Constructed between 1852 and 1918, early lighthouses provided crucial aid to navigation and safety along the Texas coastline. At first consisting of simple lamps mounted on temporary wooden structures, lighthouses soon took the form of large brick or iron towers at major ports and smaller wooden buildings atop cast iron stilts in the bays and estuaries. These were often supplemented with manned lifesaving stations for rescue during shipwrecks.

Though these early lighthouses were gradually replaced with automated structures, their design included fascinating elements of 19th-century navigation and lifesaving technology.

In her presentation, Steph McDougal will discuss this technology and other elements of lighthouse design as explored in her new book, Lighthouses of Texas.