|
Looking at the Texas coastline along the Gulf of Mexico, one finds a string of barrier reef islands with white sandy beaches that stretch from Galveston southwest to Brownsville. One of these is Matagorda Island, located 165 miles southwest of Galveston. This land mass is 38 miles long and averages about one mile wide. Matagorda, in Spanish, means “thick brush,” which one quickly finds to be true on the flat surface of this uninhabited piece of land.
The northeastern end of the island is called Pass Cavallo and marks the entrance to Matagorda Bay which boasts as having the deepest water on the Gulf of Mexico. This is where the Matagorda Island Lighthouse is located. Further inland, on the bay, is a small search and rescue unit called the Port O’Connor Coast Guard Station that maintained the Light.
In October, 1975, my wife and I set out on what we called our “Lighthouse Journey.” The intent was to start in Brownsville, TX and photograph every coastal lighthouse from there to Washington, DC where we would stop for the winter to research human interest stories about the lighthouse keepers. We had made friends with a young Petty Officer assigned to the Eleventh Coast Guard District Headquarters who had supplied us with an address list for every CG station along our journey. We had mailed a letter of introduction to each station commandant.
At 6:00 p.m. on Saturday the 16th, we arrived at the Port O’Connor Station. We were driving a 24-foot mini motor home towing a Jeep and saw that their driveway had very little turnaround space, so we parked out front and I walked toward the front gate. A German shepherd trotted out to greet me. He stood directly in front of me wagging his tail, ears forward, etc. I bent down a petted him and then started to walk toward the office. The dog ran a few feet in front of me, then wheeled…growled, fur up and teeth showing, and I saw that he was all police dog ready for the kill. I stood very still. A Coast Guardsman walked toward me and the dog was all friends again. They figured it was because no one had ever walked in from the street before.
They had my letter of introduction and were delighted to meet me. I was told that they would have a boat ready to take me across the bay to the island the next morning and they were able to arrange for an Air Force truck to be standing by to drive me across the island to the Lighthouse. We drove to a nearby trailer park and “hooked up” for the night. In the meantime, a Texas “blue” norther blew into Port O’Connor and the temp dropped to 45 degrees and started raining.
Sunday morning I went to the USCG station with a gift of two dozen assorted donuts. The boat trip was interesting through the channel islands over to Matagorda. Along the way, we saw several herds of deer, one with as many as 28 deer that I counted. The Island was a game preserve and the deer were overpopulating. The road ended at a marsh, and the rain from the day before made the road impassable for the truck, so we sloshed through foot deep water for about 300 yards to get to the lighthouse tower. We hiked up a sandy path toward the station with the two Coastguardsmen cautiously checking the brush in front of us; they were on the lookout for rattlesnakes. The keeper’s quarters and other buildings were missing, but off to one side was a small cemetery with the graves of a keeper’s wife and small son. I got a great shot of the black tower that had once been painted with red and white and black horizontal stripes. We then returned to the station where we bid farewell and were on our way to Galveston.
In the year 2014, I became somewhat acquainted with the artist Alan Giana, and sent him some photographs of lighthouse. (he paints lighthouses into his pictures). I intended to send him my photo of the Matagorda Light and decided to go on line and copy out some data to go with my picture. Over the years I have learned how to research subjects related to lighthouses, and since 1999 I have enjoyed the good fortune in telling many stories in the pages of Lighthouse Digest. So, 39 years after stepping foot on Matagorda Island, this is what I learned that I never knew before.
In 1847 the government built the town of Saluria on the northwest corner of Matagorda Island. That same year, the government approved the building of a lighthouse near that same location. A 91-foot cast iron tower was completed in 1852, and it was first lit by Captain James E. Cummins. It was the first tower to be built in the Texas Gulf Coast.
In 1845, a German immigrant, Johann Schwartz, built the first house in what was to become the city of Indianola, located halfway between what is now Port Lavaca and Port O’Connor. Other immigrants moved into the area, and the small fishing village grew to become a seaport (it was first named Karlshaven). It was the nearest port city to San Antonio, and it became an important point for the export of various commodities from western Texas.
The decade of the 1850s brought the first newspaper, railroad construction and wharves were at capacity with sailing ships and steamers tied bow to stern. The Morgan Line ran to Indianola from New York, New Orleans, Pensacola and Cuba, as well as other foreign countries. The large German immigration into Texas resulted in settling Fredericksburg and New Braunsfel in the hill country just west of Austin and north of San Antonio.
Union soldiers occupied the city for two years during the Civil War, and immediately after the War, Indianola was second only to Galveston. This port received cargos of camels, part of the Army Camel Corps experiment to replace horses and mules. Having survived severe storms before, nevertheless on Thursday, September 16, 1875, half of Indianola was destroyed with a great loss of life by a powerful hurricane. Also, the city of Saluria was demolished
The town was rebuilt and soon Indianola was the second busiest port in Texas, with schools, theaters, exquisite mansions, happy homes, a bank, two photography studios, several travelling baseball teams also came to Inianola with its fine hotel, and many retail stores. In ten years the population had risen to 5,000, and a plan to build a railroad line from San Antonio was in the works.
On Friday, August 20, 1886, Indianola was struck by a category four hurricane with winds of 150 mph leveled the city: thousands of lives were lost. The county seat was moved to Port Lavaca, and in 1887 the United States Post Office in Indianola was permanently closed and the town declared “dead.” In 2014 almost nothing remains of the original Indianola, and, due to storm erosion, most of the former city is now underwater. However the Matagorda Island Lighthouse has stood for over 100 years as a silent sentinel at the north end of the Island. The lens has been removed and is now on display in Port Lavaca. Visitors are not allowed to climb the tower. The lighthouse is now managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Access to the Island is by boat only.
Saving Matagorda
A new effort to restore the Matagord Island Lighthouse is now underway with a partnership between the Friends of Aransas and Matagorda Island National Wildlife Refuges and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife, the federal agency that owns the light station. In 2009 the lighthouse appeared on a U.S. postage stamp. In 1999 the beginning of a $1.23 million restoration began, with lantern room being restored and relit. Part of that ongoing restoration completed in 2004 included shoring up the base of the lighthouse. But without proper ongoing care, corrosion of the tower is rapidly occurring.
Note to Visitors: There is no electricity, concession or drinking water on the Island. All visitors are required to bring all necessary supplies with them.
Matagorda Island Lighthouse Keepers:
James E. Cummins (1852-1853)
James R. McCreary (1853-1861)
John F. Callohan (1865-1866)
Alman Reed (1866-1869)
William King (1869-1870)
Thomas Harrison (1870-1871)
Alman Reed (1871-1872)
David P. Kane (1872-1877)
William C. Chichester (1877-1885)
Horace W. Crockett (1885-1888)
Herman Schreiber (1888)
Joseph Forrestier (1888-1911)
William B. Thompson (1911)
Stephen P. Hill (1911-1913)
Theodore Olsen (1913-1918)
William H. Heinroth (1918-1946)
Arthur Barr (1946-1956)
This story appeared in the
Sep/Oct 2014 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
All contents copyright © 1995-2024 by Lighthouse Digest®, Inc. No story, photograph, or any other item on this website may be reprinted or reproduced without the express permission of Lighthouse Digest. For contact information, click here.
| 