World War II Coastal Defenses at Sabine Pass

Texas Point's gun battery went up in seven weeks. FortWiki, citing the Coast Defense Journal, says work began November 9, 1942, and finished December 30 at a cost of $44,798.40. Two 155mm guns stood on circular Panama mounts atop 13-foot mounds stabilized with gunite, replacing a temporary 105mm howitzer battery. A Port Arthur News history adds that the control post had two 60-inch searchlights on steel towers and thirty prefabricated huts for six men each. The guns came out on July 5, 1944, and the troops left for Fort Crockett three days later.

What the plaque says

World War II Coastal Defenses at Sabine Pass The natural coastal cut of Sabine Pass has long been an important military strategic point, as evidenced by the battle that took place here during the Civil War. It was no less significant in World War II, when it became one of the primary points of defense along the United States Gulf Coast. In 1941, the U.S. Navy established a Harbor Entrance Control Post (HECP) at the pass to provide defenses against potential enemy activity in the area. Soon after, the U.S. Army installed artillery emplacements at Texas Point (3.62 mi. S) that included two 155mm Howitzer guns on Panama mounts, as well as four munitions magazines at this site. The Army's lease of land at Sabine Pass resulted in the location of a temporary harbor defense unit manned by the 256th Coastal Artillery Regiment at Texas Point. Other elements of the defense system included two base end stations, an observation tower, signal stations, large coastal searchlights, a battery commander post and part of the Coast Guard lifeboat station, originally established in the 1870s as part of the U.S. life-saving service. The munitions magazines also held other ordnance for area installations. Working together, the HECP and the Army post utilized these storage magazines to service the war effort. The defense system remained in full operation until 1944, when the naval section base at Sabine Pass was decommissioned and patrols were discontinued. A caretaker force remained for some time, but the Army declared the post surplus and abandoned it in January 1945. Today, these munitions magazines serve as evidence of military preparedness and the strategic value of Sabine Pass during World War II. (2004)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Sabine Pass Battleground State Historic Site — 0.3 mi
  A waterfront park at the mouth of the Sabine where the earthwork of Fort Griffin stood, with a Dowling statue, a Union memorial, wartime magazines and a walkway for fishing.
• Sea Rim State Park — 9.4 mi
  Texas's far southeast corner: nearly two miles of Gulf shoreline backed by 4,000 acres of marsh, reached by boardwalk or paddle trail, rebuilt after Rita and Ike.
• Museum of the Gulf Coast — 10 mi
  Port Arthur's regional museum in a former bank building: fossils, Native Americans, the petroleum story, a 125-foot history mural and Halls of Fame for musicians, athletes and artists.
• Spindletop-Gladys City Boomtown Museum — 24 mi
  A re-created oil boomtown on the Lamar University campus, with a derrick, period shops, a 1941 granite monument and an optional re-enactment of the January 1901 Lucas gusher.

More markers nearby

• Fort Manhassett — steps away
• Spanish-American War Fortifications — steps away
• Federal Fatalities at the Battle of Sabine Pass — steps away
• Capture of the USS Morning Light and USS Velocity — steps away