( U S Coast Guard Photo - Date Unknown )

Bayou Bonfouca Lighthouse
Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana

Bonfouca was located about six miles from Lake Pontchartrain, where Slidell is now located.  The town exported cattle and produced "hard-burnt lake brick", which was used in many New Orleans buildings and several Louisiana lighthouses.

The bill to approve money - $3,000 - for a minor harbor light to mark the entrance to Bayou Bonfouca, which was the route to the town, finally passed congress in 1847.  It had been delayed, partly because they could not find the location on a map.  The construction contract, for $2,975, was awarded to Joseph M. Howell & Moses Coats of New Orleans.

Completed in March, 1848, the lighthouse was two rooms setting on a five-foot foundation wall.  There was a nine foot chamber between the rooms that was the base of the tower.  The tower went 12 feet above the building, giving a light height of 39 feet above sea level.  It held four small lamps in a lantern that was six feet tall and three feet in diameter.  It was small since it was felt that it did not need to be seen for over five miles.

After the Union forces captured New Orleans, in 1862, Confederate forces burned the lighthouse.  Upon recommendation of the New Orleans lighthouse engineer, the light was not rebuilt.

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