Point Bolivar Light

Point Bolivar Lighthouse
	Port Bolivar Lighthouse in 2010
Location	SH 87, Port Bolivar, Texas
Coordinates	29°22′00″N 94°46′01″W / 29.366787°N 94.766972°W
Tower
Construction	brick covered with ; cast iron sheets
Height	116 feet (35 m)
Shape	round
Heritage	National Register of Historic Places listed place, National Register of Historic Places listed place
Light
First lit	1852
Deactivated	1933
Lens	Fresnel lens
	Point Bolivar Lighthouse
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Area	0.3 acres (0.12 ha)
Built	1872
Built by	Bureau of Lighthouses
Architectural style	Malleable-Iron Lighthouse
NRHP reference No.	77001445
Added to NRHP	August 18, 1977

Point Bolivar Light is a historic lighthouse in Port Bolivar, Texas, that was built in 1872. It served for 61 years before being retired in 1933, when its function was replaced by a different light.

The current lighthouse is at least the second structure at the site. The first lighthouse was built in 1852 of cast iron made at the Baltimore foundry of Murray and Hazlehurst,^[2] and was pulled down during the Civil War so that Union warships could not use it as a navigational aid.

History

1862 map of Galveston showing the position of the lighthouse

During the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the lighthouse served as a shelter for at least 125 people, saving their lives. In 1915, the lighthouse also survived another hurricane, where winds of 126 miles per hour were recorded. The first lighthouse keeper, H. C. Claiborne, retired in 1918, after witnessing those two storms, and was replaced by a Captain J. Brooks. From the 1890s until the line's abandonment in 1942, the lighthouse looked down on the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway line that ran between it and Texas State Highway 87.

Port Bolivar Lighthouse

The War Department took possession of the lighthouse in 1935. It was transferred to the War Assets Administration. In 1947, the lighthouse was sold to rancher Elmer V. Boyt, and remains in the family. The 1970 film My Sweet Charlie, starring Patty Duke and Al Freeman Jr. was filmed at the lighthouse and adjacent caretaker's house. Although still standing, is not open to the public. ^[3]