Halfmoon Shoal Lighthouse - Texas City, TX (USA)
Posted by: 
Raven
N 29° 23.901 W 094° 53.309
15R E 316754 N 3253603
A wooden lighthouse on Texas City's seawall: an exact replica of the original previously located within Galveston Bay's waters (between Pelican Island and Dollar Point).
Waymark Code: WMWT1D
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 10/09/2017
Views: 3
Located along Skyline Drive along the Texas City seawall, this replica of the Halfmoon Shoal lighthouse was partially funded by the Rotary Club of Texas City. The original lighthouse was 2.5 miles East of here, in Galveston Bay, about a mile north of the present Texas City Dike (between Pelican Island and Dollar Point). Its coordinates were: N 29 24.067 W 094 50.983.
Per a Texas historical marker about a .25 miles West of this site (within Bay Street Park, at Bay St.):
"A number of families settled along Galveston Bay in the 1830's after land grants were awarded to veterans of the republic of Texas army and navy. An early community at this site became known officially as Shoal Point in 1878 when a U. S. Post Office was established. It was renamed Texas City in 1893.
The commencement of shipping in Galveston Bay led to increased settlement in the area. In 1854 the U. S. Government erected a lighthouse in the bay two miles east of Shoal Point at Half Moon Shoal. One of several lighthouses built along the Texas Gulf Coast that year, the Half Moon Shoal lighthouse was a red and white painted frame structure with galleries surrounding the main portion of the building and a captain's walk around the light. A bell served as a fog warning device.
Decommissioned during the Civil War, the lighthouse was returned to service in 1868 and provided hazard warnings until the disastrous 1900 storm, when a steamship broke free from its mooring and drifted into the structure, destroying it and killing keeper Charles K. Bowen. A beacon replaced the lighthouse until the shipping lanes in the bay were chanted after the construction of the Texas City channel and dike."
Coastal Lighthouse: Lighthouse
Range Lights: Not listed
LIGHTHOUSE CHALLENGE VISIT: Not listed
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