The Tchefuncte River Range Lights are a

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

that was first established in 1838 to aid vessels entering the

Tchefuncte River The Tchefuncte River ( ) drains into Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana in the United States. It is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed June 20, 2011 Etymology The ...

from the north side of

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from west ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. The lighting apparatus was supplied by

Winslow Lewis Winslow Lewis ( Nathaniel Winslow Lewis; 11 May 1770 – 20 May 1850) was a sea captain, engineer, inventor and contractor active in the construction of many American lighthouses during the first half of the nineteenth century. Life and career ...

and consisted of nine lamps with several fourteen-inch reflectors. The original rear tower suffered during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

and was replaced with the current tower in 1868. The new tower, ten feet taller than the first, was built on the same foundation, using some of the same brick. It was given a lantern which had been removed from

Cat Island Light The Cat Island Light was a lighthouse located on Cat Island (Mississippi), Cat Island off the coast of Mississippi. Originally built to guide shipping through the Mississippi Sound, it was discontinued as traffic moved further south. History The ...

in Mississippi. The rear tower has a black vertical stripe to serve as the range line in daytime. It sits on a spit of land, but is accessible only by boat. The front tower is marked with a standard

USCG The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

KRW daymark, with a red stripe between two white stripes. It is a skeleton tower and sits in open water. The rear tower was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1986. The Maritime Museum Louisiana is making efforts to restore and stabilize the light.

References

The Light List spells the river name "Tchefuncta", but that's in conflict with the U.S. Board on Geographical Names

External links

* {{Authority control , additional=Q66557137 Lighthouses completed in 1838 Lighthouses completed in 1868 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana Transportation buildings and structures in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana National Register of Historic Places in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana 1838 establishments in Louisiana Madisonville, Louisiana Lake Pontchartrain

See also

References

External links