Fort Travis

Fort Travis is a historic coastal fort in Port Bolivar with concrete bunkers, gun batteries, and a 17-foot seawall facing the Gulf of Mexico. The installation covers 60 acres of coastal land and shows how a military defense position was built and arranged during the early 1900s.

The federal government built Fort Travis in 1898 to protect Galveston Harbor and constructed four gun batteries as a coastal defense line. The fort served an important role during both world wars and demonstrates how American coastal defense grew during that era.

The name honors William B. Travis, a Texas military leader from the independence era. You can see how soldiers worked and lived in this coastal defense position.

The site is accessible for walking exploration, with picnic areas and cooking facilities spread throughout. You can watch ships passing through Bolivar Roads toward Houston while taking in the coastal views.

During World War II, the installation housed approximately 2,500 troops and housed heavy gun systems positioned to defend the gulf approaches. The scale of this military presence demonstrates how critical this location was to regional defense during the war.