Port Bolivar
Surveyor Samuel D. Parr claimed a
league of land extending 5 miles
eastward from Point Bolivar and in
1838 became the area's first
permanent settler. That year
developers Archibald Wynn and
William Lawrence purchased about
1000 acres of Parr's land and
surveyed a townsite name Ismail
(Ishmael). When the first post
office was established in 1876 the
community's name because Gabion. The
community was renamed Port Bolivar
in 1893.
In 1896 developers L.P. Featherstone
and Fox Winnie constructed a
railroad line connection Point
Bolivar to Galveston and Beaumont.
Featherstone was instrumental in
dredging a channel and building a
wharf, where the first cargo ship
landed in 1909. The town prospered
and by 1911 contained a schoolhouse
and a Methodist church. Business
activity at the wharf continued to
expand and Port Bolivar's economy
surged.
Shipping worldwide slowed at the
outset of World War I and use of the
wharf declined. In 1915 the town and
wharf were severely damaged by a
storm and many facilities were never
rebuilt. The community turned to
commercial fishing and tourism to
successfully revitalize its economy.
Regular ferry service to the
mainland, which began in 1930,
continues today.
Marker is on State Highway 87.
Courtesy hmdb.org
