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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
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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
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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
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The first French settlers had built a crude 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 (19 m) wooden pyramidal structure in 1721 to help guide ships on the Mississippi River and at its shifting delta.
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Pilottown no longer has any permanent residents; the remaining few in 2005 did not return after
Hurricane Katrina. The Crescent River Port Pilots still maintain headquarters but pilots do not reside full-time. Pilottown is not listed in the United States census figures. Pilottown's one-room school
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Pilottown serves as a temporary home for members of the
Crescent River Port Pilots' Association 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
339:, blew its buildings down and destroyed the area in a storm surge, La Balize was finally abandoned. The main river passage was moved to the Southwest Pass, because of its deeper water. The Mississippi River pilots built their new settlement upriver above
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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
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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.
362:. 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
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In the 18th and 19th centuries, the French settlement and fort that preceded
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Pilottown was constructed and settled after
September 1860 in its current location. It replaced the earlier village of
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and Pilottown. The Crescent River Port Pilots' Association supplies river pilots between Pilottown and
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472:"CRPPA: Pilottown" (overview), Crescent River Port Pilots’ Association, 2001, webpage:
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was probably reached in the 1860s, when La Balize had a population of some 800 people.
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Pilottown is built on piers in swampy ground on the East Bank of the lower
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Unincorporated communities in the New Orleans metropolitan area
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Unincorporated communities in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana
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Pilottown, Louisiana, as ships pass by on the Mississippi
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Out of the River, MSNBC travelogue entry on Pilottown
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Unincorporated community in Louisiana, United States
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607:Municipalities and communities of
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337:hurricane of September 14–15, 1860
88:Location of Pilottown in Louisiana
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174:5.0 sq mi (13 km)
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522:David M. Roth (April 8, 2010).
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524:"Louisiana Hurricane History"
343:. They named it Pilottown.
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801:West Pointe à la Hache
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234: • Summer (
116:29.18167°N 89.25750°W
845:United States portal
208: • Density
670:New Orleans Station
121:29.18167; -89.25750
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290:Plaquemines Parish
200: • Total
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163: • Total
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632:Pointe à la Hache
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429:Hurricane Katrina
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360:Venice, Louisiana
352:Mississippi River
298:Mississippi River
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535:. Retrieved
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811:Ghost towns
776:Jesuit Bend
756:Grand Bayou
731:Braithwaite
713:communities
625:Parish seat
380:New Orleans
356:New Orleans
152:Plaquemines
119: /
861:Categories
766:Happy Jack
655:Boothville
445:References
282:Pilot Town
195:Population
107:89°15′27″W
104:29°10′54″N
824:La Balize
796:Port Eads
791:Pilottown
333:La Balize
305:La Balize
278:Pilottown
265:Area code
217:Time zone
187:Elevation
143:Louisiana
82:Pilottown
36:Pilottown
18:Pilottown
819:Burrwood
736:Carlisle
721:Bellevue
501:Archived
498:CP-Piltt
477:Archived
474:CP-Piltt
284:) is an
254:ZIP code
786:Phoenix
771:Ironton
751:Diamond
741:Dalcour
726:Bohemia
685:Triumph
311:History
132:Country
781:Orchid
746:Davant
690:Venice
665:Empire
439:Venice
148:Parish
711:Other
660:Buras
527:(PDF)
364:delta
243:UTC-5
222:UTC-6
140:State
642:CDPs
539:2011
280:(or
158:Area
288:in
270:504
247:CDT
236:DST
226:CST
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
