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Bolivar When I first started this section, I wasn't sure how it would end up. I want to provide you with information for your Lighthouse search. I don't want to give all the statistics and original cost of the lighthouse, you can go to the USCG website and find all that, they have a wonderful site. I am just going to put together some pictures and some driving directions to help you get there, after all that's what it's all about, visiting lighthouses. The planning and traveling is half the fun. And when you get there you might need a place to stay and some other entertainment, we've provided some of that information as well. I hope this makes you trip easier. |
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| I don't think I can start this without saying something about the South Jetty Lighthouse in Galveston. A few years back I bought a book called 1994 Inventory of Historic Light Stations. In this book it stated that the jetty light was scheduled to be demolished in 1996. I sent a letter to Wayne Wheeler at the United States Lighthouse Society and asked him if he had further information about it. He wrote back and said that he had not heard of any plans to take down the light. I felt confidant that the light was okay and only thought about it every now and then. |
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I saw it once when some friends and I were going to the Flower Gardens on a dive trip. I looked up and there it was. Just a small brown lighthouse with a rotting and unpainted wooden house, it was nothing very special. Once I took my granddaughter down to the beach where the jetty is. But all you could see was a speck in the distance at the end of the jetty. I always said that one day I was just going to go out on the jetty and walk as far as I could. Just to pay my respects. But I never did get to. The US Coast Guard didn't have to tear it down; on May 2, 2000 a storm did. |
That said, I guess I should start with the one closest to me, Point Bolivar Lighthouse. One of the reasons I have always liked Bolivar Light so much is that it saved so many lives. Not by guiding ships in the night or in storms, but because of people actually surviving inside the tower for days at a time. First in 1900 (125 people) and the again in 1915 (52 people) . Had it not been for the tower and the keepers food, a lot more people would have died. Every time I drive by, I have to imagine what it was like for those people sitting on the cold, wet metal steps with their children, listing to the hurricane outside and watching the water come up inside the tower. Worse yet, hearing other people still outside trying to get in. Bolivar is just a 10 minute ferry ride across the bay. When you get off the ferry, there it is. You have to drive by it just to turn around and get back on the ferry. It is privately owned. They have a caretaker that works there and the family uses it as a summer home. If you want a good view of the lighthouse you can drive around back to the entrance. When you get off the ferry take the first side street just past the lighthouse to the left. Then take the driveway to the left and you can get right up next to it. I have not had the nerve to ask anyone there if I could look around the grounds but one day I will.  The Lighthouse is cast iron with brick lining the inside of the tower. The lens is missing and the tower could use a new coat of paint. The wood keepers quarters are in various states of repair. There is no gift shop or museum, there is a little store close by for basic picnic and fishing supplies. You can drive your car across or leave it and ride the ferry round trip. The ferry is free and has a deck you can go up on for a better view, they also have restrooms up top. If you come to Galveston for the first time, don't expect blue or green water. It is brown, always has been and always will be. You have to go out about 100 miles offshore to see clear water. But the wind, the smell of the salt in the air and the sand still feels good, and there are lots of other things to do here. The beach is on one side of the seawall, which runs down the coast. The hotels have water views but only two resorts are actually on the beach, the rest are across the street from the beach. One good place to visit is the Galveston County Historical Museum. They are in the old Moody Bank. Here you can see the Fresnel lens that was in the South Jetty Lighthouse. You can also see pictures form the 1900 storm, it is truly an unimaginable thing. As you drive around Galveston you will see beautiful old homes and the usual beaten down houses. The Ashton Villa is a good place to go also, as they have a film about the 1900 storm that you can see. While you are there, look at the fence around the house. You will notice that the gates are taller than the fence. That is because they raised the entire Island of Galveston after the 1900 storm. The fences ended up half underground. There is the Strand, a section of Old Galveston that has been renovated and turned mostly into shops. They have a few activities throughout the year like Dickens on The Strand at Christmas. Mardi Gras is quite an event now also. They have a restored clipper ship, The Elissa, that you can visit. There are quite a few wonderful old home tours and then there is always the beach. There is Moody Gardens which has their own "white sand" beach, an Aquarium of The Americas, a rain forest and more. Galveston is just 50 miles from Houston and is an easy drive right down Interstate 45. Of course there is more traffic in the summer. There is the Space Center at NASA which is between Houston and Galveston. And then there is the Kemah Boardwalk, a great place to spend several hours. They have rides and shops and great restaurants. Kemah always has a holiday atmosphere. Nothing shabby here. If you come to visit, I do hope you enjoy the lighthouse. Excerpt from Keeper's Log |
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