Southwest Reef Light
The original location in Atchafalaya Bay with home for the lighthouse keeper.
LocationAtchafalaya Bay, Louisiana
Coordinates29°41′39.4″N 91°12′58.7″W / 29.694278°N 91.216306°W / 29.694278; -91.216306
Tower
Constructed1848, Lightship; 1856
FoundationPile with two platforms
ConstructionIron plate
ShapeSquare pyramid on skeleton
MarkingsRed
HeritageNational Register of Historic Places listed place Edit this on Wikidata
Light
First lit1858 Current tower
Deactivated1916
Lens4th order Fresnel lens
Southwest Reef Lighthouse
The relocated lighthouse on the Berwick waterfront.
LocationJct. of Bellevue Front and Canton Sts., Berwick, Louisiana
Arealess than one acre
Built1858
Architectural styleEgyptian Revival
NRHP reference No.91001152[1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 12, 1991

Southwest Reef Light is a historic lighthouse built in 1856 at the end of Southwest Reef in Atchafalaya Bay, Louisiana to replace lightships which had been stationed there for ten years.[2][3][4][5] It served to guide vessels around the reef and into the main channel of the Atchafalaya River. It was discontinued in 1916 after a new, shorter and deeper, channel had been dredged across the reef, making it obsolete. Point Au Fer Reef Light took over its function.

Relocation

It sat, rusting, in shallow water[2] on the reef until 1987 when the town of Berwick, Louisiana paid to have it moved about 25 miles (40 km) upriver to a park in the town on the Atchafalaya River. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 as Southwest Reef Lighthouse.

The location given in the title bar and the National Register box is the current location in Berwick. The location given in the upper box is its original location on the reef.

References

  1. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. 1 2 NOAA Chart: Point Au Fer to Marsh Island, 1/80,000. 11351. 2004. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  3. ↑ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Louisiana". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on May 1, 2017.
  4. ↑ Rowlett, Russ (January 11, 2010). "Lighthouses of Louisiana". The Lighthouse Directory. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
  5. ↑ "Southwest Reef Light". Inventory of Historic Light Stations: Louisiana Lighthouses. National Park Service. Retrieved January 11, 2010.


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