The Merrill Shell Bank Light was a

screw-pile lighthouse A screw-pile lighthouse is a lighthouse which stands on piles that are screwed into sandy or muddy sea or river bottoms. The first screw-pile lighthouse to begin construction was built by the blind Irish engineer Alexander Mitchell. Constructi ...

which once stood on its eponymous shoal in the

Mississippi Sound The Mississippi Sound is a sound along the Gulf Coast of the United States. It runs east-west along the southern coasts of Mississippi and Alabama, from the mouth of the Pearl River at the Mississippi-Louisiana state border to the Dauphin Islan ...

, west of Cat Island and south of

Pass Christian, Mississippi Pass Christian (), nicknamed The Pass, is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport–Biloxi, Mississippi, Biloxi Gulfport-Biloxi metropolitan area, Metropolitan Statistical Area. Th ...

. It was replaced by a skeleton tower on the same foundation.

History

The shoal was first marked by the hull of the former revenue cutter ''McLane'' serving as a

lightship A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship that acts as a lighthouse. It is used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction. Although some records exist of fire beacons being placed on ships in Roman times, the ...

beginning in 1847, but this was replaced by a screw-pile light in 1860. The light was extinguished by the Confederates but was undamaged, and was re-lit in 1863. The house was damaged by fire in 1880, and was utterly destroyed in 1883 by another fire; it was rebuilt the same year. In 1932 it was automated, and in 1945 the house was removed and replaced by a skeleton tower on the same foundation. This tower was damaged by the hurricanes of 2005 and was discontinued in 2007.''Local Notice to Mariners: District 8: Gulf''. January 17, 2007. United States Coast Guard: p. 25.

References

{{authority control Lighthouses in Mississippi Lighthouses completed in 1860 1860 establishments in Mississippi Buildings and structures demolished in 1883 Buildings and structures completed in 1883 Buildings and structures demolished in 1945 Buildings and structures in Harrison County, Mississippi