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U.S. government okays the building of the Port Isabel lighthouse
On this day in 1851, the contract to construct the Port Isabel lighthouse was let by the United States government. The brick lighthouse stands near State Highway 100 in southeastern Cameron County. It is fifty-seven feet high, and projects eighty-two feet above sea level. The original light was visible for fifteen miles. The tower has been used mainly for observation, first during the Cortina War, then during the Civil War and both world wars. It received a state historic marker in 1936. The site is managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. In the 1990s the tower with its mercury-vapor light was still marked on sea charts as an aid to navigation.
- Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
- PORT ISABEL LIGHTHOUSE STATE HISTORIC STRUCTURE
- CORTINA, JUAN NEPOMUCENO
- PORT ISABEL, TX
- Links to other Web sites (will be opened in new browser window)
- Port Isabel Lighthouse State Historical Park
- Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
- Jefferson Davis dies (1889)
- Leadbelly dies (1949)
- San Antonio hosts two observing expeditions for transit of Venus (1882)
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