Texas’ Only Lighthouse Shined for the First Time in 100 Years

Here's a fun fact about Texas, our state only has one lighthouse.

So when you picture a lighthouse, I picture someplace in Maine. Waves crashing off of a coast, letting captains know. Hey, you're almost into port. I don't really think of Texas as a lighthouse state. For the obvious reason, not a lot of water surrounding our state. Except at the southern tip. That is where the only lighthouse in Texas stands today.

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Over in Port Isabel, Texas a special ceremony took place on Friday night as the lighthouse shined for the first time since 1905. No living person in the state has ever seen this thing light up. It's been a historical structure since 1952 and has just been sitting there. The area was used in the Mexican war as a base for the army back in the 1846 and then became a shipping channel after that. In 1853, the lighthouse was put in to help guide boats into port.

Once railroads became more popular in the area, the channel was no longer needed and the lighthouse was turned off in 1905. The lighthouse has become the official logo for the town, even though it hadn't been used in years. This past Friday, the special ceremony took place to light it back up.

Just a cool little piece of Texas history that I am sure a lot of folks don't know about. The plan for lighthouse's future is too not have it rotating regularly. It will instead sit fixed at a lower wattage, according to KERA.