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Texas: Central, South, and Gulf Coast » South Texas » Brownsville to South Padre Island » Port Isabel (Cameron County) » Port Isabel Lighthouse

Port Isabel Lighthouse

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1853; 1999 rehabilitation. 414 E. Queen Isabella Blvd.
  • (Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress)

The lighthouse, a State Historic Site, stands in the center of the grounds of old Fort Polk, and was a beacon for shipping until it was de-commissioned in 1905. The eighty-two-foot-tall brick tower also served as an observation deck for both Confederate and Union troops during the Civil War. A complete rehabilitation in 1999 by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department included reconstruction of the side-gabled, wooden keeper's cottage based on original plans. One block south of the lighthouse, at 317 E. Railroad Avenue, the Champion Building (1899) houses the Port Isabel Historical Museum. Its brick, two-story front elevation with double-tiered wooden gallery was painted in 1906 by Juan García Morales with colorful scenes portraying fish and birds of the region to promote the fishing houses owned by the Champions.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Gerald Moorhead et al.
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Data

What's Nearby

Yacht Club Hotel (Port Isabel Yacht Club)
Sunchase IV Resort Condominiums
South Padre Island Convention Center

Citation

Gerald Moorhead et al., "Port Isabel Lighthouse", [Port Isabel, Texas], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/TX-01-BS34.

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