Fort Travis

Fort Travis occupies 70 acres at the southern end of the Bolivar Peninsula, facing the entrance to Galveston Bay. The federal government bought the site in 1898, and the fort grew over the following decades into the most complete group of coastal artillery batteries on the Texas Gulf Coast. Four batteries survive. Davis and Ernst date from 1898, Kimble from 1925, and Battery 236 from 1943. Each reflects the defensive thinking of its time, moving from exposed concrete emplacements with disappearing guns to batteries covered in earthworks for protection against ships and aircraft. After the 1900 hurricane, the whole fort was raised about 17 feet and a seawall was built, which partly buried the earliest batteries. Other surviving features include an anti-aircraft gun emplacement, a forward observation station, and a keeper's house, while most barracks and support buildings are gone. Condition varies from badly deteriorated to very good. The grounds now serve as a public seashore park.