New Canal Light, Lighthouse in New Orleans, US

New Canal Light is a lighthouse in New Orleans with a two-story white structure topped by a black lantern room positioned near the waters of Lake Pontchartrain. The building now operates as a museum and education center displaying exhibits focused on local ecology and maritime heritage.

The lighthouse was built in 1838 to guide vessels through the New Basin Canal and subsequently required major structural reinforcements. Significant reconstructions occurred in 1855, 1890, and 1901 as the building endured water and weather damage.

The site's cultural draw is the New Canal Lighthouse Museum and Education Center, run by the Pontchartrain Conservancy. Exhibits cover the lighthouse's own history, the ecology of the Lake Pontchartrain basin, the Conservancy's work, and local history and recreation. A Fresnel lens thought to have been in the lighthouse in the early 1900s is on display.

The museum and lighthouse are open every day except Sunday, year-round. The site sits on a jetty at the end of a half-mile remnant of the New Basin Canal, now a small boat and yachting harbor, so access is by the road along that stretch rather than from the filled-in canal. The light shows two white flashes every five seconds from a focal height of 15 m, and a fog bell sounds once every ten seconds.

The 1890 tower was moved to its present spot in 1910, and after the 1927 hurricane it was raised on new concrete piers. In 1936 the surrounding breakwater was filled in, giving the structure solid ground beneath it for the first time.