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823 Rosenberg
Galveston, Texas 77553
Phone: 409-797-3500 |
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Galveston is a coastal resort city and port off the
Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island
in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of 209.3 square
miles, with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county
seat of surrounding Galveston County and second-largest
municipality in the county. It is also within the
Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area at its
southern end on the northwestern coast of the Gulf of
Mexico. |
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Galveston, or Galvez' town, was named after the Spanish
military and political leader in the 18th century: Bernardo
de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez (1746–1786), who was
born in Macharaviaya, Málaga, in the Kingdom of Spain.
Galveston's first European settlements on the Galveston
Island were built around 1816 by French pirate Louis-Michel
Aury to help the fledgling empire of Mexico fight for
independence from Spain, along with other colonies in the
Western Hemisphere of the Americas in Central and South
America in the 1810s and 1820s. The Port of Galveston was
established in 1825 by the Congress of Mexico following its
independence from Spain. The city was the main port for the
fledgling Texas Navy during the Texas Revolution of 1836,
and later served temporarily as the new national capital of
the Republic of Texas. In 1865, General Gordon Granger
arrived at Ashton Villa and announced to some of the last
enslaved African Americans that slavery was no longer legal.
This event is commemorated annually on June 19, the federal
holiday of Juneteenth. |
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During the 19th century, Galveston became a major U.S.
commercial center and one of the largest ports in the United
States. It was, for a time, Texas' largest city, known as
the "Queen City of the Gulf". It was devastated by the
unexpected Galveston Hurricane of 1900, whose effects
included massive flooding and a storm surge which nearly
wiped out the town. The natural disaster on the exposed
barrier island is still ranked today as the deadliest in
United States history, with an estimated death toll between
6,000 to 12,000 people. The city subsequently reemerged
during the Prohibition era of 1919–1933 as a leading tourist
hub and a center of illegal gambling, nicknamed the Free
State of Galveston until this era ended in the 1950s with
subsequent other economic and social development. |
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Much of Galveston's economy is centered in the tourism,
health care, shipping, and financial industries. The 84-acre
(34 ha) University of Texas Medical Branch campus with an
enrollment of more than 2,500 students is a major economic
force of the city. Galveston is home to six historic
districts containing one of the largest and historically
significant collections of 19th-century buildings in the
U.S., with over 60 structures listed on the National
Register of Historic Places, maintained by the National Park
Service in the United States Department of the Interior. |
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| Island Shoreland |
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| Seaside Resort |
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| Downtown |
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| Historical District |
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| Beach Area Downtown |
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| Port of Galveston |
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| Daily News |
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| Seawalls |
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| Moody Gardens |
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