Hello again! It has been a while since my last blog, and I truly missed sharing my walkthroughs with all of you. Over the past few weeks, I was participating in an 8-week program from The OSINT Academy, which provided me with invaluable knowledge and practical skills in open-source intelligence. I have successfully completed it, and I am excited to bring that expertise back to my write-ups.
Today’s challenge comes from Mrs. OSINT, and it’s our 9th geolocation exercise in this series. Make sure to read until the end, as there is a bonus challenge tied to this one. With that, let’s get into it.
Challenge 9
Tasks:
1. City and Country – Where was this photo taken?
2. GPS Coordinates – Be very specific.
3. Street or Landmark Name – What is the name of the structure or landmark she’s standing on?
I was thinking the black and white filter would interfere with Google Lens’ capability to find this location, but a simple reverse image search gives us our answer right away.
This was a picture taken at San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site. After navigating to Google Earth, I was able to match the view with what is seen in the original image.
Solutions:
1. City and Country – Harris County, Houston, Texas, US
2. GPS Coordinates – Google Earth: 29.74985854,-95.08070175
3. Landmark Name – San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site
Bonus Challenge
“She looked beyond the monument’s height,
To where steel once rested, prepped for fight.
Though now it sails where shipwrights mend,
Its berth still holds a watchful end.”
You may need to uncover more than one location! We have reason to believe the secondary location would have been nearby. Or rather used to be.
We already know that the first verse refers to the San Jacinto Monument. Given that the San Jacinto Historic Site was the location of a major battle, the second verse most likely refers to a battleship. The third verse hints at the ship’s relocation to a repair facility. Finally, the fourth verse points to the ship’s former berth. The challenge appears to be identifying or investigating that exact former location.
After further research, I discovered that Battleship Texas (USS Texas BB-35) – a vessel that served in both World War I and World War II – was moored for over 70 years along the Houston Ship Channel near La Porte, Texas, directly adjacent to the San Jacinto Monument.
Due to the high maintenance and restoration costs the ship was moved to Galveston, Texas where it undergoes repairs at Gulf Copper Dry Dock & Rig Repair.
You can see above I found an old image of the Battleship Texas docked and the San Jacinto Monument right behind it.
Google Earth coordinates: 29°45’22″N 95°05’24″W
This challenge was a perfect blend of geolocation and historical research. While locating the current location of the battleship wasn’t necessary to solve the bonus challenge, diving into that extra layer added meaningful depth and made the experience even more rewarding.
The ship’s full restoration is expected to be completed by the end of 2025, transforming it into a state-of-the-art visitor experience. Visitors can look forward to interactive exhibits, augmented reality, holograms, guided tours, mobile integrations, and climate-controlled access year-round.
It’s a unique opportunity to explore our nation’s history and visit the last surviving battleship to have served in both World Wars. Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed today’s blog and I’ll see you in the next one!
Resources
- https://www.mrsosint.com/challenge-9-bonus/
- https://earth.google.com/web/search/29.74985854,-95.08070175/@29.7475842,-95.08335649,6.28300276a,719.15877126d,35y,214.01403455h,63.5t,0r/data=CmAaMhIsGasgBrr2vz1AIZ3u4TcqxVfAKhgyOS43NDk4NTg1NCwtOTUuMDgwNzAxNzUYASABIiYKJAmluqAJXvQqQBHEyCbU5_MqQBlv-WlmPxhiQCH8q_HQMRhiQEICCAE6AwoBMEICCABKDQj___________8BEAA
- https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2019/05/30/335095/battleship-texas-to-leave-san-jacinto-battleground-berth/
- https://news.usni.org/2025/07/25/battleship-texas-finds-for-permanent-home-in-galveston
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