Halfmoon Reef Light is a historic lighthouse now standing on land in Port Lavaca after originally serving mariners from Halfmoon Reef in Matagorda Bay. Built to improve navigation on the Texas Gulf Coast, it became the only surviving screw-pile lighthouse once common along this shore. Its long service reflected both coastal trade and the hazards of war and hurricanes: it was darkened during the Civil War, survived the destructive 1875 storm with little damage, was later altered as shipping needs changed, and was eventually judged too weakened to restore after a 1942 hurricane. Saved from loss, it was moved to Port Lavaca and preserved.