Point Bolivar Light_Texas

A Matter of Life and Death -

Rebuilt in 1872, the Point Bolivar Lighthouse in Texas is about 21 miles east from Galveston and just a half-mile or so from the ferry that crosses Galveston Bay along the coastline between the intercoastal waterway and the Gulf of America. It towers some 117 feet in a tapered cone shape made of bricks clad with cast iron bolted panels that have a dark brown patina due to 154 years of weathering in rain, sun and salt water mist. The first Light built on this site was in 1852 but was totally dismantled by the Confederacy during the Civil War to hamper the Union Forces from using it as a navigational marker. The original Light was also clad in cast iron panels over brick. There was an effort to locate those original dismantled cast iron panels before construction of the post-war tower began but to no avail. Speculation is that the Confederates used those metal panels to either retrofit their warships with protective armor or they were melted down to produce armament for the war. 

With the great Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the Lighthouse tower provide safe haven for 125 desperate people seeking shelter and safety from the 135mph wind, rain and surging Gulf. For days on end the survivors sat two by two on the tapered stair treads of the tower stairwell. Huddled together, they survived on rainwater and the light keepers rations. The surging tide water raised to 6 feet inside the base of the tower mostly due to the tower door blowing open. When the water had receded, they discovered a dozen or so people in the vicinity of the tower that had tried to reach the tower for safety but were overcome. The hurricane inundated Galveston and killed some 8000 residents according to official records. It is considered the deadliest natural disaster in American history. The Point Bolivar Lighthouse made the difference of Life and Death for 125 people.

A similar hurricane condition in 1915 also led 60 people to seek shelter in the safety of the Light tower. The assistant light keeper at the time was James Brooks who attempted for a while to tend the light lantern at the top of the tower. His report of the day, stated the top of the tower "swayed like a reed in the wind" during the height of the 120 mph storm. 

Other hurricanes that caused more recent damage occurred in 2008 with Hurricane Ike and Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

The critically acclaimed 1970 film "My Sweet Charlie", starring Patti Duke and Al Freeman, Jr. was filmed at the Lighthouse and surrounding Keeper's Quarters. 

The Great Depression played a role in the decommissioning of the Light in 1933.