After the hurricane of September 14–15, 1860, blew its buildings down and destroyed the area in a storm surge, La Balize was finally abandoned.

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.

Pilottown serves as a temporary home for members of the Crescent River Port Pilots' Association and as a base for oil exploration.

The river has shifting passages and sand bars that make the journey difficult, especially given the tides and the powerful current downriver.

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 flood conditions.

[1] 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.