Mark Megahan
The official relighting of the Port Isabel Lighthouse, on South Padre Island, off Texas, will happen on December 9. That will mark a return of the light to service after 117 years in the dark. Obviously, by now it’s not needed for maritime navigation because we have GPS. That doesn’t mean it won’t be useful. Besides visually warning ships off the rocks, it will “offer visitors a glimpse into the past.” It might come in handy if a solar storm knocks out navigation tech, too.
Reproduction lighthouse lens
Considering that lighthouse technology goes way back to the 1800’s, it’s surprisingly hard to find a replacement lens. The Texas Historical Commission paid for and coordinated “the reproduction of a 3rd Order Fresnel Lens.” The basic concept behind them is something you’re probably more familiar with than you realize. If you ever used one of those flat plastic sheet magnifiers, for instance.
They used to be part of all vehicle headlights, to focus the beam. Until better technology came along. Even so, if you ever wondered why your brake and tail lights have all those concentric rings of grooves and ridges in them, now you know.
Their expensive new Fresnel lens catches all the light which travels vertically, bounces it around inside, then sends it all out horizontally, in pulses. It will be “fitted into the lantern room at the top of the lighthouse” soon, a city spokesperson relates.
They can’t wait to get it going because it will “offer visitors a glimpse into the past of the lighthouse and the service it provided to the Gulf Coast.”
Mark Wolfe, executive director of the Texas Historical Commission, proclaims that “the Port Isabel Lighthouse is a major heritage attraction for visitors, offering a glimpse into the past of the community and its maritime history.”
“Thanks to the support of the Texas legislature and our statewide leaders, visitors will now see the lighthouse much as it would have appeared more than a century ago.”
Built to original specifications
While working on the project, Dan Spinella and his team at ArtWorks Florida “replicated a functional Fresnel lens, pedestal, and lamp, based on a 19th-century plan showing the design of the lens-specific to the site.”
This is a “3rd order” lens, meaning there are two which are more powerful but they are also a lot bigger and astronomically more expensive. This was the grade called for by the original specifications and is more than adequate to send a lighthouse beacon for miles.
The lighthouse at Port Isabel has been “a dominant feature at the southern tip of the Texas Gulf Coast since construction began in 1851. Since then, its “heavy brick walls have stood against the elements,” with it’s light “a familiar aid to seafarers.”
After hostilities broke out between Texas and Mexico in 1846, Point Isabel “received the wounded” from numerous skirmishes and served as an American supply depot for the duration of the war.
Because of its value as a military supply station, and “heavy shipping traffic through Brazos Santiago Pass to Point Isabel, a navigational light became a necessity.” Money for the lighthouse was authorized by Congress.
It took two years before “the brick tower had been completed and was topped by a stationary white light that could be seen for almost 16 miles.” It was “abandoned permanently in 1905 after shipping traffic declined.“
