Lighthouse of the Week, March 19-25, 2023: Port Isabel, Texas, USA

 

Looking back in blog history, I did have one picture of this lighthouse before -- on a special Halloween Lighthouse of the Week where this one had a spider climbing up the side of it.   And as I've noted before, Texas, despite having a fairly long coastline on the Gulf of Mexico, doesn't have a lot of lighthouses, though it does have a lot of steel towers with lights on them.  This is the third Texas lighthouse I've featured.

It may be the most famous (or at least most visited) -- it's a Texas state historic site, and can be visited and toured.  It offers a great view of Port Isabel, as you'll see.  Websites about it are common;  I'll list a few.

Port Isabel Lighthouse State Historic Site

Point (Port) Isabel, TX - Lighthouse Friends

Port Isabel Lighthouse SHS, Port Isabel  - Having Fun in the Texas Sun

So, now that I've listed some informational sites, where is the actual site?  In Texas, of course, and very close to the Mexican border, which is where the Rio Grande River enters the Gulf of Mexico. That would be here.  But it's actually not literally on the coast, because South Padre Island constitutes the real coast of the Gulf of Mexico. 

So, what does the Lighthouse Directory provide on this one?

"1853 (John E. Garrey). Reactivated (inactive 1905-2018, now privately maintained and unofficial, though charted as a lighthouse); focal plane 91 ft (28 m); continuous white light. 57 ft (17 m) brick tower, painted white; lantern and gallery black. A replica of the 1-story frame 1855 keeper's quarters (1995) houses a small museum and the city's visitor center. ... The lighthouse reopened in late July 2000 following a major restoration. In 2014 the buildings were repainted and the stairs of the lighthouse repaired. The lighthouse was closed to climbing in October 2016 for restoration and repairs. Various problems caused the planned four-month restoration to extend more than a year, but the work was completed by the end of 2017 and the lighthouse reopened on 2 January 2018. In September 2019 control of the light station was transferred from Texas Parks and Wildlife to the Texas Historical Commission. In 2022 a replica 3rd order Fresnel lens was installed and a lighting ceremony held on December 9. Located on TX 100 at Tarnava Street in Port Isabel, at the west end of the bridge to Padre Island."

So, it's a well-maintained lighthouse worth visiting, if you're ever way down south in the land of Texas.

A bonanza of pictures resides below.

The replica 3rd-order Fresnel lens