Merrill Shell Bank Light

Merrill Shell Bank Light
	undated photograph of Merrill Shell Bank Light (USCG)
Location	Mississippi Sound south of Pass Christian
Coordinates	30°14′33″N 89°14′56″W / 30.2425°N 89.2489°WCoordinates: 30°14′33″N 89°14′56″W / 30.2425°N 89.2489°W
Tower
Constructed	1860 (first house); 1883 (second house)
Foundation	Screw-pile
Construction	square wooden house
Light
Automated	1932
Deactivated	1945
Focal height	42 ft (13 m)

The Merrill Shell Bank Light was a screw-pile lighthouse which once stood on its eponymous shoal in the Mississippi Sound, west of Cat Island and south of Pass Christian, Mississippi. It was replaced by a skeleton tower on the same foundation.

History[]

The shoal was first marked by a lightship 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.^[3] In 1932 it was automated, and in 1945 the house was removed and replaced by a skeleton tower on the same foundation.^[4] This tower was damaged by the hurricanes of 2005 and was discontinued in 2007.^[5]

References[]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d List of Lights and Fog Signals on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States. Government Printing Office. March 1, 1907. pp. 242, 243. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
^ "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Mississippi". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2009-02-26.
^ Holland, Jr., Francis Ross (1988). America's Lighthouses. Dover. p. 145. ISBN 9780486139272. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
^ "Merrill's Shell Bank Light". Lighthouse Explorer Database. Foghorn Publishing. Retrieved 2016-02-20.
^ Local Notice to Mariners: District 8: Gulf. January 17, 2007. United States Coast Guard: p. 25.

[LL1906-1] List of Lights and Fog Signals on the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States. Government Printing Office. March 1, 1907. pp. 242, 243. Retrieved 2016-02-19.

[USCG-2] "Historic Light Station Information and Photography: Mississippi". United States Coast Guard Historian's Office. Archived from the original on 2017-05-01. Retrieved 2009-02-26.

[Holland-3] Holland, Jr., Francis Ross (1988). America's Lighthouses. Dover. p. 145. ISBN 9780486139272. Retrieved 2016-02-19.

[4] "Merrill's Shell Bank Light". Lighthouse Explorer Database. Foghorn Publishing. Retrieved 2016-02-20.

[LNM.week3.2007-5] Local Notice to Mariners: District 8: Gulf. January 17, 2007. United States Coast Guard: p. 25.

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v t Lighthouses of Mississippi
Main: List of lighthouses in the United States
Biloxi Cat Island East Pascagoula River Horn Island Lake Borgne Merrill Shell Bank Natchez Pass Christian Petit Bois Island Round Island Ship Island St. Joseph Island