Pilottown, Louisiana

Geobox Settlement
name = Pilottown
native_name =
other_name =
other_name1 =
category = Census-designated place

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image_size = 200px
image_caption = Pilot Town in the 1880s


flag_size =
symbol =
symbol_size =
symbol_type =
nickname =
motto =
country = United States
state = Louisiana
region = Plaquemines
region_type = Parish
area_imperial = 7.2
area_land_imperial = 5.0
area_water_imperial = 2.2
area_water_percentage = auto
area_percentage_round = 2
area_round = 1
location =
lat_d = 29
lat_m = 10
lat_s = 54
lat_NS = N
long_d = 89
long_m = 15
long_s = 27
long_EW = W
elevation_imperial = 3
elevation_round = 1
population_as_of = 2006
population = 19
population_density_imperial = auto
population_density_round = 1
established_type =
established =
mayor =
timezone = CST
utc_offset = -6
timezone_DST = CDT
utc_offset_DST = -5
postal_code = 70081 (closed)
postal_code_type = ZIP code
area_code = 504
area_code_type =
code2_type =
code2 =
free_type =
free =
free1_type =
free1 =


map_size =
map_caption = Location of Pilottown in Louisiana
map_locator = Louisiana
map1 = Map of USA LA.svg
map1_caption = Location of Louisiana in the United States
website =

Pilottown (or Pilot Town) is a small town in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana.It serves as a base for river pilots to guide ships across the bar and up and down the Mississippi River. "CRPPA: Pilottown" (overview), Crescent River Port Pilots’ Association, 2001, webpage: [http://www.crescentpilots.com/aboutus_pilottown.htm CP-Piltt] .] "A Historical Perspective of Pilotage" (history), Crescent River Port Pilots’ Association (formed 1908), "Loyola Law Review", Vol. 47, Summer 2001, webpage: [http://www.crescentpilots.com/aboutus_pilottown.htm CP-Piltt] .]

In the 18th and 19th century, the French settlement and fort that preceded Pilottown near the mouth of the Mississippi was known as La Balize, a name that meant "seamark" in French. La Balize was located about ten miles downriver from Pilottown. [ [http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lch/research/la18hu.php David Roth, "Louisiana Hurricane History: 18th Century", National Weather Service, 4 Jun 2003] ]

After the destruction of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, one of the river pilots associations at Pilottown has decided to move upriver to Venice to rebuild. The other will stay in Pilottown, where pilots live temporarily for work shifts.

History

Pilottown was constructed and settled after September 1860 in its current location. It replaced the earlier village of La Balize, that had been founded more than 160 years earlier downriver. After the hurricane of September 14-15, 1860, blew its buildings down and destroyed the area in a storm surge, La Balize was finally abandoned. [ [http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lch/research/lalate19hu.php David Roth, "Louisiana Hurricane History: Late 19th Century", National Weather Service, 4 Jun 2003] , accessed 6 May 2008] The main river passage was moved to the Northwest Pass, so ship traffic had to move. The Mississippi River pilots built their new settlement upriver above Head of Passes. They named it Pilottown.

The first French settlers had built a rude fort and dwellings for La Balize near the mouth of the Mississippi in 1699. The name meant "seamark", and the French built a 62-foot-high wooden pyramidal structure in 1721 to help guide ships on the Mississippi River and at its shifting delta. This was where river pilots came to live. [ [http://www.srh.noaa.gov/lch/research/la18hu.php David Roth, "Louisiana Hurricane History: 18th Century", National Weather Service, 4 Jun 2003] , accessed 6 May 2008]

Pilottown is built on piers in swampy ground on the East Bank of the lower Mississippi River, about 85 miles (137 km) down-river from New Orleans (65 miles or 105 km by air) and about 10 miles (16 km) south of Venice, Louisiana. Pilottown is located a few miles above Head of Passes, the point considered to be the mouth of the Mississippi River. Below there the River splits into multiple branches. This is part of the active delta front that has, over time, built up the larger Mississippi River Delta.

imageframe|left|width=280|caption=The active front of the Mississippi Delta. Pilottown is located just north of the main fork.|content=Superimpose
base=mississippi_delta_from_space.jpg
base_width=280px
base_caption=The active front of the Mississippi Delta. Pilottown is just north of the main fork.
float=Red pog.svg
float_width=8px
float_caption=Pillottown
x=169
y=161 Pilottown serves as a temporary home for Mississippi river pilots and as a base for oil exploration. Although the captain is always responsible for his ship, all oceangoing ships must take a pilot on board when entering the Mississippi River system. The river has shifting passages and sand bars that make the journey difficult, especially given the tides and the powerful current downriver. The Associated Branch Pilots supplies river pilots for ships traveling between the Gulf of Mexico and Pilottown. The Crescent River Port Pilots Association supplies river pilots between Pilottown and New Orleans, Louisiana, and the New Orleans-Baton Rouge Steamship Pilots Association supplies pilots for ships that are bound for Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Pilottown consists of a few buildings, including temporary housing for river pilots and a weather station, and some large oil tanks. Because Pilottown is only a few feet above river level, a raised concrete walkway connects these buildings and runs the length of the island, to provide some footing in flood conditions.

Pilottown is accessible only by water or by helicopter. In the 19th and early 20th century many fishermen, pilots and their families lived here, but now most make their residence in larger communities upriver. The pilots stay in temporary quarters in Pilottown only while working. The peak population was probably reached in the 1860s, when La Balize had a population of some 800 people.

Today the permanent population of Pilottown is small, fewer than 20 people. Pilottown is not listed in the United States census figures. Pilottown's one-room school was closed in the 1970s. Although Pilottown still has its own zip code of 70081, the Pilottown Post Office was closed when the US Postal Service could not find a postmaster willing to live in the village.

Hurricane Katrina

Hurricane Katrina struck southern Louisiana near Pilottown, inflicting heavy damage on nearly every structure. The headquarters of the Associated Branch Pilots, located in Pilottown for over 100 years, was pushed backward off its foundation, leading the pilots to decide against rebuilding in Pilottown. They have since relocated 10 miles upriver to Venice, where they are constructing a new headquarters. The Crescent City Pilots, however, decided to remain in Pilottown, despite the location's vulnerabilities.

References

External links

* [http://www.nola.com/news/t-p/frontpage/index_pantheon.ssf?/newsstory/3_pilottown06.html New Orleans Times-Picayune article on Pilottown]
* [http://www.bestofneworleans.com/dispatch/2001-08-21/cover_story.html BestofNewOrleans.com article by Stephen Ambrose]
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5737599/ Out of the River, MSNBC travelogue entry on Pilottown]
* [http://natstone.net/1A/page3.shtml Picture of Pilottown from On the River (travelogue) by Nat Stone]
* [http://www.crescentpilots.com/aboutus_pilottown.htm CRPPA Pilottown history] .