The United States of America is a federal union of 50 states and a capital district. Texas is the second-largest U.S. state (after Alaska) but its long coast on the Gulf of Mexico is relatively featureless and has never required very many coastal lighthouses. And unfortunately the number of historic Texas lighthouses has fallen from 7 to 5 since 2000. In May 2000 the Galveston Jetty Light collapsed into the Gulf during a severe thunderstorm and in early 2002 the Coast Guard demolished the Sabine Bank Light. In Southeast Texas only a single historic lighthouse survives, the Bolivar Point Light seen at right, and it is not active. However, this page is crowded with the many modern lights of the major harbors, including the Sabine-Neches Waterway, Galveston Bay, and Houston. The first European settlements in Texas were made by Spain in the early 1700s. Texas continued as a Spanish colony and then as a part of Mexico after Mexico won its independence from Spain in 1821. In 1836 Americn settlers in Texas declared their independence and succeeded in defeating a Mexican army that sought to retake the territory. Texas was then governed as an independent republic until it was admitted to the United States as the 28th state in 1845. Navigational aids in Southeast Texas are operated by the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston with Aids to Navigation Teams at Sabine Pass and Galveston, but ownership (and sometimes operation) of historic lighthouses has been transferred to local authorities and preservation organizations in many cases. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume J of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. USCG numbers are from Volume IV of the U.S. Coast Guard Light List.
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Jefferson County (Sabine-Neches Waterway) Lighthouses
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![]() Sabine-Neches Canal Range S Rear Light, Port Neches photo copyright Capt. Peter Mosselberger; used by permission |
Galveston County Lighthouses
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![]() Outer Range B Rear Light, Texas City, August 2019 ex-Google Maps street view |
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Harris County (Houston Area) Lighthouses
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![]() Upper Galveston Bay Inner Range Rear Light, Galveston Bay photo copyright Capt. Peter Mosselberger; used by permission |
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Brazoria County Lighthouses
Montgomery County Lighthouse
Information available on lost lighthouses:
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Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining pages: East: Louisiana | South: South Texas
Return to the Lighthouse Directory index
Checked and revised November 17, 2024. Lighthouses: 46. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.