Pilottown

Originally known as Balize, Louisiana, Pilottown was settled about 100 years ago when traffic on the river shifted from one channel to another, forcing pilots to abandon their station about five miles downriver. Other people followed attracted by the nearby National Delta Wildlife Refuge.

In the 19th and early 20th century many pilots and their families lived here. The peak population was probably reached in the 1860s, when Balize had a population of some 800 people. However, the repeated devastation caused by violent storms and hurricanes caused most residents to relocate and today the permanent population of Pilottown is less than 20 people. Pilottown is not listed in the United States census figures.

Now the town consists of a few buildings mostly housing pilots, and a weather station, built on piers, connected by raised wooden sidewalks. Both the Crescent River Port Pilots’ Association, and the Associated Branch Pilots, whose members work between Pilottown and the Gulf of Mexico have housing in Pilottown for their members on call.

Pilottown is accessible only by water or by helicopter. Located in the swampy ground of the lower Mississippi River Delta, about 85 miles down-river of New Orleans (65 miles by air) and about 10 miles south of Venice, Louisiana. It is just upriver from the point where the river splits into multiple branches.