The waterwayinlet is a navigable strait spanning a water depth of 42 feet (13 m) and a waterway channel distance of 1.14 miles (1.83 km). The Brazos Santiago channel and seaward approach is defined by parallel jetties designed with a breakwater separation of .25 miles (0.40 km). The jetty harbor development sustains the passage entrance from coastal erosion, coastal sediment transport, longshore drift, and sandbank shoals. The South Padre Island jetty is .6 miles (0.97 km) from the Padre Island shoreline annexed by the Boca Chica jetty extending .3 miles (0.48 km) into the Brazos Island continental margin.
The natural ocean inlet has a shoreline distance on Brazos Island of 7.5 miles (12.1 km) to the Rio Grande often entitled as the Mexico–United States border.
In 1853, a nautical beacon was initially established on South Padre Island with a proximity to the Brazos Island Military Depot originally entitled Fort Polk during the Mexican–American War.[6][7][8] The navigation beacon had a 30 feet (9.1 m) vertical height situated on a square platform with a 15 feet (4.6 m) width. The structural design was constructed of wood equipped with a square copper lantern hoisted by block and tackle to the pinnacle. The beacon was visually completed with 5 feet (1.5 m) artillery wheels secured to a 19 feet (5.8 m) oak axletree for to and fro mobility on the barrier island coastline.[9]
US coastal navigability development of Brazos Santiago pass
The Rivers and Harbors Act established a declaration of governance for the natural waterway of the Brazos Santiago Pass. The Act of Congress granted coastal engineering, coastal management, and public works projects for the natural inland waterway during the late nineteenth century to the twentieth century.
In 1878, the United States Life Saving Service Act authorized the creation of a coastal life saving station near the navigable strait of the Brazos Island Harbor.[23] The Station Brazos was constructed in 1881 and governed by the United States Life-Saving Service.[24]
Texas Historical Commission site
The Brazos Santiago Pass received a historical marker in 1996 by the Texas Historical Commission establishing a momentous narrative for the south Texas coastal dominion during the nineteenth century.[25]
^"Brazos Santiago". Texas Almanac. Texas State Historical Association (TSHA).
^Brazos Santiago Pass in Geonames.org (cc-by)
^Anonymous. "Brazos Santiago Pass". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association.
^"Lighthouse Service Act of 1850 – P.L. 31-77" (PDF). 9 Stat. 500 ~ Chapter 77. USLaw.Link. September 28, 1850.
^"Brazos Santiago – Lighthouse Postcard". J. Candace Clifford Lighthouse Research Catalog. United States Lighthouse Society. 1916. Archived from the original on July 6, 2021.
^"Notice to Mariners ~ The Sailor's Magazine, Vol. 25, No. 9" [Brazos Pass Beacon and Padre Island Light Observations ~ Notice to Mariners]. HathiTrust Digital Library. American Seamen's Friend Society. May 1853. p. 280.
^"Notice to Mariners ~ The Sailor's Magazine, Vol. 25, No. 11" [Brazos Pass Beacon and Padre Island Light Observations ~ Notice to Mariners]. HathiTrust Digital Library. American Seamen's Friend Society. July 1853. p. 344.
^Rozeff, Norman. "Fort Polk". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association.
^"COMMENTS ~ Brazos Santiago Pass Light Station". J. Candace Clifford Lighthouse Research Catalog. United States Lighthouse Society. 1879.
^"Brazos Santiago Light List Illustrations ~ 1892, 1895, 1900". J. Candace Clifford Lighthouse Research Catalog. United States Lighthouse Society. 1892. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Brazos Santiago Pass Lights". J. Candace Clifford Lighthouse Research Catalog. United States Lighthouse Society. 1879. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Brazos Santiago Lighthouse". U.S. Coast Guard Historic Topics. United States Coast Guard.
^"Brazos Santiago – Plate 2 Foundation Screw, Castings". J. Candace Clifford Lighthouse Research Catalog. United States Lighthouse Society. November 15, 1877. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Brazos Santiago – Plate 1 Elevation". J. Candace Clifford Lighthouse Research Catalog. United States Lighthouse Society. November 15, 1877. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Brazos Santiago – Elevation Plate with Handwritten Notations". J. Candace Clifford Lighthouse Research Catalog. United States Lighthouse Society. July 17, 1877. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Brazos Santiago – Plate 2 Sectional Elevation & Main Floor Timbers". J. Candace Clifford Lighthouse Research Catalog. United States Lighthouse Society. October 1877. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Brazos Santiago (Texas) ~ Historical Light List Specifications". U.S. Lighthouse Society Education. United States Lighthouse Society.
^"Brazos Santiago – Distance Aerial". J. Candace Clifford Lighthouse Research Catalog. United States Lighthouse Society. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^"Brazos Santiago – Aerial". J. Candace Clifford Lighthouse Research Catalog. United States Lighthouse Society. Archived from the original on October 8, 2022. Retrieved October 8, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^Rosati, Julie D. (June 2005). "DTIC ADA435162: Coastal Inlet Navigation Channel Shoaling with Deepening and Widening". Internet Archive. Defense Technical Information Center.
^U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (October 2015). "DTIC ADA624911: Shoaling Analysis at Brazos Island, Harbor Inlet, Texas". Internet Archive. Defense Technical Information Center.
^U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (February 2018). "DTIC AD1047951: Brazos Santiago Inlet, Texas, Shoaling Study". Internet Archive. Defense Technical Information Center.
^"Life Saving Service Act of 1878 ~ P.L. 45-265" (PDF). 20 Stat. 163 ~ Chapter 265. USLaw.Link. June 18, 1878.
^"Station Brazos, Texas". USLSS Station No. 6, Eighth District ~ Coast Guard Station No. 222. United States Coast Guard.
^"Brazos Santiago Pass and Brazos Island Military Depot ~ Cameron County – Marker Number: 11777". Texas Historic Sites Atlas. Texas Historical Commission. 1996.
Marine archaeology bibliography
Borgens, Amy A.; Hoyt, Steven D. "Chasing the Phantom Ship: Revisiting Interpretations of the Boca Chica No. 2 Shipwreck on the Texas Coast". Journal of Texas Archeology and History ~ Index of Texas Archaeology. Stephen F. Austin State University. doi:10.21112/ita.2018.1.32. Archived from the original on October 20, 2022.
Marks, Michael (April 16, 2019). "As Nature Claims Shipwrecks, Historians Can Only Watch". Texas Standard ~ Moody College of Communication. University of Texas at Austin.
External links
Media related to Brazos Santiago Pass (Texas) at Wikimedia Commons
Padre Island travel guide from Wikivoyage
Rio Grande Valley travel guide from Wikivoyage
Anonymous. "Brazos Island State Scenic Park". Handbook of Texas Online. Texas State Historical Association.
"Port Isabel ~ San Benito Navigation District" [PISBND – Port Isabel ~ San Benito Navigation District]. Port Isabel, Texas: Port of Port Isabel.
"§ 166.200 – Shipping Safety Fairways and Anchorage Areas, Gulf of Mexico" [Title 33, Chapter I, Subchapter P, Part 166]. Code of Federal Regulations.
"Brazos Santiago Pass and Brazos Island Military Depot" [South Padre Island in Cameron County, Texas – The American South (West South Central)]. HMDB.org. The Historical Marker Database.
"Southern Part of Laguna Madre ~ NOAA Route Chart". NOAA Office of Coast Survey. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. June 2020.