The Port Isabel Lighthouse started off life as a fully functional tower guiding ships in the darkness of night, but in 1905 the lamp was removed. Within a week the lighthouse will be back to its original condition.
The lighthouse celebrated its 170th anniversary this year and has been a monumental structure in the city ever since.
Marketing Director for The City of Port Isabel Valerie Bates said even though the lighthouse will never go back to serving its original purpose, it is important to preserve the history of the structure.
“It is still not a navigational beacon. This is just for historical interpretation,” Bates said. “[It is] impressive that the Texas Historical Commission still looked at this and said, ‘this lighthouse needs a light back’.”
She said the lighthouse has stood strong through harsh weather and tough times and she is appreciative that it is still here today.
“I don’t ever want to take for granted the preservation of this lighthouse. It could’ve very easily disappeared from the face of the map years ago, but thankfully the right partnerships came together to preserve it and now to make it even better,” Bates said.
Communications Director for the Texas Historical Commission Chris Florance said it is important for people to experience what historical landmarks were like in the past.
“From a historic preservation perspective, what you want to do is, it’s vital to keep the site in place in this unique aspect of maritime history, but it’s great for visitors to get an idea of what it was like,” Florance said.
He said he understands what the lighthouse means to the city of Port Isabel which is why preserving it is so important.
“It’s not just about preserving an old structure or a building just to preserve it, we want the places that we preserve to be contributing parts of the community and to add to the economic development,” Florance said.
The first official lighting of the Port Isabel lighthouse will be on Friday December 9.
