T hough it looks like a burned out shell, the Point Bolivar Light has never been the victim of fire. It was purchased from the government in 1947 and is now part of a private residence. The owners live in the old lighthouse keeper's bungalow next door, which as built in 1917, replacing the original house destroyed by a hurricane in 1915. The tower was once painted in black and white stripes, but is now all black, and the optics have been removed. This is the third lighthouse at this location. The first one was a 65-foot red tower which was taken down in 1862 and put in storage during the Civil War. A three-story wooden tower was erected in its place 1865 and replaced by the current tower in 1873. In 1933 the lighthouse was retired and replaced by the South Jetty Light marking the entrance to Galveston Bay and the Houston Ship Channel. Though the lighthouse is now private property, it can still be viewed from a distance. It stands along Texas Highway 87 east of Galveston. The state operates a free ferry service 24 hours a day between Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the lens, and mechanism for the light are now at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC.
1900 - More than one hundred people sought shelter inside the lighthouse during the Great Storm of 1900. Their lives were spared by the hurricane which killed 6,000 people in Galveston and is the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.
1915 - More than 60 people sought shelter inside the lighthouse during another hurricane. The tidal surge inundated the structure and carried away its fuel supply, but everyone inside lived.
1968 - The film "My Sweet Charlie" was filmed at the lighthouse.
Kat Taylor
Wednesday, September 27th, 2006 @ 5:23pm
My great grandfather was a lighthouse guard at this lighthouse during WWII and my great grandmother died there during the flu epedemic of 1918 along with her stillborn baby. She along with two other relatives is buried at Point Bolivar.
Bob Simoneau
Thursday, June 17th, 2004 @ 3:25pm
i believe that US Light House Service records indicat that the light tower was originally painted RED and white horizontal stripes.
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Kat Taylor