The first lighthouse on Atchafalaya Bay was built on the eastern side of the bay at Point Au Fer, formerly known as Point Defer. From Point Au Fer, a shoal extends roughly fifteen miles westward, ending at what was the main channel into the bay. The bay’s first lighthouse was built at Point Defer in 1827. However, given its location, it proved inadequate at marking the bay’s entrance, and in 1848, the Atchafalaya Bay Lightship was positioned just off the end of Point Au Fer Shoal.

Southwest Reef Lighthouse before relocation Photograph courtesy U.S. Coast Guard

Lightships proved to be expensive to operate and maintain, leading the Lighthouse Board to authorize the construction of the Southwest Reef Lighthouse at the end of the shoal to replace the Atchafalaya Bay Lightship. The plans for the lighthouse called for a square, pyramidal tower constructed of iron plates. The tower was placed atop four vertical piles screwed into the shoal and was connected to a keepers’ bungalow that stood adjacent to the tower on four additional piles. Above the dwelling, the station’s fog bell was suspended from a small structure. A red light, produced by a fourth-order Fresnel lens and having a focal plane of forty-nine feet, was displayed for the first time on September 1, 1859. The first keeper, George Wright, was transferred from the Point Defer Lighthouse, which had been displaced by the Southwest Reef Lighthouse.

The Confederates deactivated the lighthouse during its third year of operation, and it remained dark throughout the Civil War. In 1865, Union forces discovered the lamps, lens, and plates of glass from the lantern room at St. Martinville. The items were returned to the tower during the summer of 1865, and the lighthouse was reactivated on the sixth anniversary of its first lighting.

A severe hurricane swept through Atchafalaya Bay in October of 1867, damaging the exposed tower. Although the station stood approximately ten feet above the high tide mark, the storm-tossed seas broke through the bottom of the dwelling and tore the gallery from the tower. The force of the waves bent the lighthouse’s iron legs. After the storm, repairs were completed at the station, and braces were placed diagonally between the piles for added strength. In 1875, the station was elevated an additional ten feet, increasing the buffer zone between the lighthouse and the gulf waters.

Just before World War I, a channel was cut through Point Au Fer Shoal, creating a more direct route to the Atchafalaya River. The Point Au Fer Reef Lighthouse was constructed next to the new channel on an island formed by the dredging operation. When the new lighthouse was activated in 1916, the Southwest Reef Lighthouse was discontinued. For over seventy years, the abandoned tower slowly rusted away until the town of Berwick brought it ashore in 1987. Today, the tower stands on the western bank of the Atchafalaya River in Berwick.

References

1. Lighthouses, Lightships, and the Gulf of Mexico, David Cipra, 1997.
2. Inventory of Historic Light Stations, National Park Service.