Port Isabel’s lighthouse is an impressive sight, an historical treasure and a big tourist draw, though for the last 117 years it’s been missing a key component: light.
Technically, a bulb has illuminated the interior of the structure’s lantern room for years, though hardly the brilliant, sweeping beams that guided mariners in the days of yore.
All that’s about to change. The Texas Historical Commission, which assumed ownership from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in 2019 through an act of the Legislature, wasted no time in finding a company — Artworks Florida — specializing in reproducing antique Fresnel lenses and able to fabricate a new one based on the Port Isabel Lighthouse’s original 1852 plans.
An acrylic reproduction of the original glass Third Order Fresnel Lens, a work of art in itself that looks like something out of a Dr. Who episode, has already been installed in the lantern room, mounted on a custom-made pedestal and with a 1,000-watt lamp mounted inside. It will be dedicated in a public ceremony Friday, Dec. 9.
Designed by French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel (pronounced fray-NEL), the lenses were state-of-the-art technology for lighthouses in the mid-1800s. “Third order” means it was the third largest lens Fresnel manufactured.
Advances in navigational technology made the lenses obsolete by the early 20th century and in 1905 the Port Isabel Lighthouse was decommissioned and the lens removed, said Valerie Bates, the city’s marketing director and manager of the Port Isabel Lighthouse State Historic Site.
Illumination for the original lens was provided by three oil lamps fed from one reservoir, with the lamps’ wicks trimmed to burn clean for maximum brightness, she said, marveling at a design capable of magnifying a relatively small light source into a beam radiating 16 miles out to sea. Bates said the new lens is still being tested and the angle of the beam will be adjusted in order not to blind motorists on the Queen Isabella Causeway. Also, the new light won’t be as bright as in the old days, she said.
“This is not a navigational beacon,” Bates said. “It’s merely a historical interpretation.”
Still, it’s going to be cool, she said.
“We’re very, very excited about being able to enter into this next phase of the life of the lighthouse … and for what the visitors will be able to experience,” Bates said. “It will be an enhanced experience.”
Chris Florance, THC communications director, said it’s about giving visitors an idea of the lighthouse’s original purpose, noting that Port Isabel’s is the only lighthouse among THC’s state historical sites.
“In this case it’s such a striking part of the community, and I think it will give visitors a better idea of what that lighthouse would have looked like … when it was actively assisting ships there on the coastline,” he said.
Florance said THC always looks for ways to boost the appeal of its historical sites, which he said are very important to communities and serve as a magnet for “heritage travel.” The lighthouse lens project, totaling about $200,000, was a no-brainer, Florance said.
“We were happy to be able to do that,” he said. “I think the project began shortly after they transferred to us. We definitely flagged that as something different and very impactful that we could do to the site.”
Florance said THC Executive Director Mark Wolf is scheduled to be on hand for the Dec. 9 event.
The ceremony begins at 6:30 p.m. at 421 E. Queen Isabella Blvd. Bates asked that those planning to attend RSVP to [email protected] or (956) 433-1015. An open house at the lighthouse and visitors center will carry over into Dec. 10, she said.
“We hope that people will turn out and enjoy the festivities and help us make some memories,” Bates said.
