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John and Doris Owens of Rockport, Texas, who have been subscribers to Lighthouse Digest for a number of years, have also loved lighthouses for a number of years. In fact, John loves lighthouses so much he decided to build one.
And build one he did.
When the couple retired they took off in a motor home to visit the country. But, that wasn’t for them and they decided to settle back in Texas where he had lived since 1954 when he was in the Navy.
Owens, who said he designed his lighthouse from a composite of a number of Great Lakes Lighthouses he had visited a number of years ago. Finally he felt the time was right in his life when he could have this impressive structure built a number of years ago.
Once he got approval from local officials to build the lighthouse, he connected with Corpus Christi architect and contractor Trian Serbu, who then needed to figure out how to build what Owens wanted.
The Texas Maritime Museum, also located in Rockport Texas, also has a lighthouse design, but nothing compared to Ownes’ traditional design. Owens’ lighthouse is constructed with insulated concrete forms with steel reinforced concrete in between Styrofoam layers. There are no nails or wood in the walls.
The nearly 70-foot tall lighthouse is located on Copano Bay in Rockport, Texas. Although the lighthouse does not serve as a navigational aid, it does have a light in the tower and is a personal guiding light for the Owens’ family.
John and Doris Owens are to be commended for building such a landmark that will be a lasting legacy for many years.
This story appeared in the
June 2009 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.
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