Frank's Island Lighthouse, entrance to the channel to the Mississippi River from the delta, North East Pass, Boothville, Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana
Built in 1823.
FRANK'S ISLAND LIGHT
Location: FRANKS ISLAND
Station Established: 1818
Year Current Tower(s) First Lit: 1823
Operational? NO
Automated? NO
Deactivated: 1856
Foundation Materials:
Construction Materials: BRICK
Tower Shape:
Markings/Pattern: CONICAL
Relationship to Other Structure: INTEGRAL
Original Lens:
Historical Information:
- 1803 – Congress appropriated $25,000 for lighthouse on site; plans for the lighthouse were put on hold during the War of 1812.
- 1816 – Henry Latrobe drew up blueprints for the lighthouse. Winslow Lewis built it. It was the first of 80 lighthouses that Winslow Lewis built for the United States.
- Feb. 1818 – Materials were finally purchased to build the lighthouse.
- January, 1819 – Lighthouse collapsed into the mud.
- March, 1823 – Lighthouse completed with new plans. It was the tallest and most powerful lighthouse on the Gulf of Mexico up until 1858.
- 1856 – Lighthouse replaced by light at Pass A L’Outre.
- C. 2002 – Remains of lighthouse fell over.
Keepers:
- John Gates – (1823 – unknown)
- John Lory (unknown)
- James Newman reports death of keeper (6/1831)
- Henry R. Crask, Keeper 8/1833
- John Lord, Keeper 10/1844
- Henry Edgecomb appointed keeper 9/1849
- James Davidson, 11/1855
- James A. Lee removed (unknown date) because he was a "victim of demon rum".
Researched and written by Marie Vincent, a volunteer through the Chesapeake Chapter of the U.S. Lighthouse Society.