Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
C1
History
History and Mother Nature have not always been kind to Galveston Island. Jean Lafitte,
the notorious pirate, founded the first European settlement here in 1817 (albeit a lawless
and bacchanalian one). The party ended when Lafitte was chased off and the town burnt.
Needless to say, stories of buried treasure still abound... Developers arrived in the
mid-1830s, and Galveston quickly became the nation's third-busiest port, a jumping-off
point for setters heading west. By the beginning of the 20th century, it was the largest city
in Texas, boasting a long list of state firsts: first opera house (1870), first electric lights
(1883) etc, etc.
All that changed on September 8, 1900, when a hurricane devastated the island. The
town never regained its status, ceding port traffic and population to nearby Houston. It
took until the 1970s for the beaches' potential to bring back large-scale investment. The
local economy was humming along in the 2000s. Then Hurricane Ike hit in September of
2008.
Sights
Galveston stretches 30 miles in length but is no more than 3 miles wide. The main attrac-
tions - the historic districts and beaches -lie at the northeastern end of the island,
bordered by Seawall Blvd and the Gulf to the southeast and Harborside Dr and the port to
the northwest.
A thin strip of freely accessible beaches line Seawall Blvd. But there's more sand and
services - and less concrete wall - at organized beaches. Fewer people frequent the south-
western beaches along FM3005. Look for the large amusement parks on the west end,
southwest of 61st St.
The Strand
(Btwn 25th and 19th Sts, Strand & Church Sts)
Stroll the historic Strand District to get an appreci-
ation for the city's glory days of the late 19th century. The commercial horse-drawn car-
NEIGHBORHOOD
