New Canal Coast Guard Station
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The US Coast Guard's lakefront station was once located at Spanish Fort. By the 1960s, the structure at Spanish Fort had sustained damage from many hurricanes and was in disrepair. The station then moved to the site of the New Canal Lighthouse at the head of the New Basin Canal to monitor boating activity in Lake Ponchartrain.
On October 1, 1987, the Patrol Boats Division based on the Industrial Canal was combined with New Canal Station. This established the US Coast Guard Station New Orleans at the New Canal site.
The New Canal Coast Guard was responsible for Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Borgne, Lake Maurepas, the Pearl River, the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet mile 46, the Mississippi River from mile 46 to mile 232, the Intracoastal Waterway from Pearl River to Bayou Lafourche, and all tributaries and surrounding bayous.
On November 14, 2001, USCG Station New Orleans moved from the New Canal Lighthouse to a facility one-and-a-half miles away in Bucktown, Metairie.
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First Canal Lighthouse
Located at the New Canal Lighthouse on the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain, Coast Guard Station New Orleans was in operation from 1901. It was originally known as the New Canal Light Station. The station appears in the background. Courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard
First Canal Lighthouse and Coast Guard Station, circa 2001
Courtesy of U.S Coast Guard