Madisonville Lighthouse #3
by Scott Pellegrin
Title
Madisonville Lighthouse #3
Artist
Scott Pellegrin
Medium
Photograph
Description
The Tchefuncte River is named after a Native American Tribe that inhabited the area from 600 B.C. to A.D. 200. In 1811, a small town established on the banks of the river was named Madisonville, in honor of President James Madison. Over the next century, the town flourished as a resort for the wealthy residents of New Orleans who fled the heat of the city for the cool lake breezes of Madisonville. The visitors were transported from Port Pontchartrain to the lake’s northern shore by steam ferry.
On June 30, 1834, Congress appropriated $5,000 for a lighthouse to guide vessels across Lake Pontchartrain to the mouth of the Tchfuncte River, but this sum had to be re-appropriated on March 3, 1837 when the original funds reverted to the treasury due to difficulties obtaining title to the lighthouse site. Built in 1837, the thirty-six-foot-tall brick tower was equipped with a lighting apparatus supplied by Winslow Lewis that consisted of nine lamps backed by fourteen-inch reflectors. Benjamin Thurston was hired as the light’s first keeper at an annual salary of $500 and was known for keeping pet alligators at the station. A 212-foot breakwater was built in 1854 to protect the lighthouse, and in 1857 a fifth-order Fresnel lens was installed in the lantern room.
The tower was badly damaged during the Civil War, and in 1867 workmen arrived to restore the station. The dwelling was first put in order so it could be occupied by the workmen, and then during the first week of June work began on rebuilding the lighthouse. Due to an outbreak of yellow fever, work had to be suspended for four weeks, but construction resumed in the latter part of September. The new tower was constructed on the original foundation using some of the brick from its predecessor and rose ten feet higher than the first. The lantern room from the destroyed Cat Island Lighthouse was used to cap the new lighthouse, and the light from a fifth-order Fresnel lens was exhibited on December 1, 1867. William A. Stewart, who served aboard the USS Richmond that was part of Farragut’s fleet that bravely steamed past Fort Morgan and won the Battle of Mobile Bay, was employed as the first post-war keeper. A bell tower and keeper’s dwelling stood on the point next to the lighthouse.
Uploaded
December 23rd, 2016
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