Vermilion Bay Lighthouse stands as one of the more instructive—and ultimately ill-fated—experiments in early American coastal navigation along Louisiana’s low, marsh-bound shoreline. Conceived during a period when waterways remained the principal arteries of commerce into the interior plantation regions, the lighthouse illustrates both the ambitions of the federal lighthouse establishment and the practical limits imposed by geography, technology, and hydrography in the first half of the nineteenth century.

Vermilion Bay, together with Atchafalaya Bay, formed a critical maritime gateway to the heart of south-central Louisiana. These shallow bays, separated roughly by Marsh Island, connected the Gulf of Mexico to Bayou Teche and other inland waterways that carried sugar, cotton, and agricultural goods from plantations to waiting vessels offshore. Before the advent of reliable rail transportation, this watery network was essential to regional commerce.

Despite its economic importance, navigation in the area was difficult. Channels were narrow, shallow, and shifting, and many approaches were navigable only by daylight. The southwest pass of Vermilion Bay, located at the western tip of Marsh Island, was one such opening. Although marginal in depth, it was nonetheless perceived—perhaps optimistically—as deserving a navigational aid.

On March 3, 1837, Congress appropriated $5,000 to enable the Secretary of the Treasury to provide, by contract, for a beacon light at or near the southwest pass of Vermilion Bay. This modest sum reflected limited expectations for the site. Soon afterward, however, the Treasury Department pressed for a more substantial structure, and on July 7, 1838, Congress authorized an additional $8,000 to complete a full lighthouse at or near the same location.

Stephen Pleasonton, the long-serving Fifth Auditor of the Treasury and superintendent of the nation’s lighthouses, advertised for construction proposals in August 1838 for both the Vermilion Bay Lighthouse and a replacement lighthouse at the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River. When bids were opened on September 1, 1838, Leonard Hammond and Allen Dexter of Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, submitted the lowest bids for both projects—$9,995 for Vermilion Bay and $12,990 for Southwest Pass. Hammond was an experienced builder who had completed Ned’s Point Lighthouse in Massachusetts in 1837.

To oversee construction, Pleasonton hired I. W. P. Lewis, a civil engineer and nephew of Winslow Lewis, for a fee of $750. Both lighthouses were to be completed by June 1, 1839. Lewis inspected the Vermilion Bay site early in the process and immediately recognized its severe limitations. In a letter dated March 5, 1839, Pleasonton acknowledged Lewis’s findings: the entire island was marshland, subject to inundation. Lewis recommended a foundation of piles extending at least four feet above the marsh, enclosed within a square piled barrier 120 feet on each side, filled with shells and soil and protected by an exterior embankment. He also advised enlarging the cistern to hold 1,600 gallons of water.

Despite these recommendations, construction quickly deteriorated. By the end of March 1839, Lewis concluded that the contractors had failed “in almost every particular” to meet the contract’s requirements and withdrew from the project, leaving materials and unfinished work behind. Pleasonton briefly considered rebidding the contract but ultimately allowed Hammond and Dexter to continue after Hammond personally appealed to him in Washington, D.C. Oversight was transferred to an overseer appointed by the customs inspector in New Orleans, though Pleasonton later admitted he had “very little confidence in the contractors.”

One significant misstep compounded the projects’ difficulties. Lewis had permitted a deviation from the contract for Southwest Pass: substituting a strong platform foundation, 30 feet square, for the pile foundation originally specified and recommended by Winslow Lewis. This decision proved disastrous, as the unfinished brick tower had to be torn down after reaching a height of twenty-six feet because the foundation could not support it. The resulting delays and added costs affected both lighthouse projects, pushing completion back by months and costing the government several thousand dollars.

Despite these setbacks, Vermilion Bay Lighthouse was finally completed in May 1840. The site had been raised approximately four feet with soil contained by pilings, elevating it to about two feet above spring tides. However, the lighthouse could not be illuminated immediately, as lamp oil did not arrive until February 6, 1841. On that date, Keeper Alexander Kinns lit the lamps for the first time.

Kinns was not the first person appointed keeper of the lighthouse. William Russell was appointed in September 1840 but it turned out that he had left for North Carolina so the collector of customs at New Orleans temporarily placed Kinns in charge of the light. Kinns felt he should be paid from the time he was appointed, but he was only allowed wages starting from the first lighting.

To distinguish it from the nearby Point Defer Lighthouse, Vermilion Bay Lighthouse displayed a revolving light—an unusual and more complex characteristic for such a remote and lightly trafficked location. Kinns’s tenure was short-lived; after a dispute with the local revenue officer, he lost his position by in August 1841. What followed was a rapid succession of keepers, reflecting the station’s isolation, limited usefulness, and uncertain purpose. From 1841 until decommissioning, most keepers served only a year or two. Amos Butcher was the one exception. He served from 1843 to 1849 and then returned in 1850 and served until his death in 1851.

By the early 1850s, the lighthouse’s shortcomings were undeniable. Vermilion Bay itself ranged from four to nine feet in depth, and the controlling depth of the southwest pass was only about four feet—suitable for little more than rowboats and small fishing craft. Most commercial vessels instead entered the region via Atchafalaya Bay.

In August 1854, the Treasury Department formally recommended discontinuing the light. Congress authorized a hydrographical examination to determine whether the station was necessary for navigation. The U.S. Coast Survey reported in January 1855 that it found less than a fathom (six feet) of water in the pass. Keeper John Shaw confirmed the report’s implications, stating that only three vessels per year used the pass, and then only during winter to reach two plantations upriver.

The Lighthouse Board discontinued Vermilion Bay Lighthouse on June 1, 1855. Plans were already underway for a more effective coastal light at the Shell Keys, several miles south of Marsh Island, better positioned to serve Gulf traffic.

By 1876, no visible trace of Vermilion Bay Lighthouse remained. Ironically, the southwest pass later gained renewed importance with the development of the salt mines on Petit Anse Island, prompting calls for a new light in 1879 to serve that growing trade and to fill a hundred-mile gap between established coastal lights at Southwest Reef and Calcasieu River. No action was taken on the thought of reestablishing a light at the Southwest Pass of Vermilion Bay.

Keepers: William Russell (1840 – 1841), Alexander Kinns (1841), John Campbell (1841), Gilbert Nowell (1841 – 1843), Amos Butcher (1843 – 1849), Luke Hollier (1849 – 1850), Amos Butcher (1850 – 1851), E. Mendoza (1851 – 1853), Jean Baptiste Perret (1853 – 1855), John Shaw (1855).

References

1. Letters Sent Regarding the Light-House Service, various years.
2. Annual Report of the Lighthouse Board, various years.
3. Lighthouses, Lightships, and the Gulf of Mexico, David Cipra, 1997.

No light exists at this location today.

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