Barataria Bay, the expansive estuarine system west of the Mississippi River delta, has long played an outsized role in the history of Louisiana’s coast. Its broad, marsh-lined waterways form a natural corridor between the Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans, a route well known to traders, fishermen, and—most famously—Jean Lafitte. In the early nineteenth century Lafitte and his “Baratarians” transformed Grand Terre Island into a thriving center of smuggling and privateering, exploiting the bay’s maze-like passages to move contraband inland. Even after Lafitte’s departure in 1814, the region’s strategic value remained clear. The British army’s attempt to approach New Orleans through the swamps during the War of 1812 underscored how vulnerable the coast was, and the federal government soon turned its attention to fortifying and illuminating this important approach to the Mississippi.

Aerial view of Barataria Bay Lighthouse in the 1930s

Grand Terre Island and Grand Isle form the eastern guard of Barataria Bay. Grand Terre, despite continual erosion, historically controlled Barataria Pass, the principal entrance to the bay’s inland waterways. Just to the west, Grand Isle evolved into a more stable settlement, its shoreline gradually expanding while Grand Terre receded. Both islands played major roles in local commerce: small resorts grew on Grand Isle in the mid-1800s, while Grand Terre remained tied to military and navigational functions.

In 1835, the federal government began constructing Fort Livingston on the western end of Grand Terre, not far from the site of Lafitte’s old encampment. Though the fort was never completed, its position made it an important coastal stronghold, used intermittently by U.S. forces and later by occupying Union troops during the Civil War. With its proximity to the main pass into Barataria Bay, Grand Terre was also a logical place for a lighthouse—though not the ideal one.

A Coast Survey inspection in 1853 recommended that the lighthouse be placed on Grand Isle, which was accreting sand, rather than on the eroding sands of Grand Terre. But because the government already owned the land at Fort Livingston, cost and convenience prevailed, and Grand Terre remained the chosen site.

Congress appropriated $10,000 for a lighthouse to mark the change of the “Grand Pass to Barataria Bay” on August 3, 1854, and construction started in 1856. Army Captain Danville Leadbetter, the district lighthouse engineer, oversaw the project, which was carried out simultaneously with the nearly identical towers at Sabine Pass, Timbalier Bay, and Aransas Pass.

The octagonal brick tower, whitewashed and standing fifty-five feet tall, had been completed in mid-1857, but delays in shipping the fourth-order Fresnel lens postponed the station’s opening. Finally, on December 7, 1857, the Lighthouse Board announced that the tower’s fixed white beam that shone sixty feet above mean sea level and had an arc of visibility covered 270 degrees—adequate for the main approaches through the pass—was now active.

Nicholas Johnson was appointed the first keeper of Barataria Bay Lighthouse at an annual salary of $500, but he resigned before the light became operational, and Pleasant D. Cocke was appointed in his stead, with Richard E. Cocke, his son, as his assistant. In 1859, only two years after the light’s debut, Congress granted the authority to extinguish unnecessary lights, and Barataria Bay Lighthouse was discontinued that same year.

The tower did not remain dark for long. During the Civil War, Union forces occupied Fort Livingston, using Barataria Bay as a staging point for troops and supplies bound westward for the Texas coastline. The fort’s caretaker garrison needed a navigational beacon for military transport vessels traveling through the inland passage toward Ship Shoal.

In 1864, the Lighthouse Board authorized the re-establishment of the light, citing both military need and increased coastal traffic. The station was refurbished, and on January 10, 1865, keeper Jacob Brankhorst took charge of the relit tower.

Throughout the late nineteenth century, Barataria Bay Lighthouse remained active despite the challenges of isolation and the relentless erosion of Grand Terre Island. Annual reports generally described the station as “in good condition,” but maintenance and change were constant:

• 1874: the keeper’s dwelling, long neglected, received a new roof and kitchen.
• 1875: local mariners petitioned for an expanded arc of visibility; on July 31 the light was altered to shine around the entire horizon.
• 1887: kitchen was rebuilt, and a new boathouse was added.
• 1890: station was repaired after a severe hailstorm broke several panes of glass and caused other slight damage.
• 1891: the station was thoroughly overhauled.

Extensive repairs were undertaken after the devastating October 1, 1893 hurricane, which “almost totally wrecked” the station and killed more than half the population of nearby settlements. The renovation was difficult because the station was “in an out-of-the-way place.” The Lighthouse Board noted in its 1894 annual report that the land near the lighthouse was being rapidly washed away and proposed moving the tower to the cover face of the fort as soon as it could be conveniently done.

Aerial view of Fort Livingston in 1974 Photograph courtesy National Park Service

After a contract was made, work on the new tower began on January 6, 1897 and was completed in early March. The new tower—a square, pyramidal wooden structure—was activated on March 13, 1897. The fourth-order Fresnel lens from the old tower was used to produce a fixed white light at a focal plane of seventy-six-and-a-half feet, visible up to fourteen-and-a-half nautical miles.

Barataria Bay Lighthouse endured hurricanes and storms during the early twentieth century. A pair of hurricanes in September 1915 caused damage to many lighthouses on the Gulf Coast. Keeper Robert G. Miller at Barataria Bay was one of many keepers commended for performing their duties under hazardous or trying conditions. Congress provided $100,000 on March 28, 1918 to repair and rebuild lighthouse structures on the Gulf Coast damaged in the hurricanes. As a result, the roofs of the dwellings and outbuildings were repaired, 712 feet of wharf was rebuilt, sills under the dwelling were renewed, and the station was painted. Federal hurricane-relief funding in 1918–1922 supported renewed repairs to the dwelling, roofs, wharf, and outbuildings. Further storms struck in 1926 and 1931, undermining the earthen fill around the tower and washing away protective rock.

Joseph M. Waits’ service as head keeper from 1926 until his retirement in 1947 was longer than any other keeper of Barataria Bay Lighthouse. He entered the service in 1899 and served at Ship Shoal, South Pass, Sand Island, Southwest Reef, and Point au Fer Reef before being transferred to Barataria Bay. Keeper Waits had to take a cut in annual salary from $1,560 to $1,320 when he accepted the transfer to Barataria Bay, but the move allowed him to have his family live with him.

On November 9, 1937, Keeper Waits and two laborers who were working at the station went to the assistance of the trawler Lucky Star, which was sinking. The men used buckets from the station to bail water and keep the boat afloat until the Coast Guard arrived and towed the vessel to safety.

After World War II, the station was automated and fitted with a 200-millimeter electric lens displayed from a skeletal tower mounted on the fort. The Coast Guard station at Grand Isle assumed responsibility for its upkeep, marking the end of resident keepers at Barataria Bay. Today, offshore lights mark Barataria Pass.

Keepers:

• Head: Nicholas Johnson (1857), Pleasant D. Cocke (1857 – 1859), Jacob Brankfort (1865 – 1870), Christopher Wheeler (1870 – 1872), William Douglas (1872 – 1885), James A. Murdock (1885 – 1889), Charles T. Crossman (1889), Lawrence Larson (1889 – 1905), Robert G. Miller (1905 – 1920), Louis Buras (1920 – 1921), George J. Fath (1921 – 1926), Joseph M. Waits (1926 – 1943), Joseph A. Melancon (1943 – ).
• Assistant: Richard E. Cocke (1857 – 1859), Fritz Strodhorf (1865 – 1866), Charles Whiteley (1866 – 1867), Harry Nap (1867), Amos Harris (1867), John Sehl (1867 – 1870), Joseph Evans (1870 – 1871), Kendall Keary (1871).

References:

1. Annual Report of the Lighthouse Board, various years.
2. Lighthouses, Lightships, and the Gulf of Mexico, David Cipra, 1997.
3. U.S. Lighthouse Service Bulletin, various years.

A modern light marks this location today.

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