Sabine Pass Lighthouse
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The Sabine Pass Lighthouse, or Sabine Pass Light as it was referred to by the
United States Coast Guard 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 ...
, is a historic lighthouse, as part of a
gulf coast The Gulf Coast of the United States, also known as the Gulf South, is the coast, coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The list of U.S. states and territories by coastline, coastal states that have a shor ...
light station, on the
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 ...
side of the Sabine River, in Cameron Parish, across from the community of
Sabine Pass Sabine Pass is the natural outlet of Sabine Lake into the Gulf of Mexico. It borders Jefferson County, Texas, and Cameron Parish, Louisiana. History Civil War Two major battles occurred here during the American Civil War, known as the First and ...
,
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...
. It was first lit in 1857 and was deactivated by the Coast Guard in 1952. One of only three built in the
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of similar design, the light was listed on 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 ...
as "Sabine Pass Lighthouse" on December 17, 1981. With . It is now abandoned but has long continued to be the subject of preservation efforts. The Calcasieu Historical Preservation Society – with interest because the lighthouse was once in Calcasieu Parish – has listed that the lighthouse may be the oldest brick structure still standing in
Southwest Louisiana Southwest Louisiana (SWLA) is a five-parish area intersecting the Acadiana and Central Louisiana regions in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is composed of the following parishes (counties): Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Dav ...
.


History

On March 3, 1849, the
United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...
appropriated $7,500 for a lighthouse in Sabine Pass. Commander Henry A. Adams was sent to investigate a site location but reported, "the coast is so free from danger in that vicinity, the place itself so easy of access, and the business done there so inconsiderable, that, in my opinion, a light-house is not necessary there at this time." Construction was delayed until further calls for a light prompted a second appropriation in 1853. Captain Danville Leadbetter (later to serve as a Confederate general), whose recommendation was instrumental in bringing about construction, also designed the station. Construction began in 1855 under the supervision of
United States Lighthouse Service The United States Lighthouse Service, also known as the Bureau of Lighthouses, was the agency of the United States Government and the general lighthouse authority for the United States from the time of its creation in 1910 as the successor of t ...
(LHS) inspector Walter H. Stevens (also later to serve as a
Confederate States The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...
general) and took two years. The tower was constructed of brick and was set on a shellcrete and wooden pile foundation. The marshy location led to an unusual system of
buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...
es radiating from the base of the tower in order to stabilize it. The white-painted tower was equipped with a third order
Fresnel lens A Fresnel lens ( ; ; or ) is a type of composite compact lens developed by the French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (1788–1827) for use in lighthouses. It has been called "the invention that saved a million ships." The design allows the c ...
and lit for the first time in mid-1857. The beacon was extinguished 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 ...
in 1861, to hinder navigation by Union ships, but was returned to service December 23, 1865 after the Confederate surrender. The tower was used as an observation post by both Confederate and Union soldiers, prompting a skirmish at the light on April 16, 1863; several men were killed. This was five months before the
Second Battle of Sabine Pass The Second Battle of Sabine Pass (September 8, 1863) was a failed Union Army attempt to invade the Confederate state of Texas during the American Civil War. The Union Navy supported the effort and lost three gunboats during the battle, two cap ...
, which was fought nearby. The original keeper's dwelling was destroyed by a
hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
in 1886, with the keeper and his wife surviving by holding up in the tower; a new dwelling and accessory buildings were constructed the following year. Another hurricane in 1915 shook the tower so violently that the clockwork for the beacon stopped, and the keeper rotated it by hand to keep the light active. In the early years of the twentieth century, jetties were constructed in the vicinity of the light, and by 1921 these extended well out into the gulf, necessitating their own navigational beacons. This made the old light increasingly irrelevant, though it continued to be staffed. In 1928 a radio beacon was installed, and the following year the beacon was converted to electricity; the plumbing was upgraded in 1937. A
daymark A daymark is a navigational aid for sailors and pilots, distinctively marked to maximize its visibility in daylight. The word is also used in a more specific, technical sense to refer to a signboard or daytime identifier that is attached to ...
of two black stripes was painted on the tower in 1932, following a suggestion from a
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tanker captain, who observed that the white structure was often hard to distinguish in the haze. It was finally deactivated in 1952. The remote location of the light made it vulnerable, and it suffered from vandalism and fires which destroyed the keeper's dwelling and outbuildings. After years of being passed between various federal and state agencies, the surviving structure was sold at auction in 1985 to a pair of businessmen who had plans to build a marina or restaurant featuring the tower. These plans were never realized, and in 2001 they donated it to the Cameron Preservation Alliance, which has constructed a road to the abandoned and decaying tower, This preservation group has plans to make the property into a parish historical museum.
Cheniere Energy Cheniere Energy, Inc. is a liquefied natural gas (LNG) company headquartered in Houston, Texas. In February 2016 it became the first US company to export liquefied natural gas. As of 2018 it is a Fortune 500 company. Company history Initially ...
has built an LGN terminal with an improved gravel road passing the plant and ending at the lighthouse property, which they are currently expanding with a liquefaction project on the they own.


Current

The Sabine Pass Lighthouse is in a severe deteriorated state with some long-term goals for restoration but funding has been a problem since Hurricane Rita as well as possible foundation damages to the lighthouse. The lighthouse isn't forgotten. Both the Cameron Parish and Johnson Bayou libraries "support the lighthouse greatly," according to Cameron Preservation Alliance President Carolyn Thibodeaux. She also stated that $3 million is needed to stabilize the lighthouse. In 2004, the association unsuccessfully tried to secure $10 million funding that would have stabilized the base and built a museum, education center, and gift shop. Thibodeaux believes there is still plenty of interest in the lighthouse. The Calcasieu Historical Preservation Society placed the lighthouse on its list of the area's most endangered structures. Adley Cormier, a preservationist with the society stated, "We need to be aware that it is a shared resource and help might come from both sides of the river," he further said. "It's part of our history, too. It's an opportunity for all Southwest Louisiana to come together.". Cormier also said he would like the structure to be thought of as
Southwest Louisiana Southwest Louisiana (SWLA) is a five-parish area intersecting the Acadiana and Central Louisiana regions in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is composed of the following parishes (counties): Allen, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson Dav ...
's lighthouse, with the five-parish area, as well as
Southeast Texas Southeast Texas is a cultural and geographic region in the U.S. state of Texas, bordering Southwest Louisiana and its greater Acadiana region to the east. Being a part of East Texas, the region is geographically centered on the Greater Houston ...
, chipping in. "The lighthouse sits on land that was part of Calcasieu Parish when it was built. Ami Kamara, curator for the Gulf Coast Museum, stated, "When you live on the Gulf, you consider the whole Gulf your home", she also said, "The lighthouses were such an important part of living on a coast and keeping it safe for the shipping industry.", and that East Texans still consider the lighthouse a part of their history as well.


See also

*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Cameron Parish, Louisiana __NOTOC__ This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Cameron Parish, Louisiana. This is intended to be a complete list of the properties on the National Register of Historic Places in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, Unite ...


References


External links

*Lighthouse Digest
The Doomsday Lighthouse of Sabine Pass
*Sabine Pass Lighthouse

*Photographs: Courtesy U.S. Coast Guard a
Lighthousefriends.com
{{authority control Lighthouses completed in 1857 Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana Buildings and structures in Cameron Parish, Louisiana National Register of Historic Places in Cameron Parish, Louisiana 1857 establishments in Louisiana