PORT BOLIVAR, Texas — Built in 1872, the Bolivar Point Lighthouse is living history. A story of strength and courage. It is one of the few 19th-century lighthouses remaining on the Gulf Coast. The Lighthouse has survived many storms, including major Hurricanes in 1900 and 1915. In 1900, 125 brave souls found shelter in the Lighthouse to ride the hurricane out.

Amy Chase, the Director of the Bolivar Point Lighthouse Foundation, loves sharing its history. “We love hearing the stories. One visitor told us, ‘My grandfather was working on the peninsula, and my grandmother lived there. Both sought shelter in the Lighthouse during the 1900 hurricane. They met on the stairwell, and two years later, they got married in 1902.’ People will visit and say this is why my family is still here.”

The Lighthouse shined every night during its 60 years of service. It was retired from service on May 29, 1933.

In 1947, the Lighthouse was auctioned off. Amy Chase’s Great-Uncle and Grandmother bought it. Chase is leading the Foundation in restoring the Lighthouse. Amy says, “If these walls could talk, the stories of the thousands of ships that have come into the channel, the storms that have been weathered here. You think of the Lighthouse keepers who lived here and the diligent service they did. This is a beacon of hope.”