Shoal Point and Half Moon Shoal Lighthouse

A number of families settled along Galveston Bay in the 1830s 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 wa sa 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.

Shoal Point and Half Moon Shoal Lighthouse is a historical marker in Texas City, Galveston County, dedicated in 1991. It is one of 283 historical markers documented in Galveston County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 373 historic sites cataloged across the county.

The site sits at 29.3983, -94.8928 near Texas City. The nearest cataloged historic site is Wedell's Corner (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Jones, William Jefferson, Old Bay Lake Ranch, and Austinia.

This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5167007185. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.