Fort Travis Seashore Park is also the historic Fort Travis, a military site with bunkers. The park is located in an area known as ''Bolivar Point'', on the extreme west side of the Bolivar Peninsula in Galveston County,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

Early history

Mexican manuscript maps from 1816, show the location of ''campomentos'' by

Jean Joseph Amable Humbert General Jean Joseph Amable Humbert (22 August 1767 – 3 January 1823) was a French military officer who participated in several notable military conflicts of the late 18th and early 19th century. Born in the townland of La Coâre Saint-Nabord, ...

and Henry Perry.

Francisco Xavier Mina Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed " Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comm ...

built earthworks at Point Bolivar in 1816. In 1818, Dr. James Long led 300 men in an attempt to liberate Spanish Texas. He established fortifications here in August 1819, known as ''Fort Las Casas'', before proceeding inland. During the winter of 1820-1821, Long's wife, Jane Herbert Wilkinson Long, remained behind with one child and one servant. Giving birth to a daughter, Jane became known as "The Mother of Texas". Samuel D. Parr started a settlement in 1838 that would become Port Bolivar. The original Fort Travis was located on the east end of Galveston. The present location was the Confederate Fort Green In 1872 Bolivar Point Lighthouse was constructed north of Fort Travis.

History

Construction of Fort Travis began on 8 April 1898, and was completed in October 1899. The fort was named in honor of William B. Travis. The federal government purchased in 1898 and completed Batteries Ernst and Davis. After the

1900 Galveston hurricane The 1900 Galveston hurricane, also known as the Great Galveston hurricane and the Galveston Flood, and known regionally as the Great Storm of 1900 or the 1900 Storm, was a deadly and catastrophic Atlantic hurricane which became the List of di ...

a seawall was built for storm protection. Battery Kimball was built in 1925 and Battery No. 236 was completed in 1943. Armament consisted of two twelve-inch guns on

Barbette Barbettes are several types of gun emplacement in terrestrial fortifications or on naval ships. In recent naval usage, a barbette is a protective circular armour support for a heavy gun turret. This evolved from earlier forms of gun protection ...

carriages and three-inch rapid-fire guns. In 1949 the installation was declared surplus and sold. In 1973 the Galveston County Commissioners Court purchased the site for use as a public park

Batteries

Battery Davis was built in 1898, and named after Lieutenant Thomas Davis, killed in 1847 during the

Mexican-American War Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the United State ...

. This battery contained two eight-inch

disappearing gun A disappearing gun, a gun mounted on a ''disappearing carriage'', is an obsolete type of artillery which enabled a gun to hide from direct fire and observation. The overwhelming majority of carriage designs enabled the gun to rotate bac ...

s. Battery Ernst was built in 1898, and named after Lieutenant Rudolph Ernst, killed in 1847 during the Mexican-American War. This battery contained three pedestal guns with searchlights. Battery Kimble was built between August 1917 and April 1922, and named after Major Edwin R. Kimble, killed during

WWI World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting took place mainly in Europe and th ...

. This battery contained twelve inch guns with a range of 17 miles. Battery 236 was built at the start of

WWII World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. This battery contained two six-inch guns within a casement that included a power plant,

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fire control Fire control is the practice of reducing the heat output of a fire, reducing the area over which the fire exists, or suppressing or extinguishing the fire by depriving it of fuel, oxygen, or heat (see fire triangle). Fire prevention and control ...

, and crew quarters. During the war, 2500 troops were stationed at the fort.

Park

The park and playground is located within the boundaries of the historic Fort Travis and is under the jurisdiction of the Galveston County Department of Parks & Cultural Services. There are several amenities such as cabanas (6), camping areas, three covered picnic areas, and three wetland overlooks. (updated in 2003)

NRHP

The site was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in Galveston County on 30 March 2006.

References

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External links

Fort Travis bunkers on YouTubeHistorical Markers on Bolivar
Buildings and structures in Galveston County, Texas National Register of Historic Places in Galveston County, Texas Travis 1898 establishments in Texas Military installations established in 1898