Building Museums where Museums Belong...
The logo for the City of Port Isabel back in 1928 was “Building a City Where a City Belongs”. This idea was presented to make Port Isabel an important area for industry and tourism. In 1995, a similar idea came about with the need of more attractions to promote tourism to the area. The vision of additional museums to compliment the Lighthouse was brought about with funding from the Empowerment Zone. The plan was to have all three museums operating at the same time to promote each other with the Lighthouse being the anchor. It took three years for this plan to be in operation. There were delays for various reasons in the building of the Treasures of the Gulf Museum as well as with the restoration of the
Lighthouse. But on July 24, 2000, a dream became a reality with the completion of the restoration of the Point Isabel Lighthouse. All three museums were finally operating at the same time and complementing each other. The results of admissions and other revenue hit record proportions. For fiscal year 2000 - 2001, admissions for all three museums amounted to $113,704 and in addition, revenue from memberships, fundraisers, donations and other sources totaled $26,771.66.

Interior view of the Treasures of the Gulf Museum
Port Isabel Historical Museum, housed in the Champion Building.
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