East Rigolets Light

The East Rigolets Light was an early lighthouse marking the entrance to the Rigolets from Lake Borgne in Louisiana. It was deactivated in 1874 and destroyed sometime after 1923.

East Rigolets Light
East Rigolets Light (USCG)
LocationRabbit Island at Lake Borgne end of the Rigolets
Coordinates30.155°N 89.650°W / 30.155; -89.650
Year first constructed1833
Year first lit1833
Deactivated1874
ConstructionMasonry tower
Tower shapeConical
Markings / patternWhite with black lantern
Focal height60 feet (18 m)[1]
Original lensoriginal: ten lamps w/reflectors
4th Order Fresnel lens

History

This light was built in Stephen Pleasonton's administration, and the light was commonly referred as "Pleasonton's Light". While construction funds were provided in 1831, the light was not completed until two years later, built according to the usual plan of the time of a conical masonry tower housing an array of ten Argand lamps with reflectors;[2] this was eventually replaced with a fourth-order Fresnel lens.[1] It was located on present-day Rabbit Island (then named Pleasonton Island) opposite the mouth of the Pearl River.[3]

While the original keeper Isaac H. Smith served for seven years, his immediate successors were not so creditable: the first was dismissed for drunkenness, and from 1840 to 1844 there were no less than five keepers. Not surprisingly, the state of the light suffered.[2]

Like other southern lights, it was extinguished at the commencement of the Civil War, but was relit in November 1862. In 1868, the lantern was replaced, with the top of the tower being rebuilt to hold it. The light was extinguished in 1874, however, having been deemed unnecessary.[2][3] The tower remained as a landmark for many years thereafter, finally being sold in 1923 and destroyed sometime thereafter.[2]

References
  1. "East Rigolets (Louisiana)". United States Lighthouse Society. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
  2. "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Louisiana". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01.
  3. Holland, Francis Ross (1972). America's Lighthouses: An Illustrated History. Brattleboro, Vermont: Stephen Greene Press. p. 146. Retrieved 2017-09-03.
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