Fort Point Light Station

September 1900 page from the Fort Point Light Station Log, MS73-0381. Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas.

Fort Point Light Station was a lighthouse on the northeast tip of Galveston Island, on the south side of the entrance to Galveston Bay. Construction began in 1881, four years after Congress earmarked $15,000 for the light. Its beacon was finally shown on August 15, 1882, and it would light the Galveston channel until 1909. The lighthouse was an eight-sided wooden structure built atop large screw piles that were driven deep into the ground of the bay. Its light was 47 feet above sea level and was visible for 12 miles. Other similarly built lighthouses in Galveston Bay include Half Moon Shoal, located off Texas City; Redfish Bar, located between Galveston Bay and Trinity Bay; and Clopper’s Bar, which was located across the bay from Morgan’s Point. Today, the only trace of these lighthouses is a replica of Half Moon Shoal, located near the entrance to Texas City’s Dike, which provides a history for visitors of the lighthouses and of Galveston Bay.

In 1905, a fog signal bell was installed at the station. On July 31, 1909, the light was discontinued, but the station continued to operate its fog signal until the U.S. Coast Guard decommissioned it in December 1950. The structure was finally sold and demolished in late 1952. The land it sat on was then transferred to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which continues to operate on it today near the Coast Guard headquarters. No trace of the lighthouse and fog station remains at the site.

Fort Point Lighthouse, Galveston, Texas, ca. 1920. G_1918_FF1_11, Galveston Photographic Subject Files: Sea Views. Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas.

The keeper’s log from Fort Point (MS73-0381) is available for viewing at the Galveston and Texas History Center. The log contains reports of wind and weather conditions, keeper's duties, visits from the lighthouse tender, inspections, and other activities at the light, dating from March 1898 to March 1906. The log spans the tenures of at least three keepers, including William B. Johnson, who tended the light from February 21, 1902, until his death on October 5, 1905. His entries in the logbook provide a glimpse into life as a keeper, which was often a mixture of monotony and excitement. One example of the latter is on May 17, 1903, during which Johnson wrote, “Keeper saved Jack [Houlehan’s] life, as he was almost dead from drowning.” He also recorded many visits with his daughter, including on May 2, 1903, when he took her to Galveston (“the city”) on a shopping trip and to visit the crew of the U.S. Lighthouse Tender Pansy. Sadly, Johnson also recorded the death of his son, William B. Johnson, Jr. On November 20, 1903, he wrote, “My son, William B. Johnson [Jr.] drowned at 2:30am.” One day later, he wrote “Buried my son at 11:40am in Lakeview Cemetery.”

Among other notable events that took place at the station during the time of the logbook was a case of yellow fever at a nearby gun battery on August 25, 1898. On February 13, 1899, the USS Texas visited the station several months after her service during the Spanish-American War. On September 8, 1900, the day the Great Storm of 1900 hit Galveston Island, the log reported a “N.E. gale with light rain and very high tide.” One indication of the Storm’s impact can be found in the September 12 entry, in which the keeper “continued drying things, and tried to repair [the] lantern.” The lantern was not repaired until September 18, ten days after the Great Storm. The repairs were conducted by the master of the U.S. Lighthouse Tender Arbutus.

Wind and weather reports from September 1-14, 1900, from the Fort Point Light Station Log, MS73-0381. Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas.

In addition to the logbook, historical information about the light is available in the Galveston Harbor Scrapbook (MS55-0004), which can be viewed at GTHC. The scrapbook includes newspaper clippings, photographs, correspondence, and notes compiled by former Galveston Historical Society president Walter E. Grover, regarding various maritime subjects such as Galveston Harbor, sailing vessels, jetties, and other local lighthouses. Finally, photographs of Fort Point and other lighthouses such as Bolivar Point and the Galveston South Jetty Light are available in the Galveston Photographic Subject Files: Sea Views, which can be viewed online by visiting GTHC’s Archives Catalog.

Sources:

• Fort Point Light Station Log, MS73-0381. Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas.
• Galveston Harbor Scrapbook, MS55-0004. Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas.
• Photographs of Various Galveston Lighthouses, Galveston Photographic Subject File: Sea Views [G-1918]. Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas.
• Baker, T. Lindsay. Lighthouses of Texas. Texas A & M University Press, 2001.
• McDougal, Steph. Lighthouses of Texas. Arcadia Publishing, 2014.