Fort Proctor

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Fort Proctor
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Fort Proctor ruins, as seen in distance across the MRGO Canal from Shell Beach near Yscloskey, Louisiana.
Nearest city:	Shell Beach, LA
Coordinates:	29°52′2.3″N 89°40′41.82″W / 29.867306, -89.6782833Coordinates: 29°52′2.3″N 89°40′41.82″W / 29.867306, -89.6782833
Built/Founded:	1856
Architect:	J.G. Totten,et al.
Architectural style(s):	Renaissance
Added to NRHP:	September 20, 1978
NRHP Reference#:	78003067 ^[1]
Governing body:	Private

Fort Proctor is a ruined 19th century fort in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. Also known as Fort Beauregard or Beauregard's Castle (after P.G.T. Beauregard, who supervised its construction with architect J.G. Totten) is located on the shore of Lake Borgne just north of the mouth of Bayou Yscolskey. At the time it was built in the 1850s, there was also a railroad port called "Proctorville" adjacent.

The fort was intended to be part of the fortification protecting water routes towards New Orleans, Louisiana. Due to delays caused by hurricane damage, and then the outbreak of the American Civil War, the fort was never garrisoned, and by the end of the war improvements in artillery had made the fort design obsolete.

In the 1940's and 50's, before it was engulfed by the lake, the ruins of the fort became a somewhat popular gathering spot for high school aged children seeking a spot where they could not be supervised.

The construction of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal in the 1960s cut off all land access to the fort site. It can be seen in the distance from Shell Beach, Louisiana. In 1978 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is now completely surrounded by water about one foot deep. There remained one small piece of dry land inside of the fort, and after Hurricane Katrina, very little of that one dry spot is still dry.