SHELL BEACH-Just off the coast of Shell Beach is an abandoned structure that is filled with New Orleans history. Twist reporter Adam Bowles went on adventure to discover the hidden secrets of Lake Borgne’s Fort Proctor.
About 30 miles southeast of New Orleans, You’ll find Shell Beach, a small fishing town where the catch of the day supplies seafood all across the state. If you just stop and glance off shore, you will notice a mystery waiting to be solved.
“Yeah, it’s abandoned. The only way to get to it is by boat,” Zack Campo says. Thus began the journey by boat to Fort Proctor, an abandoned civil war fortress slowly sinking into Lake Borgne.
It was built for the Battle of New Orleans, but it wasn’t finished in time for the war. It was built to be a navy base for Lake Borgne,” Campo says. The fortress was used to protect the water ways coming into New Orleans in the 1850s and is still standing after the powerful Hurricane Katrina. Inside this ruin is a snapshot of New Orleans history weathered by mother nature’s strength. It is also proof of Fort Proctor’s resilience.
“I guess this right here was some type of facility where bedrooms with something in it because it shows like rooms right here,” Zack says. The journey is not over until you reach the top. You have to hike a steep rock, but it’s worth the trek. There is a view of the entire fortress. Adventure is out there. Just go for it!
Fort Proctor is also known as Fort Beauregard or Beauregard’s castle and was built in 1856.