Pass a L' Outre

Prior to the 1850s, Pass a l'Outre was a very shallow pass, and it was not particularly useful to Louisiana mariners. The pass was well known for its otter population, and attracted many trappers who sought to sell the prized otter pelts to the rich of New Orleans. However, by 1854, this trade had dwindled, and the pass had deepened from six feet to nearly twenty. Because of this, the newly formed Lighthouse Board decided to replace the nearby Frank's Island tower with a light marking Pass a l'Outre. The northeast pass was shoaling badly, and the Frank's Island Light was becoming less and less useful. 

Instead of building a new tower, the Board chose to disassemble the tower at Head of Passes Lighthouse and re-erect it at Pass a l'Outre. The tower at Head of Passes was taller than was needed, and money could be saved by moving it to Pass a l'Outre and replacing it was a smaller beacon. Congress authorized $6,000 to accomplish the move, to erect a new marker at Head of Passes, and to purchase and install new Fresnel lenses at both locations. Though the Head of Passes light was quickly taken down, it was several years before the tower was rebuilt at Pass a l'Outre. Reconstruction was delayed by state politics, title disputes, and nearly annual yellow fever epidemics. Finally, in December of 1855, the tower was fully erected in its new location and the new lens was installed and lit.

The first few years of the Pass a l'Outre Light Station were relatively uneventful. However, in 1861, like many lights in the area, the lighthouse was caught between the opposing forces of the Union and the Confederacy. In June of 1861, the CSS Sumter made off with the 120 gallons of irreplaceable sperm oil stored at Pass a l'Outre in order to keep the valuable resource out of Union hands. When the Sumter returned in July, they found that Union forces had come and gone just a day before them, taking with them the lens and all other lighthouse materials.