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Texas Day by Day

May 15, 1888


Historic lighthouse extinguished by title search

On this day in 1888, the Port Isabel lighthouse was temporarily extinguished. Located on State Highway 100 in Port Isabel, southeastern Cameron County, the lighthouse was built by the United States government in 1852-53. The brick lighthouse had a light that consisted of four lamps on an iron platform. It was reported in 1854 that the lighthouse stood fifty-seven feet above the ground and eighty-two feet above sea level. The light was visible for sixteen miles and was produced by twenty-one reflectors and fifteen lamps. In 1887 it was discovered that the United States government did not have title to the land, and the lighthouse was closed the following year. The government, refusing to give up, sought title to the land and acquired it in 1894. The lighthouse was permanently abandoned, as no longer needed, in 1905, and the site was restored as the Port Isabel Lighthouse Historic Structure in the 1950s.

Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
PORT ISABEL LIGHTHOUSE STATE HISTORIC STRUCTURE
PORT ISABEL, TX
CAMERON COUNTY

Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
Distinguished author born in Central Texas hamlet (1890)
Sánchez family founds Laredo (1755)


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