Tchefuncte River Lighthouse built in 1838 Photograph courtesy U.S. Coast Guard

Additional boat traffic on the River was produced by the Jahncke Shipyard. Fritz Jahncke was a German immigrant who used the abundant sand and clay found along with waterways of the lake’s northern shore to start a cement and concrete business to help build the growing city of New Orleans. Jahncke’s business prospered, and he eventually formed his own shipping line to transport his goods. Jahncke opened a shipyard in Madisonville to service his fleet. The facility grew to the point where he was awarded contracts by the U.S. Government to build ships during World War I. The finished ships were floated on barges down the Tchefuncte River and out to the gulf.

To help guide vessels across Lake Pontchartrain to the river’s entrance, the first Tchefuncte River Lighthouse was constructed near the river’s mouth in 1838. The lighting apparatus was supplied by Winslow Lewis, and Benjamin Thurston served as the light’s first keeper.

The tower was badly damaged during the Civil War, and was subsequently dismantled. A new tower was constructed on the original foundation using some of the brick from its predecessor. The second tower rose ten feet taller than the first, and a bell tower and square keeper’s tower were built on the point next to the lighthouse. The lantern room from the destroyed Cat Island Lighthouse was used to cap the new lighthouse. After a year of construction, the light from a fifth-order Fresnel lens was exhibited in 1868 by keeper William A. Stewart, who served aboard the USS Richmond, which was part of Farragut’s fleet that that bravely steamed past Fort Morgan and won the Battle of Mobile Bay.

Tchefuncte River Lighthouse photographed in 1918 Photograph courtesy U.S. Coast Guard

A storm in 1888 swept away the station’s kitchen, outhouses, woodshed, and picket fence. At some point, a single vertical black stripe was painted on the tower. This stripe likely functioned as a range indicator of sorts, to help captains line up their approach to the river.

In the 1950s, after the light was automated in 1952, the keeper’s dwelling was moved upstream to the town of Madisonville. Today, the house sits just behind the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum, which is located on what was the site of the Jahncke Shipyard. The town of Madisonville took over ownership of the lighthouse from the Coast Guard in 1999, and a group of volunteers interested in renovating the Tchefuncte River Lighthouse held its first meeting on March 18th, 2003 in the museum. This now permanent committee is working on fundraising and restoration efforts and on finding a practical and affordable way for visitors to access the tower.

Today, people still flock to the northern shore from New Orleans, but now they are primarily commuters, and the trip is much shorter thanks to the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway that crosses the lake. The first span of the Causeway opened to the public in 1956, and the second in 1969. Now, each weekday 30,000 cars cross the lake on what is called the longest over-water bridge in the world. Hopefully, a good number of these residents will take an interest in preserving part of Lake Pontchartrain’s maritime history.

References

1. Lighthouses, Lightships, and the Gulf of Mexico, David Cipra, 1997.