Fort Travis
Port Bolivar, Galveston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
In early 1836, soon after Texas declared independence from Mexico, Republic of Texas President David Burnet dispatched Colonel Ed Harcourt to Galveston Island to erect a fort. Using army recruits and slave labor Harcourt built an octagonal earth and timber fortification armed with six and twelve-pound gun mounts appropriated from the Texas Navy vessel CAYUGA. Named Fort Travis in honor of William B. Travis, famous defender of the Alamo, it was located at the east end of the island. After high winds damaged the fort in 1837 the site was converted into a gun battery called Fort point, its present name. In 1898-99, with the beginning of Federal development of the Port of Galveston, a second Fort Travis was established across Galveston Bay at Bolivar Point near the former site of a Civil War Confederate fortification called Fort Green. Two batteries, named Davis and Ernst, were completed in 1899 and a third, named Kimble, completed in 1922. Coastal defense facilities were added to the fort during World Wars I and II. Fort Travis was decommissioned and sold as war surplus in 1949. Besides its obvious military uses, Fort Travis also served as a refuge from hurricanes and as a Civil Defense shelter for area residents. Incise on back: Funding for this replacement marker was provided through a generous grant from the Hoblitzelle Foundation and the Texas Historical Foundation.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Just after Texas declared independence in 1836, President David Burnet sent Colonel Ed Harcourt to Galveston Island to throw up a fortification, and using army recruits and enslaved labor Harcourt built an octagonal earth-and-timber fort armed with guns taken from the Texas Navy schooner Cayuga. Named for Alamo defender William B. Travis, the original fort was soon storm-damaged, but the name endured: a second Fort Travis rose at Bolivar Point in 1898-99 near a former Civil War Confederate work. Its coastal batteries were expanded through both World Wars before the fort was decommissioned and sold as surplus in 1949, later sheltering residents from hurricanes.
Why it matters
Guarding the approaches to Galveston across more than a century, Fort Travis links the Texas Revolution to the nation's twentieth-century coastal defenses in a single strategic place.
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Related people
- · William B. Travis
- · David Burnet
- · Ed Harcourt
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
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