Type:
Year Established:
1858
Existing:
No
Source:
Cipra, Lighthouses, Lightships, and the Gulf of Mexico, p. 193
LOCATION
Location:
Saluria Bayou/Matagorda Bay
Latitude:
0° 0'
Longitude:
0° 0'
U.S. State:
Texas
Country:
United States
OWNER & ACCESS
Open to Public:
No
STRUCTURE
Year Discontinued:
1861
Disposition:
Destroyed During Civil War in 1861
Year Tower Established:
1858
Tower Construction Material:
Wood
Tower Foundation:
Screwpile
Tower Shape:
Skeletal
Fog Signal Building?:
No
Keeper's Quarters?:
No
Year Keeper's Quarters:
0
OPTICS
Original Optic Type:
Sixth Order
Year Original Lens Installed:
0
Private Aid:
No
USCG Access to Optics:
No
Entered by:
Entered Date:
Jan 15, 2018
The Saluria Bayou (known officially as McHenry Bayou), lies just inside of Pass Cavallo on the south side. In 1858, a small lighthouse marked the shallow channel that had been dredged by the State of Texas to connect Matagorda and Esprito Santo Bays. The small town of Saluria had become a busy port in the 1850s. Its bayou held 10 feet of water and provided navigable harbor for barges and bay boats. United States Post passed through Saluria for ports as far away as Corpus Christi. Saluria was also the station for the U.S. customs collector, bringing to it some importance.
In 1857, Congress voted $500 to mark the bayou. With that money, the Lighthouse Board was able to buy about 2,500 square feet of swamp and erect a small but effective lighthouse. Twelve feet square at the base, the open timber-frame tower measured only 34 feet from the ground to the lantern ventilator. Even the lantern was made of wood instead of the usual iron or copper. In July of 1858, a sixth-order lens was illuminated.
The Saluria Lighthouse was kept in operation by Confederate forces longer than any other in Texas. Every other lighthouse was extinguished by July 1861 in response to the Union blockade. The Saluria station was put out briefly, but was soon relit to support interior travel through the bayou. The light was shaded on the seaward side to prevent its targeting by Union forces. Eventually, the Confederates were forced to withdraw from the Saluria Light Station, and on their way inland they left it burning. There was nothing left to rebuilt after the war. The Lighthouse Board saw no pressing need to reconstruct the light, and it was never reactivated.