The Port of Port Lavaca – Point Comfort, or simply the Port of Port Lavaca, is a

seaport A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manc ...

along the shores of

Matagorda Bay Matagorda Bay () is a large Gulf of Mexico bay on the Texas coast, lying in Calhoun and Matagorda counties and located approximately northeast of Corpus Christi, east-southeast of San Antonio, south-southwest of Houston, and south-southea ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

(

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

). It includes terminals at both Port Lavaca and

Point Comfort, Texas Point Comfort is a city in Calhoun County, Texas, United States. It is a part of the Victoria, Texas Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 603 at the 2020 census. Geography Point Comfort is located in northeastern Calhoun County ...

. These terminals are connected to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

through the

Matagorda Ship Channel The Matagorda Ship Channel is a channel constructed between 1962 and 1966 that allows ocean-going vessels to travel between the Gulf of Mexico and Matagorda Bay. The channel is part of the Port of Port Lavaca – Point Comfort, a major sea port in ...

(a conduit dredged through Matagorda Bay) and by rail via the Point Comfort and Northern Railway which connects to the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...

. The Port operates at a depth of 36 feet and a width of 200 feet. In November 2010, the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wor ...

authorized the Port to expand to a 44-foot depth and a 400-foot width; there are no current plans to do so. The Calhoun Port Authority, formerly called the Calhoun County Navigation District, manages the public port. A six-member Port Board—each elected from different districts within Calhoun County oversees the authority. Day-to-day operations and overall port management are handled by a Port Director and a dedicated professional team. The Port Authority functions as a political subdivision of the State of Texas. Negative coverage was generated when former Representative

Blake Farenthold Randolph Blake Farenthold (born December 12, 1961) is an American politician and lobbyist. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Farenthold co-hosted a conservative talk-radio program before beginning a career in po ...

announced on 14 May 2018 that he would be serving as the legislative liaison for the Calhoun Port Authority at a salary of $160,000.10 after resigning his Congressional seat. Farenthold's appointment was questioned since his resignation was provoked by disclosure that he had paid $84,000 to settle sexual harassment allegations from a former aide and because "Revolving Door" laws generally prohibit former representatives from immediately lobbying their recent colleagues.

Notes

Port Lavaca Transportation in Calhoun County, Texas {{Texas-transport-stub