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The Ship Shoal Lighthouse in Louisiana, modeled after Florida's reef lighthouses, was built twice, first at the foundry where it was made, and again at its ocean site, Originally, the government had wanted to spend only $20,000 to build the light, a far cry from the final sum of $103,000, expensive even by late 1850's standards.
The new lighthouse was only in operation for a short time when the War Between the States broke out and the lens was removed by Confederate troops. After the war, the station was re-lit but after numerous keepers became sick and even paralyzed at the station it was difficult to find keepers willing to serve there. This was solved when it was discovered that the drinking water was the cause of the illness of the keepers. It seems the rain water, the station's only source for drinking water, was being poisoned by the lead paint on the tower.
The exposed tower has always been threatened by the sea and before automation, tons of granite were dropped around the lighthouse to protect it. When the station was automated in 1929, the U.S. Lighthouse Service reported the station was listing about 20 degrees. Although the station was used as a Coast Guard "look-out tower" during the Second World War, it had out-served its usefulness as a lighthouse, and was discontinued and abandoned by the Coast Guard.
Today, this magnificent old structure sits as a rusting icon from another time, and another era, with no probability of ever being restored to its original grandeur.
This story appeared in the April 1999 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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