You cannot miss Port Isabel. Especially if you are going to South Padre Island. Port Isabel is a welcoming small town with little shops, a museum, piers, and a beautiful lighthouse. Lots of history sits in the little square just before the Queen Isabella Causeway. 

Port Isabel was known as Point Isabel because of the natural bluff formation that jutted out into the Laguna Madre. In 1928, Point Isabel was incorporated as a town, and its name was changed to Port Isabel because of the newly proposed port being planned. 

Located in the historic Champion Building on Railroad Ave., the 1899 building was once a dry goods store and residence and later served as a post office and railroad depot. Joseph Champion was an Italian immigrant who settled in Texas in 1855. Charles Champion was born in 1870 in Old Point Isabel. He served as district clerk in Hidalgo County before purchasing the Hess General Store in Point Isabel in 1894. He renamed it The Champion Store and continued to operate the business. In 1899, Champion erected this two-story building and named it “The Key of the Gulf.” The first floor housed the general merchandise store, the US Customs House and the post office. Champion, a proponent of a deep-water port in Point Isabel, died in 1926 before its completion in 1933. He was buried next to wife in the Point Isabel Cemetery.

The façade of the museum features a fish mural painted in 1906 by a local fisherman. The museum features artifacts from the 1554 shipwreck, has one of the largest collections of relics from the US Mexican War, and offers a timeline of Port Isabel’s development into a major fishing port including the history of the Texas International Fishing Tournament.

The museum is open Wednesdays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please call for current hours of operation. Admission to the museum is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors (over 55), and $3 for students and children. For more information, visit www.portisabelhistory.com or call (956) 943-7602.

Port Isabel Lighthouse

To get a great view of the Laguna Madre, climb to the top of the Point (Port) Isabel Lighthouse which was constructed in 1852 to guide ships through the Brazos Santiago Pass and into the Laguna Madre. Opened as a State Park in 1952, it is the only lighthouse open to the public on the Texas Gulf coast. Also on the grounds of the Lighthouse is the Keeper’s Cottage Visitor Center. The Port Isabel Lighthouse is a Texas Historical Commission State Historic Site.

In 2022, the Texas Historical Commission funded and coordinated the reproduction of a 3rd Order Fresnal Lens to be fitted into the lantern room at the top of the lighthouse. The lighthouse had a celebration in December of that year commemorating the first official lighting of the historic lighthouse in 117 years.

The Lighthouse is open daily, weather permitting. Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas and News Year’s Day. Admission prices are adults $5, seniors $4, and students $3. For more information visit www.portisabellighthouse.com or call (956) 943-0735.

While you are cruising around Port Isabel, take notice of the dolphin statues around town. These are much like the decorated turtles on SPI, butterflies in Mission, and the Boots in Mercedes. These began as an initiative with local artists to restore and beautify the city’s iconic dolphin statues and infuse additional artistic vibrancy in the city. Old statues were repaired and restored before creating additional sculptures. You’ll one as you drive into the city, one by the lighthouse, and another in front of the art gallery – just to name a few.

And don’t forget to go out onto Pirate’s Landing Fishing Pier – to fish, or just for a great view – and check out the Black Dragon Pirate Cruise – an attraction that features a two-hour cruise with water gun fights, sword battles, cannon firings, tales of pirates, and area history.

For some other fun history facts, visit https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/port-isabel-tx and https://portisabel-texas.com/blog/a-brief-history-of-port-isabel/. You’ll even learn about a Spanish treasure fleet that left Mexico en route to Spain and was demolished by a violent hurricane in 1554. Some boats were wrecked on Padre Island and a few survivors walked through the area trying to get back to Mexico. All but one fell victim to the harsh elements and ferocious Indians.  

If you visit http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasGulfCoastTowns/PortIsabelTexas.htm, you will be able to read some stories from the Texas Tales column – one of which was titled the Sea Monster of Port Isabel.