Buttresses that have held the Sabine Pass Lighthouse in place for almost 150 years — through hurricanes, a marsh fire, a Civil War battle and World War II, are now in need of repair.

Built in a marshy area on the Louisiana side of the waterway separating the Cajun coast and Texas, the historical lighthouse was dealt hefty blows by Hurricane Rita in 2005 and Ike in 2008, Carolyn Thibodeaux with the Cameron Preservation Alliance-Sabine Pass Lighthouse Inc. nonprofit group said.

The group, she said, strives to stabilize the structure and preserve the lighthouse to its original state.

The lighthouse has also garnered the attention of local historian William “Bill” Quick, of Nederland. With a slight New Orleans sounding drawl, Quick spoke about the lighthouse from his book-filled study recently.

Quick is also a member Cameron Parish group as well as the Jefferson County Historical Society and other such organizations.

He remembers vividly the marsh fire in 1976 that destroyed acres of marshland and structures at the site.

“It was during Dick Dowling Days in September,” Quick said. “We saw the marsh fire in the distance, then got a call the wind direction had changed.”

Quick and a friend met at Texas Bayou in Sabine Pass, boarded a boat and went across to the Louisiana side.

“There were heat fractures in the tower and on the southeast buttresses,” he said. “What’s so sad is that you’re looking at one of the few structures still standing from the Civil War era. The lighthouse was a point of surveillance and holds a magnificent view from the top.”

Because of health reasons Quick has not been inside the lighthouse since the 1980s, he said.

According to information provided from the Port Arthur Historical Society, the lighthouse’s past has been well documented.

At the time the structure was built, the waterway was shallow, filled with oyster reefs and featured a sandbar almost blocking the mouth of the pass. Texas had been a state for a mere 14 years when the Sabine Pass Lighthouse began operation.

The structure was placed in an area just 3-feet above sea level on a 45 acre plat of land.

The light burned for four years before it was extinguished before coastal fighting during the Civil War.

The light was relit in 1865 and the station served the U.S. Coast Guard until 1952.

Ownership

Ownership of the lighthouse has changed numerous times through the years.

In 1954, ownership of the lighthouse, support buildings and acreage transferred to Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission. Ownership reverted back to the U.S. government when state funds were unavailable to keep up the structures.

By 1971, ownership of lighthouse, support buildings and acreage transferred to Lamar University but reverted back to the federal government because the University failed to utilize the property. Funding was again the root of the problems.

In 1986, the General Service Administration sold the station at auction for $55,000 to P.G. Grenader and W.C. Pielop Jr. Their plans was to restore the lighthouse and build a restaurant and Yacht Club.

When the two Houston men died, their heirs passed ownership to the Cameron Preservation Alliance.

According to the National Register of Historic Places, the lighthouse gained the distinction of historic status in 1981 and is located in Lighthouse Bay in Cameron Parish, La.

Vandals

Vandals are responsible for the loss of the copper roof and the shattering of the windows and other incidents through the years.

Even as late as September 2008, about a week before Hurricane Ike struck the coast, two men made their way across the waterway and marsh to the lighthouse. According to a complaint report provided by Quick, the two men were climbing the stairs to the Sabine Pass Lighthouse when the stairs collapsed leaving the men stranded causing the men to jump to a nearby window for safety — about 50 feet off the ground.

Johnson Bayou, La., fire department and medic responded but did not have a boat to gain access. Another person was contacted but that person did not have a ladder long enough to assist. The Coast Guard was called and the men were rescued several hours after the initial incident.

According to the report, the men were to have been issued a misdemeanor summons after their rescue but left before the summons was issued.

Quick said he does not know if the organization will press formal charges against the two men.

Good things going on

Thibodeaux said there are two new exciting pieces of news associated with the historic lighthouse.

The U.S. Postal Service will feature a series of five Gulf Coast lighthouses, including the Sabine Pass Lighthouse, this summer.

Harbour Lights, a producer of collectible lighthouses, will feature a replica of the Sabine Pass Lighthouse also to be issued this summer, Thibodeaux said.

“We have been working on this for a long time,” she said of keeping the company informed that the lighthouse is still standing and encouraging the production of the structure.

Thibodeaux and Quick hope to one day see the lighthouse restored to its earlier splendor, with stripes repainted and vibrant, and become once again a beacon for many.

Reporter’s note: Special thanks go to Sabine Pilots who graciously drove me via the Sabine Bank Pilot boat to an area near the lighthouse so I could snap some photos and get a closer view of the structure.