Pass Manchac Light

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]

Pass Manchac Light

Location	Pass Manchac, Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana
Coordinates	30°17′48.1″N 90°17′53.7″W
Year first constructed	1837
Year first lit	1857
Automated	1941
Deactivated	1987
Foundation	Stone
Construction	Brick
Tower shape	Cylindrical
Markings / pattern	White
Tower 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
Formerly listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Nearest city	Ponchatoula, Louisiana
Area	less than one acre
Built	1857
Architectural style	Masonry lighthouse
NRHP reference No.	86001554[6]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	July 09, 1986
Removed from NRHP	January 31, 2019

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. It was removed from the National Register in January 2019.

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]

Gallery

• 
  19th century
• 
  1914[8]
• 
  1918
• 
  2011

See also

• Manchac, Louisiana
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana

References

1. "Lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas, 1/80,000". Chart. NOAA. 11369. 2005.
2. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Louisiana". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
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 Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
7. Pass Manchac at LighthouseFriends.com accessed 25 Mar 2015.
8. "Pass Manchac Lighthouse". LighthouseFriends.

External links

• Pass Manchac at Lighthouse Friends detailed history
• 1996 video of the Pass Manchac Light
• Website of Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum in Madisonville, Louisiana