Port Isabel lighthouse offers tourists one heck of a view

The Dallas Morning News (MCT) - The lighthouse at this southern tip of coastal Texas hasn't brightened the way for sailors since 1905, but it remains a beacon for visitors.

Of the state's 16 lighthouses, Port Isabel's is the only one open to the public. The white column topped by a glass-walled lantern room and the reconstructed lighthouse keeper's cottage beside it make up one of the state's smallest historic parks _ a preserve of just nine-tenths of an acre.

Unmissable by travelers driving to South Padre Island on State Highway 100, the lighthouse is at the mainland end of the 2.6-mile-long Queen Isabella Causeway linking the community of Port Isabel and Padre Island.

First lighted in 1853, it guided shipping along the coast, was used as a lookout by both Confederate and Union soldiers during the Civil War, and was doused early in the 20th century when shipping waned. During World Wars I and II, it was a defense site.

The 73-foot-tall pillar's thick walls have withstood storms and time. Repair work begun in 1950, when the site was donated to the state, was completed in 1970. What visitors find is a challenging but short climb to a 16-mile-wide panorama taking in the causeway, Laguna Madre bay, South Padre Island and the Gulf of Mexico.

Forty-seven steps of an iron spiral staircase lead to a 14-rung ladder ending in a gallery below the glassed-in lantern another eight nearly perpendicular steps above. Those who huff and puff to the top of the single-file climb can step out on a narrow balcony ringing the lantern. Not an experience for young children, people who fear heights or close spaces, or those with health problems, it nonetheless pays off for photographers and the strong-of-thigh.

The keeper's cottage below houses the Port Isabel Chamber of Commerce's visitor center and a display on the lighthouse's history with a few artifacts.

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IF YOU GO:

Port Isabel Lighthouse State Historic Site is at 421 E. Queen Isabella Blvd. Open daily. Hours vary by season; generally 9 a.m.to 5 p.m.

Tickets to climb cost $3 for adults; $2, seniors; $1, students; free, 4 and younger (not recommended for young children). A combination ticket also including Treasures of the Gulf Museum and Port Isabel Historical Museum costs $7 for adults; $5, seniors; $2, students; free, 4 and younger.

Contact: 956-943-2262; www.tpwd.state.tx.us.

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© 2009, The Dallas Morning News.