1923 Point Isabel Coast Guard Building
Port Isabel, Cameron County, Texas
Marker Inscription
The federal government has operated a coastal installation at Point Isabel since 1852. This structure is the third permanent building erected here, one of a line of nine stations established along the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to the Texas-Mexico border. Originally consisting of a main floor, attic, and lookout tower, all elevated off the ground on wood and concrete pilings, the structure served as barracks and headquarters for the U.S. Coast Guard unit that patrolled the coastline and conducted sea rescues. (1988)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The federal government has kept a coastal installation at Point Isabel since 1852, and this 1923 building—raised on wood and concrete pilings with barracks, attic, and lookout tower—was the third permanent structure on the site. It was one of nine stations strung along the Gulf of Mexico from Florida to the Texas-Mexico border. From here the U.S. Coast Guard patrolled the coastline and carried out sea rescues.
Why it matters
The station represents the long federal effort to guard America's Gulf coast and rescue those in peril at sea, a mission stretching back to the mid-nineteenth century.
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