11
APRIL 2026
On the western end of the island sat Fort Massachusetts, a 
nineteenth century brick fortification commissioned to pro-
tect New Orleans from foreign invasion. By the 1870s the 
structure was considered obsolete and was abandoned by the 
federal government by 1900. In 1933, the fort and the western 
section of the island were purchased by the American Legion 
and transformed into a resort for World War I veterans. 
Peter Martin partnered with the American Legion and, 
agreeing to give up his own resort operations, became the 
exclusive ferry carrying guests from Biloxi to Fort Massa-
chusetts. The arrangement proved to be lucrative and re-
mained in place until the National Park Service purchased 
the entire island in 1971. During those years, Skrmetta 
expanded his fleet with the Pan American Clipper (1937), 
Gulf Clipper (1950), and Pan American II (1963).
Louis’s father, Peter Martin’s eldest son, Peter, told him a 
funny story about the Pan American Clipper. At one point, 
Peter Martin received a letter from the former airline com-
pany Pan American World Airways (Pan Am), known for 
its Clipper series of planes. The letter stated that Peter Mar-
tin could no longer use the name Pan American Clipper for 
his boat. Peter Martin pushed back and ended up being 
able to keep the name of his vessel. 
Eventually, the island grew to be a financial burden for the 
American Legion, and in 1947, they turned all operations 
of the island over to Peter Martin and his family. For the 
next twenty-four years, the Skrmettas provided all the la-
bor, equipment, infrastructure and financing to build and 
maintain docks and facilities on the island. In 1959, Louis’s 
father, Peter, paid more than $4,000 of his own money to 
keep Fort Massachusetts from collapsing. When it didn’t 
work, Louis said several of his father’s friends who were lo-
cal historians teamed up with a local hotel owner, coming 
to his rescue, forming a committee to save the fort. 
The burden on the family grew when Hurricane Camille 
hammered the island in 1969, destroying the modern struc-
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