Port Pontchartrain
New Orleans, Louisiana

 The first government lighthouse built at Port Pontchartrain was an octagonal wood tower, built at a cost of $4,400.  Completed in February of 1839, it was 28 feet high and 18 feet in diameter with a revolving chandelier.  This tower was torn down in 1864.

In late 1855 a brick tower on a concrete pad was built.  The pad was located on pilings in the lake bottom.  The light from the old tower was originally placed in the new tower and then replaced with a fifth order Fresnel lens in 1857.

In 1880, the tower top was raised seven feet and flared out to accommodate a new lantern.  This raised the focal plane to 42 feet above the lake water level.  On May 29, 1929, the light was discontinued and turned over to the New Orleans Levee Board.

The lighthouse was originally about 2000 feet offshore.  With various landfill projects, over the years, the lake is not even visible from the lighthouse.  It is now located on private property on the north side of Shore Drive at Elysian Fields, in the property for the Research & Technology Center at the University of New Orleans.  It is situated in between two buildings and is easily overlooked from the street.  It is in need of  maintenance and a new paint job. It does not appear to have suffered any damage from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

     GPS      30.01.924N
                  090.03.731W

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