Pass Manchac, the channel between Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas. The fourth and last tower on this particular site was constructed in 1857 and was in service for 130 years. The first three had been built in 1838, 1842, and 1846, in each case requiring replacement due to poor construction and/or encroaching lake waters.[2]

History

The 1857 lighthouse, a brick cylinder with attached house, was damaged in the Civil War and during tropical storms in 1888, 1890, 1915, 1926, and 1931. The station was automated in 1941, and the keeper's house was removed in 1952, by which time the light was on an island instead of a peninsula.[2]

Pass Manchac Light was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. The light was functionally replaced in 1987 by the U.S. Coast Guard, which established a skeleton tower on the south side of the pass entrance.[1]

On August 28, 2012, Louisiana was struck by Hurricane Isaac, destroying the lighthouse.

However, since February 2008 its lantern room – which was removed from the tower in 2002 for restoration – has been located at the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum, in Madisonville, Louisiana.[7]

19th century 
1918 
2011 

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas, 1/80,000". Chart. NOAA. 11369. 2005.
  2. 1 2 3 "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Louisiana". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office.
  3. ↑ "Pass Manchac Light". Inventory of Historic Light Stations: Louisiana Lighthouses. National Park Service. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  4. ↑ Rowlett, Russ (2010-01-11). "Lighthouses of Louisiana". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  5. ↑ Light List, Volume IV, Gulf of Mexico (PDF). Light List. United States Coast Guard. 2009. p. 86.
  6. ↑ National Park Service (2009-03-13). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  7. ↑ Pass Manchac at LighthouseFriends.com accessed 25 Mar 2015.
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