View source for Point Bolivar Light

{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{More footnotes|date=July 2013}}
{{Infobox lighthouse
| name            = Point Bolivar Lighthouse
| image           = Bolivar Lighthouse -- Point Bolivar, Galveston, Texas.jpg
| caption         = Port Bolivar Lighthouse in 2010
| location        = [[Texas State Highway 87|SH&nbsp;87]], [[Port Bolivar, Texas]]
| coordinates     = {{coord|29.366787|-94.766972|region:US-TX_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
| yearlit         = 1852
| automated       =
| yeardeactivated = 1933
| foundation      = 
| construction    = brick covered with <br />cast iron sheets
| shape           = round
| height          = {{convert|116|ft}}
| lens            = Fresnel lens
| module          = {{Infobox NRHP | embed = yes
  | name = Point Bolivar Lighthouse
  | nrhp_type = 
  | built = {{Start date|1872}}
  | builder = Bureau of Lighthouses
  | architecture = Malleable-Iron Lighthouse
  | added = August 18, 1977
  | area = {{convert|0.3|acre}}
  | refnum = 77001445<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2013a}}</ref>
}} 
}}

'''Point Bolivar Light''' is a historic [[lighthouse]] in [[Port Bolivar, Texas]], that was built in 1872.  It served for 61 years before being retired in 1933, when its function was replaced by a different light.

The current lighthouse is at least the second structure at the site.  The first lighthouse was built in 1852 of cast iron made at the Baltimore foundry of [[Murray and Hazlehurst]],<ref>{{Cite rowlett|earlyiron|access-date=2018-04-05}}</ref> and was pulled down during the Civil War so that Union warships could not use it as a navigational aid.

==History==
[[File:Galveston, Texas. . . Prepared by Order of Maj. Gen. N. P. Banks. Maj. D. C. Houston, Chief Engineers... Authorities... - NARA - 305663.tif|thumb|left|upright|1862 map of Galveston showing the position of the lighthouse]]
During the [[Galveston Hurricane of 1900]], the lighthouse served as a shelter for at least 125 people, saving their lives. In 1915, the lighthouse also survived another hurricane, where winds of 126 miles per hour were recorded.  The first lighthouse keeper, H. C. Claiborne, retired in 1918, after witnessing those two storms, and was replaced by a Captain J. Brooks.  From the 1890s until the line's abandonment in 1942, the lighthouse looked down on the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railway line that ran between it and Texas State Highway 87.

[[Image:Bolivarpoint.jpg|thumb|left|Port Bolivar Lighthouse]]
The [[United States Department of War|War Department]] took possession of the lighthouse in 1935. It was transferred to the  [[War Assets Administration]]. In 1947, the lighthouse was sold to rancher Elmer V. Boyt, and remains in the family. The 1970 film ''[[My Sweet Charlie]]'', starring [[Patty Duke]] and [[Al Freeman Jr.]] was filmed at the lighthouse and adjacent caretaker's house. Although still standing, is not open to the public. <ref>[http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=152 Lighthousefriends.com]- Retrieved 2014-12-19</ref>

==Current==
After withstanding over 150 years of erosion, the lighthouse has rusted to a dark brown color.
[[File:BolivarLighthouse.jpg|thumb|Point Bolivar Lighthouse]]

The lighthouse is adjacent to the [[Houston Audubon Society]]'s [[Horseshoe Marsh Bird Sanctuary]].

==See also==
{{Portal|National Register of Historic Places|Texas}}
*[[National Register of Historic Places listings in Galveston County, Texas]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Bolivar Point Light}}
*[http://www.crystalbeach.com/light.htm A tribute to the lighthouse]
*{{Handbook of Texas|id=ccb03|name=Bolivar Lighthouse}}
*[http://www.houstonaudubon.org/ Houston Audubon Society]

{{Lighthouses of Texas}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Texas}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Lighthouses completed in 1872]]
[[Category:Lighthouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Galveston County, Texas]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Galveston County, Texas]]
[[Category:History of Galveston, Texas]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Galveston County, Texas]]