Galveston, Texas
Galveston (/ˈɡælvɪstən/ GAL-vis-tən) 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 211.31 square miles (547.3 km2), with a population of 53,695 at the 2020 census,[6] 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.
"Galveston" redirects here. For other uses, see Galveston (disambiguation).
Galveston, Texas
United States
Galveston (erected 1838)
1839
Bernardo de Gálvez, 1st Count of Gálvez (1746–1786)
Craig Brown[3]
Brian Maxwell
211.31 sq mi (547.29 km2)
41.04 sq mi (106.28 km2)
170.27 sq mi (441.00 km2)
7 ft (2 m)
53,695
53,089
US: 753rd
TX: 70th
1,294/sq mi (499.5/km2)
191,863 (US: 200th)
1,760.5/sq mi (679.7/km2)
Galvestonian or Galvestinian
UTC–5 (CDT)
48-28068
1377745[5]
Galveston, or Galvez's town, was named after 18th-century Spanish military and political leader Bernardo de Gálvez, 1st 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.
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 and 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.
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 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.
Economy[edit]
Port of Galveston[edit]
The Port of Galveston, also called Galveston Wharves, began as a trading post in 1825.[107] Today, the port has grown to 850 acres (3.4 km2) of port facilities. The port is located on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, on the north side of Galveston Island, with some facilities on Pelican Island. The port has facilities to handle all types of cargo including containers, dry and liquid bulk, breakbulk, Roll-on/roll-off, refrigerated cargo and project cargoes.
The port also serves as a passenger cruise ship terminal for cruise ships operating in the Caribbean. The terminal was home port to two Carnival Cruise Lines vessels, the Carnival Conquest and the Carnival Ecstasy. In November 2011 the company made Galveston home port to its 3,960-passenger mega-ships Carnival Magic and Carnival Triumph as well. In 2015, Carnival Freedom relocated to Galveston, sailing seven-day cruises. Carnival replaced Carnival Magic and Carnival Triumph in the first half of 2016 with Carnival Breeze and Carnival Liberty, respectively, but replaced Liberty with Carnival Valor later in the year due to mechanical issues.[108][109][110] Carnival Breeze and Carnival Freedom sail seven-day Caribbean cruises, and Carnival Valor sails four- and five-day Caribbean cruises from Galveston. Carnival planned on replacing Breeze with Carnival Vista in 2018, and Valor with Carnival Dream in 2019.[111][112] Galveston is the home port to Royal Caribbean International's, MS Liberty of the Seas, which is the largest cruise ship ever based here and one of the largest ships in the world. In September 2012 Disney Cruise Line's Disney Magic also became based in Galveston, offering four-, six-, seven-, and eight-day cruises to the Caribbean and the Bahamas.
Arts and culture[edit]
Galveston Arts Center[edit]
Incorporated in 1986, Galveston Arts Center (GAC) is a non-profit, non-collecting arts organization. The center exhibits contemporary art, often by Texas-based artists, and offers educational and outreach programs. Notably, GAC organizes and produces Galveston ArtWalk. Museum entry is free to the public.[122]
Galveston Arts Center is located in the historic 1878 First National Bank Building on the Strand. This Italianate-style 1900 Storm survivor was extensively damaged during Hurricane Ike in 2008, forcing the center to temporarily relocate to a nearby facility on Market Street. After a lengthy fundraising campaign,[123] the total restoration of the original building was completed and Galveston Arts Center returned to the Strand in 2015.[124]
Galveston ArtWalk[edit]
ArtWalk takes place approximately every six weeks on Saturday evenings throughout the year. ArtWalk is organized by Galveston Arts Center, which releases an ArtWalk brochure featuring a map of participating venues as well as descriptions of shows and exhibits. Venues include GAC, Galveston Artist Residency and artist's studios and galleries. Additionally, art is shown in "other walls"—for example MOD Coffeehouse or Mosquito Cafe—or outdoors at Art Market on Market Street. Musicians perform outdoors and at venues such as the Proletariat Gallery & Public House or Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe. While most ArtWalk events are concentrated downtown, there are a number or participants elsewhere on the island.[125]
Galveston Independent School District Administration Building
Infrastructure[edit]
Healthcare[edit]
Galveston is the home of several of the largest teaching hospitals in the state, located on the campus of the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Prior to Hurricane Ike, the University employed more than 12,000 people. Its significant growth in the 1970s and 1980s was attributable to a uniquely qualified management and medical faculty including: Mr. John Thompson; Dr. William James McGanity, Dr. William Levin, Dr. David Daeschner and many more.
Ike severely damaged the 550-bed John Sealy Hospital causing the University of Texas System Board of Regents to cut nearly one-third of the hospital staff. Since the storm, the regents have committed to spending $713 million to restore the campus, construct new medical towers, and return John Sealy Hospital to its 550-bed pre-storm capacity.[152]
In 2011, the UT Board of Regents approved the construction of a new 13 story hospital that will be located next to John Sealy Hospital. Construction will begin in the fall of 2011, with the demolition of the old Jennie Sealy and Shriners hospitals, and continue until completion in 2016. The facility will have 250 room, 20 operating suites and 54 intensive care beds. When the new hospital is complete, along with the renovations at John Sealy, both complexes will have around 600 beds.[153]
The university reopened their Level I Trauma Center on August 1, 2009, which had been closed for eleven months after the hurricane and, as of September 2009, had reopened 370 hospital beds.[152][154]
The city is also home to a 30-bed acute burns hospital for children, the Shriners Burns Hospital at Galveston.[155] The Galveston hospital is one of only four in the chain of 22 non-profit Shriners hospitals, that provides acute burns care.[156] Although the Galveston Hospital was damaged by Hurricane Ike, the Shriners national convention held in July 2009 voted to repair and reopen the hospital.[155][157]
Fire department[edit]
The Galveston Fire Department provides fire protection services through six fire stations and 17 pieces of apparatus.[158] The Galveston Police Department has provided the city's police protection for more than 165 years. Over 170 authorized officers serve in three divisions.
Notable people[edit]
Galveston has been home to many important figures in Texas and U.S. history. During the island's earliest history it became the domain of Jean Lafitte, the famed pirate and American hero of the War of 1812.[11] Richard Bache, Jr. who settled in Galveston in 1842 and represented it in the Senate of the Second Texas Legislature in 1847 and assisted in drawing up the Constitution of 1845 was another.[176] He was also the grandson of Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America and Deborah Read. In 1886, the African-American Galveston civil rights leader Norris Wright Cuney rose to become the head of the Texas Republican Party and one of the most important Southern black leaders of the century.[177]
British playwright and actor Charles Francis Coghlan died at Galveston in 1899 while touring with his theatre company[178] and was initially entombed there until his body was washed out to sea in the 1900 hurricane.[179] Portrait and landscape artist Verner Moore White moved from Galveston the day before the 1900 hurricane. While he survived, his studio and much of his portfolio were destroyed.[180] Another survivor of the hurricane was the Hollywood director King Vidor, who made his directing debut in 1913 with the film Hurricane in Galveston.[181] Later Jack Johnson, nicknamed the "Galveston Giant", became the first black world heavyweight boxing champion.[182]
During the first half of the 20th century, William L. Moody Jr. established a business empire, which includes American National Insurance Company, a major national insurer, and founded the Moody Foundation, one of the largest charitable organizations in the United States.[183] Sam Maceo, a nationally known organized crime boss, with the help of his family, was largely responsible for making Galveston a major U.S. tourist destination from the 1920s to the 1940s.[46] Grammy-award-winning singer-songwriter Barry White was born on the island and later moved to Los Angeles.[184]
George P. Mitchell, pioneer of hydraulic fracturing technology and developer of The Woodlands, Texas, was born and raised in Galveston.[185]
Anita Martini, pioneering female sports journalist who was the first woman allowed in a major league locker room for a post-game press conference, was born in Galveston.[186] Surfer Dorian "Doc" Paskowitz was born in Galveston.[187]
Professional baseball pitcher Sig Jakucki made Galveston his home after joining the Galveston Buccaneers in 1934. He is best remembered for defeating the New York Yankees in the final game of the 1944 MLB season, giving the St. Louis Browns their only pennant.[188]
Terran Petteway, a basketball player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League, was born in Galveston.
More recently Tilman J. Fertitta, part of the Maceo bloodline, established the Landry's Restaurants corporation, which owns numerous restaurants and entertainment venues in Texas and Nevada.[189]
Kay Bailey Hutchison was the senior senator from Texas and the first female Texas senator.[190]
Gilbert Pena, former Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from Pasadena, was born in Galveston in 1949 and lived there in early childhood.[191]
Jonathan Pollard, who spied for Israel and was convicted in the US and sentenced to life in jail, was born in Galveston.[192] The film and television actor Lee Patterson, a native of Vancouver, British Columbia, lived in Galveston and died there in 2007.[193]
Other notable people include Brandon Backe, a former Major League Baseball pitcher for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and Houston Astros who played in the 2005 World Series,[194] Matt Carpenter of the St. Louis Cardinals,[195] Mike Evans, wide receiver for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers,[196] 1998 Heisman Trophy runner-up and pro quarterback Michael Bishop, Pittsburgh Steelers great Casey Hampton,[197] comedian Bill Engvall,[198] actresses Valerie Perrine and Katherine Helmond,[199] painter Ethel Fisher,[200] Tina Knowles fashion designer and creator of House of Deréon, mother of Beyoncé and Solange Knowles,[201] and Grammy award-winning R&B and Jazz legend Esther Phillips, was born in Galveston in 1935.[202]
Galveston's sister cities are:[207]