One of our favorite places along the gulf coast is Rockport, Texas. Jim says the city reminds him of Florida of many years ago with the numerous RV parks and houses and businesses painted in turquoise and other "Florida" colors. There are quite a few restaurants, some of which we visited. Also, we went to one museums in the area, including the Texas Maritime Museum to learn more about the gulf coast.
I have some pictures from the first time we visited the museum back in 2016, which I am including in this post. Those pictures were taken before Hurricane Harvey came through and tore this area apart -- those exhibits were outside and are not there anymore. Before heading into the museum, this anchor was outside.
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| Byers & Sunderland Stockless Anchor |
This anchor is typical of anchor designs of the late nineteenth century. The first anchor was patented in England in 1821. This particular anchor has some interesting markings on its flukes. On one fluke is a diamond with the words "W.L. Byers & Co. Ltd. of Sunderland" while the other had a raised circle and a swastika cast in the center. Over time the swastika took on a new meaning and was tied to the wave of nationalism that spread across Germany beginning in 1920. Once the swastika was embraced by Germany's Nazi Party, Byers discontinued the use of the swastika as a symbol on the fluke of the anchor. It was recovered off of Louisiana in 2015 during offshore operations. The anchor is an isolated find and not associated with any shipwreck.
The Karankawa people lived along the coast of Texas from Galveston Island to Corpus Christi Bay for centuries before Europeans arrived. We know about the Karankawa from historical accounts and archeology. Local Karankawa were also called Copane, which is an archaic Spanish word for small boat. This is due to their extensive use of dugout canoes within the coastal bays for fishing and transportation. The Karankawa were the first known mariners of the Texas bays.
Remnants of their campsites indicate that they lived in small round structures. Their diet consisted of fish, oysters, deer, small animals, and plants. They also used stone tools for most everyday tasks, as well as created clay pottery decorated with asphalt. Later European settlers indicate that the Karankawa moved seasonally -- winter on the coast (bayside) and summer in the hills.
Karankawa were described as tall, muscular people adorned with piercings, tattooes, and body paintings. Some accounts describe that the Karankawa warriors ate the flesh of their fallen enemies to gain their attributes, however, there is no archeological evidence to date that proves this story true.
Pressure from European settlers forced the Karankawa to move south into Mexico. By the last 1880s, few remained in the Texas territory.
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| Folding stack anchor |
This anchor was pulled up from the Houston Ship Channel in 1960. It is typical of the anchors used on tall ships and schooners of the mid-nineteenth century. The anchor was cast in nine pieces and then welded together in a large forge.
Immigrants coming to the U.S. through Galveston, Texas 1845-1865 ~~
What is a gateway? A gateway is the place where an immigrant first enters a new land. Texas communities have long been among the nation's leading gateway cities for newcomers, although the names and modes of travel have changed over time.
The Expedition of Alonso Alvarez de Pineda ~~ In 1519, Spanish Conquistador and cartographer Alonso Alvarez de Pineda created the first map of the mostly unexplored Gulf of Mexico. His map included all of the major inlets to the bays of the Texas Coast, but more importantly, disproved the idea of a direct sea passage to Asia. Although he never disembarked in Texas, some historians state that he did explore and name Corpus Christi Bay. This idea remains questionable, due to the idea of bringing an early vessel into an unexplored, shallow, and confined channel so far from home.
Spanish officer Cabeza de Vaca was part of the failed Narváez land expedition that explored Florida. Separated from their ships, the survivors built five rafts and sailed west. Three of the rafts were lost in a storm, while the other two wrecked on or near Galveston Island. Out of 80 men, only four survived the harsh Texas coast. These men were taken by the Karankawa who believed de Vaca to be a great healer. The men traveled for eight years through Texas and New Mexico before finding other Spaniards in Mexico.
The raft consisted of 29 pine logs fastened with horse hair. The sail was made of spare clothing. It sailed from Apalachicola, Florida, to approximately Galveston, Texas.
La Salle's expedition across the Atlantic Ocean left LaRochelle, France with four ships: the Saint Francois, the Amiable, the Joly and the La Belle. The La Belle was the flagship and had been gifted to La Salle personally by King Louis XIV. Before the expedition arrived on the Texas coast, one ship was lost to pirates. The Joly returned to France, and the Amiable and La Belle would both sink in Matagorda Bay.
The crew of La Belle numbered 27 sailors as it made its crossing. The Joly was a man-of-war charged with protecting the expedition across the Atlantic Ocean. One completely intact skeleton of a La Belle crewmember was discovered on board during excavation. He is buried at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. Captain Beaujeau of the Joly expressed discontent with La Salle during the entire journey. Once the Joly's mission was complete, Beaujeau and nearly 200 settlers decided to return to France, reducing the original number of settlers by half.
The Marion Packing Plant was one of several meat packing plants built in the Rockport area beginning in the 1860s, the peak years of the cattle boom. Most of the animals in these plants were slaughtered for their hides and tallow. The lack of adequate refrigeration or preservation technology meant much of the meat was lost. Near one of the plants in Rockport-Fulton was a dump for meat and carcasses which covered nearly five acres. The smell of rotting meat reportedly pervaded the area for years.
Steamboats played a significant role in Texas history. Plying the rivers, bays and bayous, steamboats provided a needed link between Texas and the rest of the world. Early settlers relied on steamboats to emigrate to Texas, for news and letters, for transportation, and as an outlet for the goods they produced.
The side-wheel steamboat Black Cloud was built in 1864 in Orange, Texas. It sank in the Trinity River near Liberty, Texas in 1873.
Careening blocks were utilized to roll large wooden ships on their side so barnacles could be scraped, repairs made, and new paint applied.
Once oil is discovered through a variety of methods whether old-fashioned wildcatting, or through new seismic technologies, it needs to be brought to the surface. Production is accomplished through several methods. Fixed drilling platforms (shown here), floating platforms, and deepwater drillships provide methods of extracting oil in shallow water all the way to several miles below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.
Jack-up rigs are used in waters up to 350 feet deep. When on location, the large black mat on the bottom of the rig is flooded and sinks to the sea floor. The top platform is then jacked up above the waves to provide a stable drilling deck. When finished, the deck is lowered and the air is pumped into the mat, which rises flush with the deck. The rig can then be tugged or driven to a new prospect.
Built for Shell Offshore, Inc., Bullwinkle is the largest offshore drilling platform ever assembled. Gulf Marine Fabricators of Ingleside completed Bullwinkle in May of 1988. Standing in 1350 feet of water, with her drilling deck in place, Bullwinkle rises 1736 feet from the seafloor.
This oyster dredge is typical of those used in Texas waters to harvest oysters in the bays. It is towed behind a small boat until full, then hauled on deck and emptied. The oyster harvest is controlled by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, with season opening and closing, size limits and other restrictions set each year. The "oyster boot" was brought up by J.C. Harlan in a shrimp trawl in 1967 in local waters.
Lighthouses in Texas ~~
Construction of the Sabine Bank lighthouse began in 1904 on a mud shoal in the Gulf of Mexico. Utilizing a caisson as the base (a watertight metal chamber) this unique style of lighthouse was the southernmost of its kind in the United States.
Located in Galveston Bay, the Bolivar Point Lighthouse was the first lighthouse in the Bay. During the Civil War, the lighthouse was dismantled to make use of the iron. At the end of the war, a temporary wooden tower was erected on the site of the original lighthouse. The lighthouse became obsolete when a modern light station was introduced in 1918.
The entrance to the Port of Galveston was obstructed by a sandbar located at the mouth of Galveston Bay. After seeing the impact of the great hurricane of 1900 on wooden structures in Galveston, engineers decided to make the lighthouse frame from iron. The lighthouse was linked to electricity in 1969, and fully automated in 1972. It was deactivated in the early 1980s and destroyed during a lightening storm in late 2000.
The mouth of the Brazos River was a prime location for the development of a major port in Texas. Unfortunately, a sandbar located at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico made it difficult for ships to enter the area. Throughout the late 1800s, both private companies and government entities tried clearing the sandbar with little success. In attempts to help ships navigate the Gulf waters, the Brazos River lighthouse was built in Velasco, Texas and lit in 1896. It was the only large skeleton iron lighthouse built along the Texas coast and the design provided less wind resistance during storms.
Halfmoon Reef lighthouse is the oldest surviving wooden lighthouses in Texas. The screw-pile design was new at the time, and had only been seen in the Chesapeake Bay region. Located in a strategically insignificant area, the lighthouse survived the Civil War virtually unscathed. In 1942, a hurricane damaged the lighthouse and the Coast Guard sold the property instead of making repairs. Today it is owned by a private owner.
Within the first year of its existence, the cast iron tower was threatened by natural beach erosion and the effects of the Civil War. Even though the lens was removed from the tower during the war, the structure was still a target in the conflict. Confederate soldiers tried to blow up the lighthouse, but due to its iron framework, they only succeeded in damaging some of its iron plates. The tower was relit on Sept. 1, 1873. The station was automated in 1956 and stayed in service until 1995. The lighthouse was restored and is currently under the care of the Texas Parks & Wildlife.
Located at the southern tip of South Padre Island, it lit the way for mariners navigating the Brazos Santiago Pass. The pass was an important commercial avenue for transporting goods inland. It was automated in 1939, just prior to a 1940 fire which swept through the structure, rendering it a total loss.
Before being chosen as a location for a lighthouse, Point Isabel had already played an important role in United States history. The land was used by General Zachary Taylor for Fort Polk during the Mexican-American War. After the war ended, the Army no longer needed the land and transferred it to the United States Treasury Department. After two years of construction, the lighthouse was lit on March 20, 1853, guiding ships to the Brazos Santiago Harbor.
Galveston was the state's fastest growing city when Texas joined the United States in 1845 and the newest immigrant gateway to the nation. By the end of the 1800s, the island city was one of America's busiest ports in the country.
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| Port of Galveston |
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| Map of Texas for the Bureau of Immigration |
In 1870, the Legislature established a State of Texas Bureau of Immigration to promote and protect immigration. The Bureau used tax revenues to promote Texas to potential immigrants from other states and Europe. Gustav Loeffler was named the Bureau's first superintendent. A German immigrant himself, he was committed to improving the experience for immigrants from both sides of the move. As such, the Bureau served as a contact between immigrants and transportation companies; it handled luggage, meals, and lodging details; it even advocated on the immigrants' behalf against abuses and fraud.
Anti-immigrant sentiment led to increasingly restrictive immigration laws being passed by Congress. The first such law in 1917, The Literacy Act, excluded "aliens over sixteen years of age, physically capable of reading, who cannot read the English language, or some other language or dialect, including Hebrew or Yiddish." An elaborate quota system followed. The Immigration Act of 1924 capped annual immigration at 164,000 and limited the numbers of immigrants from the areas of southern and eastern Europe whom some thought to be undesirable.
These xenophobic sentiments also gave renewed life to the racist Ku Klux Klan, targeting Jews, Catholics, and African Americans who were described by Hiram Evans, the Imperial Wizard of the KKK, as "absolutely unblendable" into American mainstream. Between 1920 and 1924, Klan membership rose from 3,000 members to 3 million members nationwide -- including small business owners, professionals, women, farmers, politicians, and clerical workers.
When WWI erupted in 1914, immigration dropped 73% as ports were turned over to the war effort. Then in 1915, a hurricane struck Galveston, severely damaging or destroying over 90% of buildings outside the seawall. At the same time, xenophobia began to infect the nation causing citizens to lash out against immigration. Security was tightened at all points of entry, including the Rio Grande border between Texas and Mexico.
In Galveston, the combination of hurricane damage to the immigration station and decline in European immigration led to the closing of the station in 1916. It was the end of an era for Galveston as an immigrant gateway, and for an America with an "open door." Although Galveston would later reopen to immigrants, it would never again regain its status as a major port of entry for immigrants into the United States.
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| Example of a 16th century (1500s) conquistador |
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| 1519 Gulf of Mexico Map |
The Expedition of Alonso Alvarez de Pineda ~~ In 1519, Spanish Conquistador and cartographer Alonso Alvarez de Pineda created the first map of the mostly unexplored Gulf of Mexico. His map included all of the major inlets to the bays of the Texas Coast, but more importantly, disproved the idea of a direct sea passage to Asia. Although he never disembarked in Texas, some historians state that he did explore and name Corpus Christi Bay. This idea remains questionable, due to the idea of bringing an early vessel into an unexplored, shallow, and confined channel so far from home.
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| Alonso Alvarez de Pineda |
Pineda did not stay long on the Texas coast due to medieval feudalism. He feared an encounter with the competing Conquistador Hernán Cortés, who was conquering the Aztec Empire. Interaction with him could have led to an armed conflict between the Spanish nobles.
Spanish officer Cabeza de Vaca was part of the failed Narváez land expedition that explored Florida. Separated from their ships, the survivors built five rafts and sailed west. Three of the rafts were lost in a storm, while the other two wrecked on or near Galveston Island. Out of 80 men, only four survived the harsh Texas coast. These men were taken by the Karankawa who believed de Vaca to be a great healer. The men traveled for eight years through Texas and New Mexico before finding other Spaniards in Mexico.
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| Cabeza de Vaca's raft, 1528 |
The raft consisted of 29 pine logs fastened with horse hair. The sail was made of spare clothing. It sailed from Apalachicola, Florida, to approximately Galveston, Texas.
La Salle's expedition across the Atlantic Ocean left LaRochelle, France with four ships: the Saint Francois, the Amiable, the Joly and the La Belle. The La Belle was the flagship and had been gifted to La Salle personally by King Louis XIV. Before the expedition arrived on the Texas coast, one ship was lost to pirates. The Joly returned to France, and the Amiable and La Belle would both sink in Matagorda Bay.
The Ships:
The Crew:
The crew of La Belle numbered 27 sailors as it made its crossing. The Joly was a man-of-war charged with protecting the expedition across the Atlantic Ocean. One completely intact skeleton of a La Belle crewmember was discovered on board during excavation. He is buried at the Texas State Cemetery in Austin. Captain Beaujeau of the Joly expressed discontent with La Salle during the entire journey. Once the Joly's mission was complete, Beaujeau and nearly 200 settlers decided to return to France, reducing the original number of settlers by half.
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| Marion Packing Plant, 1876 |
In the 1870s meat-packing industries in the area began to decline in large part due to the rising price of cattle and competition from meat-packing plants in Chicago and Kansas City. Even so, as late as 1880 a single factory in the Rockport-Fulton area handled 93% of the $500,000 worth of beef slaughtered by Texas factories in 1880.
Maritime Commerce ~~
The story of Texas' maritime development is closely linked to the small vessels which traded, fished, and sailed along its shore. With a relatively brief maritime history, Texas did not develop many original types of watercraft. Most of the small sailing and oared vessels which worked in Texas waters were based, in part, on similar craft from other Gulf states or the Atlantic seaboard. As along other southern coastlines, fore-and-aft rigged schooners were the most versatile type of craft. Inexpensive to build and operate, these two or three-masted vessels formed the large majority of craft employed in the trade between Texas ports and the rest of the U.S. in the 1800s. Even after the dominance of steamers was established on the major trade routes, sailing craft continued to be competitive in the bulk cargo trade. The first ocean-going vessel to use the new Houston Ship Channel in 1914 was the four masted schooner William C. May, carrying a load of cast iron pipe.
On September 26, 1914, the schooner William C. May is assisted by the tugs William J. Kelly and Ima Hogg.
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| The Sam Houston |
The Sam Houston carried goods and settlers from New Orleans to Texas, stopping in ports such as Velasco, Indianola and Galveston.
Steamboats played a significant role in Texas history. Plying the rivers, bays and bayous, steamboats provided a needed link between Texas and the rest of the world. Early settlers relied on steamboats to emigrate to Texas, for news and letters, for transportation, and as an outlet for the goods they produced.
The most famous Texas steamboat engineer was Richard King who worked on the Rio Grande River. His new designs for riverboats made steamboat traffic possible along the Rio Grande. The financial windfall was great enough for him to purchase land in the Wild Horse Desert of South Texas. Over time it would become the largest ranch in Texas, the King Ranch, covering approximately 825,000 acres.
The side-wheel steamboat Black Cloud was built in 1864 in Orange, Texas. It sank in the Trinity River near Liberty, Texas in 1873.
Careening blocks were utilized to roll large wooden ships on their side so barnacles could be scraped, repairs made, and new paint applied.
Once oil is discovered through a variety of methods whether old-fashioned wildcatting, or through new seismic technologies, it needs to be brought to the surface. Production is accomplished through several methods. Fixed drilling platforms (shown here), floating platforms, and deepwater drillships provide methods of extracting oil in shallow water all the way to several miles below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.
Once the petroleum is removed from the earth, it must be refined into usable products such as lubricants, plastics, and especially fuel.
Jack-up rigs are used in waters up to 350 feet deep. When on location, the large black mat on the bottom of the rig is flooded and sinks to the sea floor. The top platform is then jacked up above the waves to provide a stable drilling deck. When finished, the deck is lowered and the air is pumped into the mat, which rises flush with the deck. The rig can then be tugged or driven to a new prospect.
Jack-up rigs such as the J. Storm II are used to explore for oil. Using information from seismic testing, these vessels drill test wells to find out exactly how much oil and gas is in a particular reserve. This information is compared with estimated market prices to determine the cost effectiveness of installing a production platform.
Built for Shell Offshore, Inc., Bullwinkle is the largest offshore drilling platform ever assembled. Gulf Marine Fabricators of Ingleside completed Bullwinkle in May of 1988. Standing in 1350 feet of water, with her drilling deck in place, Bullwinkle rises 1736 feet from the seafloor.
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| 8" oil drill bit |
Early Texas oilman, Howard Hughes, Sr., solved the problem of drilling for oil through rock by developing a bit featuring cone-shaped revolving cutters with steel teeth capable of pulverizing rock. It was patented in 1909, and the Hughes Rock Bit would revolutionize the well drilling process. The financial windfall from this invention would also produce one of the greatest eccentric geniuses in history, Howard Hughes, Jr.
The Hughes Rock bit is hollow. While drilling for oil a thick "drilling mud" is injected into and pushed through the pipe. It is released through the drill bit to lubricate the drilling surface.
The drilling mud carries rock and sand out of the hole and keeps the hole under high pressure. If the drill bit were to cut into a high-pressure pocket of poison gas or oil, a blowout could occur forcing the drill pipe back up through the drilling rig in a potentially fatal explosion. Drilling mud helps to minimize this danger, along with other safety devices such as blowout preventers and early warning sensors.
Commercial Fishing ~~
The birth of commercial fishing in Texas came with the spread of railroads along the coast. Texans have always used the sea as a source for food, but not until a rapid transport network became available did fishing become a business. From the 1880s on, ports all along the Texas coast built large fleets of small schooners and rowing boats. Almost all of the fishing in those days was done on the bays and estuaries; few ever ventured out into the open Gulf of Mexico.
During the early years of the 20th century, fishermen abandoned their sailboats for engine-powered vessels. An ever-growing market for shrimp developed, and many fishermen switched to shrimping. Most Texas fishermen remained in bays, but deepwater shrimpers from Louisiana, other Gulf states, and an influx of Vietnamese refugees in the 1970s and 1980s changed the nature of the Texas fishing industry. Regulations intended to preserve the state's marine resources for future generations cut heavily into profits, and have made the commercial fishing business a difficult one to sustain.
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| Shrimp boat |
This oyster dredge is typical of those used in Texas waters to harvest oysters in the bays. It is towed behind a small boat until full, then hauled on deck and emptied. The oyster harvest is controlled by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, with season opening and closing, size limits and other restrictions set each year. The "oyster boot" was brought up by J.C. Harlan in a shrimp trawl in 1967 in local waters.
The coast of Texas has more than 3,000 miles of tidal shore, home to marshes, barrier islands, estuaries and bays. In addition to a thriving and diverse natural environment, the Texas coast has two of the busiest ports in the country, one in Corpus Christi and the other in Galveston. Although Texas has an expansive coast, it has a relatively small number of lighthouses.
There are 12 lighthouses in Texas, and they are listed here starting from the boarder of Louisiana, starting with Sabine Pass, to the border of Mexico, ending with Port Isabel. The first light navigational aid in Texas was not a lighthouse, but a lightship placed at the entrance of Galveston Bay in 1849. The first lighthouse followed in 1852 at Matagorda.
The beacons along the coast were invaluable in the expansion of Texas commerce by keeping seagoing vessels safe. During the Civil War, Texas lighthouses, as with other Confederate lighthouses along the coast, suffered damage as soldiers and civilians acted to keep the maritime advantages of the beacons out of Union hands. Many were repaired and relit following the war.
An increase in technology led to the automation of lighthouses in Texas, removing the need for a lighthouse keeper to physically maintain stations. Range lights quickly took the place of lighthouses along the coast as they were easier to maintain and power. Advances in navigational technology became readily available to ships and lighthouses became obsolete.
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| Sabine Pass 1857 - 1952 |
The Sabine Pass Lighthouse is actually inside the Louisiana border, about 600 yards from the Texas state line. It served as a navigational aid for sailors along the Texas coast for 95 years.
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| Sabine Bank 1906 - 2001 |
Construction of the Sabine Bank lighthouse began in 1904 on a mud shoal in the Gulf of Mexico. Utilizing a caisson as the base (a watertight metal chamber) this unique style of lighthouse was the southernmost of its kind in the United States.
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| Bolivar Point 1873 - 1933 |
Located in Galveston Bay, the Bolivar Point Lighthouse was the first lighthouse in the Bay. During the Civil War, the lighthouse was dismantled to make use of the iron. At the end of the war, a temporary wooden tower was erected on the site of the original lighthouse. The lighthouse became obsolete when a modern light station was introduced in 1918.
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| Galveston Jetty 1918 - 1972 |
The entrance to the Port of Galveston was obstructed by a sandbar located at the mouth of Galveston Bay. After seeing the impact of the great hurricane of 1900 on wooden structures in Galveston, engineers decided to make the lighthouse frame from iron. The lighthouse was linked to electricity in 1969, and fully automated in 1972. It was deactivated in the early 1980s and destroyed during a lightening storm in late 2000.
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| Brazos River 1896 - 1967 |
The mouth of the Brazos River was a prime location for the development of a major port in Texas. Unfortunately, a sandbar located at the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico made it difficult for ships to enter the area. Throughout the late 1800s, both private companies and government entities tried clearing the sandbar with little success. In attempts to help ships navigate the Gulf waters, the Brazos River lighthouse was built in Velasco, Texas and lit in 1896. It was the only large skeleton iron lighthouse built along the Texas coast and the design provided less wind resistance during storms.
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| Halfmoon Reef 1858 - 1942 |
Halfmoon Reef lighthouse is the oldest surviving wooden lighthouses in Texas. The screw-pile design was new at the time, and had only been seen in the Chesapeake Bay region. Located in a strategically insignificant area, the lighthouse survived the Civil War virtually unscathed. In 1942, a hurricane damaged the lighthouse and the Coast Guard sold the property instead of making repairs. Today it is owned by a private owner.
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| Matagorda 1852 - present |
Within the first year of its existence, the cast iron tower was threatened by natural beach erosion and the effects of the Civil War. Even though the lens was removed from the tower during the war, the structure was still a target in the conflict. Confederate soldiers tried to blow up the lighthouse, but due to its iron framework, they only succeeded in damaging some of its iron plates. The tower was relit on Sept. 1, 1873. The station was automated in 1956 and stayed in service until 1995. The lighthouse was restored and is currently under the care of the Texas Parks & Wildlife.
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| Brazos Santiago 1853 - 1940 |
Located at the southern tip of South Padre Island, it lit the way for mariners navigating the Brazos Santiago Pass. The pass was an important commercial avenue for transporting goods inland. It was automated in 1939, just prior to a 1940 fire which swept through the structure, rendering it a total loss.
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| Point Isabel 1853 - 1905 |
Before being chosen as a location for a lighthouse, Point Isabel had already played an important role in United States history. The land was used by General Zachary Taylor for Fort Polk during the Mexican-American War. After the war ended, the Army no longer needed the land and transferred it to the United States Treasury Department. After two years of construction, the lighthouse was lit on March 20, 1853, guiding ships to the Brazos Santiago Harbor.
During the Civil War, many Confederate lighthouses were darkened to prevent the Union from navigating into Texas ports. The beacon was relit after the end of the war in 1866. After over 50 years of service, the lighthouse fell into disrepair and was discontinued in 1905.
Lighthouse Keepers ~~
Before automated lighthouses, the mariners along the coast of Texas relied on lighthouse keepers to guide them to safety. The responsibilities of the lighthouse keeper included maintenance and care of the tower but more importantly, caring for the beacon and lens that lit the way for ships traveling along the coast.
Preparation for lighting the beacon began well before dusk with inspecting the lens, the lamp, the fuel supply, and trimming the wick. The weights, responsible for turning the gears which caused the lens to rotate, were unlocked and hand-cranked to the top of the tower to begin a new rotation. The keeper could not leave the beacon unattended for at least 30 minutes after lighting to make sure it continued to burn. The light would be tended at least twice between 8pm and sunrise, and constantly on a stormy night. At dawn, the beacon was extinguished to conserve fuel (the largest expense of the operation), the weights re-locked, and the lens stopped. The lens had to be cleaned and polished.
When not maintaining the lighthouse or beacon, the keeper spent part of each day surveying weather and tides. They maintained daily logs detailing operations, weather, water conditions, and ship traffic. Other duties included cleaning the tower daily, painting the daymark as needed, repairs, installation of new equipment, inventory of supplies, cleaning of chimneys, and maintenance of grounds.
While much of the maintenance schedule was routine, the keeper had to be prepared for emergencies. Living in close quarters with fuel and flammable supplies meant lighthouse keepers were vigilant about fire prevention. Other common emergencies included shipwrecks, and required the keeper to assist vessels in distress.
Often lightkeepers would live with their family in the lighthouse or homes near the tower. Spouses shared the maintenance and housekeeping duties and wives became well versed in the roles of caring for the beacon, providing assistance when needed.
~~ We visited the Point Betsie Lighthouse in Frankfort, Michigan. The history of this lighthouse tells about the lives of the lighthouse keepers and their families, as well as the history of lighthouse illumination.
From the third floor, there is a balcony that you can walk around the building getting a bird's eye view of the surrounding area.
From the third floor, there is a balcony that you can walk around the building getting a bird's eye view of the surrounding area.
These are the exhibits that used to be outside the museum that I took from our trip in 2016.
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| Whittaker Capsule |
Similar in purpose and function to the lifeboat -- to provide an emergency escape vehicle for offshore oil rig crews -- the Whittaker survival capsule could accommodate 28 people. The pod was manually released by a lever inside next to the top hatch cover. The pod would drop approximately 50 feet into the water when deployed in an emergency situation, such as a fire or explosion aboard an oil rig.
The Whittaker capsule design was discontinued as an emergency safety vehicle following an accident in the early 1970s which involved several fatalities.
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| Totally enclosed survival craft |
In the event of extreme emergency, these specially designed survival systems provide full protection to personnel working on offshore oil and gas platforms. The vessel is totally enclosed and self-righting. It has an outside fire suppression system that sheets salt water over the top of the vessel to keep the boat cool in a burning oil slick.
In toxic environments, there is a supply of compressed oxygen to provide breathable air for 10 minutes. Also stored on board are survival rations, enough to keep 45 people alive for two weeks, if necessary.
Rockport's harbor ~~
In 1866, James Doughty and Richard H. Wood, searching for a safe harbor location to ship cattle, built pens and a livestock-shipping wharf on "Rocky Point," a prominent limestone protrusion that extended into Aransas Bay near present-day Wharf Street. Other wharves and pens followed. Soon, a regular schedule of Morgan Line shallow-draft steamboats arrived with merchandise for distribution inland, and then departed with cattle and packery products.
The arrival of the railroad in 1888 ignited a boom in Rockport, prompting local businessmen to begin advertising a strategic harbor near the Gulf. They also pushed to deepen the harbor and create a deep-water port, but the effort ended when Corpus Christi opened its port in 1926.
However, abundant harvests of fish, oysters, and shrimp fueled a thriving seafood industry. By 1910, fish houses anchored the southwest side of the Rockport harbor, and numerous fishing boats moored at harbor wharves.
In 1925 the Aransas County Navigation District began a program to improve the harbor. By 1940, a new breakwater and a concrete piling and steel seawall created a small-craft safety basin which became Rockport's famous "fish bowl" harbor.
Sculptures around the harbor ~~
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| Rites of Spring |
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| Return of Ancient Wisdom |
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| Into the Wind |
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