Fort Travis

Fort Travis is the most complete concentration of coastal artillery batteries on the Texas Gulf Coast. It is located on the southern tip of the Bolivar Peninsula and contains four principal batteries and the remains of seven concrete foundations, two concrete water tanks, and a caretaker's house. The historic resources of Fort Travis were constructed between the years 1898 and 1943. In its original state, Fort Travis was comprised of coastal batteries, magazine bunkers, anti-aircraft gun emplacements, enlisted man barracks, officer quarters, and other ancillary structures. Today, the only mission-critical historic properties standing are the four main batteries, a forward observation post, and an anti-aircraft gun emplacement.

These batteries represent three distinctive historical periods within the military history of coastal fortifications: batteries Ernst and Davies were built during the Endicott period (1885-1910); Battery Kimble was constructed during the Post- World War I period (1918-1936), and Battery 236 was constructed during the World War II era (1937-1945). The construction and placement of the batteries represent different military strategies and technologies followed at the time of construction, and each reflects distinctive technologies and military tactics in the history of coastal artilleries. Evaluated within the contexts of the history of coastal artillery fortifications, and military tactics, Fort Travis is nominated under Criteria A and C in the areas of Military and Engineering. As the only property of its type on the Texas Gulf Coast, and as a facility that contributed to the security of Texas during its period of significance, the property is nominated at the state level of significance.

Early Military History of Fort Travis Area

The original Fort Travis was established on the eastern end of Galveston Island in 1836 to protect the entrance to Galveston harbor and was originally called Fort Point. The fort was later renamed for William Barrett Travis, commander at the Alamo (Burns Peterson 1991). Fort Travis was composed of an octagonal structure mounted with six-pound and twelve-pound guns taken from the ship Cayuga (Webb and Carroll 2000). When construction began in April 1836, the nearby construction camp was called Camp Travis. The garrison of Fort Travis in Galveston Island was withdrawn in 1844. During the Civil War, Fort Green was established on the Bolivar Peninsula. This fort was built in Bolivar Point and might have been located on or close to the area that later became Fort Travis. Fort Green was a semi-triangular fortification. No records have been found pertaining to the abandonment period of Fort Green. Fort Green most likely was destroyed by Confederate troops when they surrendered Galveston and the surrounding area to Union troops.

The Endicott Board and Coastal Fortifications

The period following the Civil War saw revolutionary improvements in artillery, including breechloading steel guns and smokeless powder. Annual reports of the U.S. chief of engineers in the early 1880s reflect the opinion that these new weapons had made American coast defenses, once the strongest in the world, obsolete. Congress added a provision to its 1885 Fortifications Appropriation Act requiring the president to appoint a special board to study the issue of coastal defense. In May of that year, President Grover Cleveland appointed Secretary of War William C. Endicott to head such a board, which included civilians as well as military and naval officers.

In January 1886, the Endicott Board recommended a comprehensive upgrading of harbor defenses nationwide, specifying the need for a coastal defense system of modern ordnance mounted in concrete fortifications. The cost of implementing the board's recommendations was estimated at over $126 million. Congress did not immediately appropriate funds for the proposed changes, but work had commenced by the early 1890s. The outbreak of the Spanish-American War and threats of bombardment by the Spanish fleet along the eastern seaboard accelerated the implementation of the program. As tensions with Spain escalated in early 1898, Congress appropriated $50 million for national defense, much of which was applied to coastal fortifications.

The engineers were forced to balance cost against protection in designing the new forts, rejecting armored casemates and turrets (which afforded gun crews protection) in favor of open emplacements of concrete banked on the sides facing the enemy. This type of fortification offered reasonable protection from direct fire and had the added advantage of being very difficult to spot from the sea. The disappearing carriage gun mount allowed a gun's barrel to project over a high concrete parapet for firing, and the recoil caused it to descend below the parapet where the crew could load the next round. In the loading position, the crew was protected from direct fire by the concrete parapet and as much as forty feet of sand and earth.

The Endicott Board recommended twenty-seven ports be protected under the new system, which provided comprehensive, concealed protection against attack from the sea. All emplacements were sited to provide maximum coverage of harbor approaches. It was the most comprehensive American coast defense system yet built. The Endicott system's only major weakness was a complete lack of defense against attack from the land. They were also unprotected against air attack, although the airplane was developed after the Endicott system was complete.

Founding and Development of Fort Travis on the Bolivar Peninsula

In 1898, the federal government purchased a 97-acre tract at the southern end of the Bolivar Peninsula (Peterson 1991) on which it would establish Fort Travis. Under this plan, Fort Point (later known as Fort San Jacinto) and Fort Travis would together protect the entrance to Galveston Bay, including the control of naval traffic and maintenance of mine and torpedo defenses (Wilson 1898a). Fort Crockett, on Galveston Island, would serve as the general headquarters of the entire harbor defense system and protect southern approaches to the island. During the first phase of construction batteries Davis and Ernst were completed. Battery Davies was named after Lieutenant Thomas Davies of the United States Mounted Rifles. Lieutenant Davies was killed in the Mexican War (1847). Battery Ernst was named after Second Lieutenant Rudolph Ernst of the United States Sixth Infantry. Second Lieutenant Ernst was also killed during the Mexican War (1847). Command of Fort Travis was turned over to the coast artillery on October 25, 1898.

The character-defining elements of coastal fortifications built during the Endicott Period include dispersing guns, widely separated concrete emplacements, underground magazines, and concrete parapets designed to blend in with their surroundings. All of these elements are present at Fort Travis. During this period concrete became the material of choice for all modern work, rapidly replacing stone as a choice in commercial building and paving, and was ideal for the type of defenses contemplated by the Endicott Board.

Concrete was the hallmark of the new fortifications, and it made the break with all previous techniques of fortification (Mallory and Ottar 1973). Batteries Davis and Ernst have reinforced concrete and steel structures. Because the elevation of the fort was raised, the magazine chambers for both batteries were located underground. The armament of Battery Davis was composed of two 8-inch guns of the "disappearing" type. These guns could be elevated giving them a greater range than older guns. The armament of Battery Ernst was composed of three 3- inch "rapid fire" guns equipped with searchlights.

Facilities for planting, retrieving, storing, and controlling mines were installed at many locations during this period; Fort Travis controlled the Galveston Bay mines during the Spanish-American War. Coastal minefields required protection, and some batteries occupied locations chosen for their view of the minefields rather than positions from which they could bombard vessels (Freeman et al. 1999). Battery Ernst was located close to the narrowest area of the harbor entrance, in part to protect the minefields on both sides of the harbor entrance. Electrical cables connected the mines to the shore, and the mines could be detonated remotely. (Wilson 1898).
During the hurricane of 1900, Fort Travis and Galveston took considerable damage. In order to prevent damage from future hurricanes, a 17-foot seawall was constructed facing the Gulf coast, and the subsequent filling raised the entire elevation of Fort Travis.

Fort Travis Between the World Wars

After World War I, many coastal defense forts were put on caretaker status, maintained by a small number of soldiers, and used as summer training camps for Military Reserves, National Guard, Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC), and Civilian Military Training Corps (CMTC) units. Those coastal defenses deemed "critical" received new batteries and guns, including the new long-range 12-inch and 16-inch guns. Magazines were hidden in heavy concrete-and-earth bunkers, but the guns were set on open concrete platforms known as "Panama" mounts, due to their extensive use in the Panama Canal Zone. These guns could be elevated to gain a maximum range of 17 miles. Although the airplane was recognized as a threat, these new emplacements only partially protected against attack by air. The growing threat of aircraft as an offensive weapon, however, resulted in the formation of specialized anti-aircraft units, designated as the Coast Artillery Corps. A number of antiaircraft guns were installed at all harbor defense reservations during World War I and continued through the following years.

During this period, a number of harbor defense construction plans were drawn, but few new batteries were actually built. Fort Travis was one of the few coastal fortifications where a battery was constructed during this period. Battery Kimble (1925) was named after Major Edwin R. Kimble, a Galveston native killed in World War I. At this time, the plan of new batteries nationwide shifted from two guns in a single emplacement, to two guns in separate emplacements, and the design of individual structures shifted from simple storage to sophisticated specialization (Freeman et al. 1999). Other character-defining elements typical of period batteries - including the use of permanent earthworks to encase the magazine chamber, and the construction of a chemical decontamination chamber or chemical filtration system within the battery - are also present in Battery Kimble. After the extensive use of chemical warfare during World War I, chemical decontamination chambers or chemical filtration systems became a necessity in military fortifications. Two sets of large steel riveted doors are still intact within this battery. These doors would separate the powder magazine from the shell magazine. Also, Battery Kimble was constructed further inland - a characteristic that began in the Post-World War I period and would continue in later periods.

Fort Travis During World War II

Congress authorized a full construction program for coastal defenses in September of 1940. The program called for the new defense at 19 harbors along both coasts of North America. The fortifications were built using two standardized designs, a two-gun 16-inch battery (or in some cases remodeled 12-inch batteries) and a two-gun 6-inch battery (or in some cases 8-inch batteries), along with their supporting command and observation stations. By the onset of World War II, this system was completed, and disappearing guns and other earlier guns were scrapped to support the war effort. During the war, the fear of a possible invasion or attack at major naval ports within the United States caused an increase in the construction of batteries and other structures at key coastal defense installations. Construction of Battery 236 was completed in 1943, and during the war 27 buildings (including barracks for enlisted men, officers, and noncommissioned officers; a mess hall, and other ancillary frame buildings) were constructed to support the 2,500 troops stationed there. A number of German prisoners of war were interned in Fort Travis.

Battery 236 was encased completely by soft earthworks and then reinforced concrete. During the 1930s and 1940s methods for pouring concrete had changed. Plywood panels replaced the use of individual form boards, and specialized hardware helped speed the erection of the formwork when pouring concrete (Freeman et al. 1999), and this technology is evident in Battery 236. The battery also has components introduced during the World War II period. During this period, gun batteries were pushed further outward, as were the proliferating numbers of fire control and support stations now required for the long-range cannon (Freeman et al. 1999). This battery was self-sufficient, having an internal power plant, crew quarters, officers' quarters, control facilities, a radio room, and a chemical filtration system. The armament of Battery 236 was characteristic of the period, composed of two long-range 6-inch guns mounted on Panama mounts.

Decommission of Fort Travis and the Establishment of Fort Travis Seashore Park

In 1949, Fort Travis was declared war surplus and sold to the M and M Building Corporation, a private developer, with the stipulation that the former batteries would be made available to the public during hurricane emergencies (Peterson 1991). In the late 1950s gambling syndicates hid their slot machines within the batteries, and at one point Attorney General Will Wilson's crackdown on illegal gambling led to the discovery of 550 slot machines at Fort Travis (Miller 1985). In 1960 the fort was designated an official civil-defense shelter and sold to C. Pat Lumpkin Associates of Houston. In 1962 Hurricane Carla hit the area and residents of the Bolivar Peninsula, along with some of their livestock, took refuge within the fortifications. Newspaper records indicate that Fort Travis could shelter up to 1,750 persons for seven days (Johnston 1965). In 1973, the Galveston County Commissioners Court purchased the site for use as a public park.