55 miles from the coast of Louisiana rests a screw-pile designed lighthouse marking the site a large underwater sand bar.  The state of Louisiana petitioned the federal government in 1848 for a lighthouse.  As a result, the Pleaston Lightship was stationed on the shoal in 1849 until a permanent structure was built a decade later.  The lighthouse showed signs of leaning starting in 1870 and rip-rap and granite blocks were installed to slow the shifting of sand until the light was abandoned in 1965.  

In the 1990s, the Town of Berwick gained ownership of the tower.  The community created Lighthouse Park near the 1-90 Atchafalaya Bridge anchored with the Southwest Reef Lighthouse.  Community leaders and a local contractor are hoping to relocate the Ship Shoal Lighthouse to the park.  If not relocated by March 2021, the federal government will repossess the 125-foot tower.   Photo Credit: Newell Slaughter