The West Rigolets Lighthouse at Pontchartrain Lake, LA was a unique style and size lighthouse. Built in 1855, the lighthouse was a small square building that held a fifth-order lens in its circular lantern room centered on top of the hipped roof. The light had an elevation of 30-feet above the lake, and was visible for 10-miles. Due to the Civil War, the light was darkened from 1861 to 1862. In 1917 the station was raised six-feet and placed on ferro-cement columns. Navigational aid was discontinued in 1945 and the lighthouse abandoned.
At the time of my visit here in 2000, the lighthouse was in bad physical condition. Endangered, there were plans by officials to relocate the lighthouse to Madisonville, LA, but instead it was later sold to a private owner. Before the owner could do much to repair the lighthouse he died. His relatives were unable to do anything with the lighthouse before it was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in Aug 2005.
Click on the picture to better see this lighthouse that no longer exists.
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