Rene’ Robert Cavalier found the mouth of the Mississippi River in 1682 not by sailing along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, but rather by drifting downriver from the French settlements in the Great Lakes region. To mark his discovery, Cavalier set up a navigational marker displaying the French coat of arms, and before the end of that century, the French had established a fort at the entrance to the river. During the next century, various crude beacons were erected in the area to improve navigation.

Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, the United States government allocated funds for the construction of a substantial lighthouse on Frank’s Island, located at the entrance to Northeast Pass, a branch off Pass a l’Outre. Initially, while the new lighthouse was being constructed, a temporary beacon was established nearby atop an existing tower. Then in 1821, the lightship Aurora Borealis, the gulf’s first, served offshore near Frank’s Island until the lighthouse was completed.

Benjamin H. Latrobe, architect of the United States Capitol, drew up the plans for the lighthouse on Frank’s Island. His design called for a magnificent structure consisting of a conical brick tower surrounded at its base by a circular dwelling, which was in turn encircled by an overhang supported by stone columns. The detailed plan for the tower was a bit grandiose for the mosquito-infested swampland, and no bidder could be found to assume the contract. Construction was further delayed by the War of 1812.

In 1816, Henry Latrobe simplified his father’s design, but still no contractor could be secured, even for the tempting sum of $55,000. In desperation, the Treasury Department’s Commissioner of Revenue persuaded his friend Winslow Lewis to accept the job. Lewis already supplied the reflector and lamp system used in American lighthouses, but this was his first foray into lighthouse construction. He would eventually become America’s most prolific lighthouse builder, with more than eighty lighthouses to his credit.

Lewis was cautious and demanding in accepting the contract. His minimum fee was $79,000, and he insisted on having an inspector on site to verify his strict adherence to the proposed design. Lewis believed this safety measure would exonerate him in case the project failed.

Pass a l'Outre Light Station Photograph courtesy U.S. Coast Guard

Construction on the lighthouse began in 1818. As completion drew near, a growing network of cracks appeared on the tower. Then, on January 31, 1819, one side of the foundation suddenly settled, toppling the decorative columns and rendering the lighthouse useless. After receiving full remuneration, Lewis offered to build a new tower with a proper foundation for less than $10,000. Using materials from the condemned tower, Lewis built a second lighthouse on the island and gave his personal guarantee that it would be sound. Lewis’ light was activated in March of 1823 and served until 1856, when a tower was placed nearby at Pass a l’Outre.

Storms, tides, and the current of the mighty river are constantly transforming the marshy land of the Birdfoot Delta. Over time, Frank’s Island gradually disappeared and Lewis’ abandoned tower settled some twenty feet into the mud. Remarkably, the tower remained erect for years, until in 2002 the tower's foundation was undermined, and it toppled into the murky water.

As Northeast Pass, serviced by the Frank’s Island Lighthouse, started to shoal in, Pass a l’Outre to the north deepened, providing better access to the river for large vessels. A tall iron tower in use at Head of Passes farther upstream was considered unnecessary, so rather than build a new lighthouse at Pass a l’Outre, the iron tower was dismantled and relocated. The light inside the Fresnel lens atop the tower was lit for the first time in its new location on December 6, 1855.

The lighthouse was put out of commission during the Civil War, as Union forces removed the Fresnel lens and Confederate soldiers later burned the keeper’s dwelling. The light was returned to service on April 20, 1863, after a new keeper’s dwelling was built and the iron tower had received a new brick liner and a thick coat of coal tar for rust prevention.

By 1868, the keeper’s dwelling, which rested on nine brick piers, had settled three feet into the soft ground. Around the same time, the tower also started to sink. The floor of the lighthouse was originally eight feet above the ground, but by 1876, water from high tides was flooding the tower floor. To provide continued access to the tower, the floor was raised five feet and the doorway heightened.

Mud lumps started to form in Pass a l’Outre around the end of the 19th century, and the depth of the channel was reduced to just seven feet. Large vessels were then forced to access the river via an alternative pass. In 1919, the tower was given a spiral black and white daymark, similar to the candy cane striping at Cape Hatteras and St. Augustine. The station was decommissioned in 1930, but did see life again during prohibition when the Coast Guard used it as a lookout for spotting rumrunners.

The spiral bands had started to fade by the 1950s, and today the tower is only covered by rust and graffiti. No outbuildings remain at the station. With less than half of its original height showing above ground, the metal tower continues to be ever so slowly swallowed up by the marshlands of the Birdfoot Delta. Around 2007, the lantern room, loosened by Hurricane Katrina, fell off the tower. It seems that it will be only a matter of time before the Pass a l’Outre Lighthouse, true to its name, passes beyond.

References

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