EXPLORATION

Other explorers of the area and surrounding bay waters included Robert Cavelier, Siuer De La Salle, who established a French colony in 1685 in what is now Mataoorda County, and Luis De Moscoso, successor in command to Hernando De Soto.  In the eighteenth century, Dutch buccaneers were active in the gulf, raiding Spanish galleons.  Explorers continued to come to the island and by 1788, the population reached 268.

Galveston Island had many names during its early history.  Among them were Culebra, Malmado, San Luis, Isla Blanca, and Campeche.  In 1783, Jose De Hevia surveyed the island and the bay, reporting he found persons here who gave him assistance.  He later named the island Galvez in honor of Bernardo De Galvez, Spain's Viceroy to Mexico.

The first printing in Texas, Mina's orders of February 22, 1817, were prepared by Samuel Bangs, who later established the Galveston News.

Aury returned to Galveston Island where he found the notorious pirate Jean LaFfite firmly established.  Laffite, while occupying the island, entertained many notables on his ship "The Pride" and at his fortress home, the Maison Rouge.

In 1821, James Campbell left Laffite's company and established a settlement on the mainland at what is now Campbell's Bayou.  Austinia, at the mouth of Moses Lake, was granted a charter for a railroad by the Republic of Texas in 1839.

Laffite abandoned Galveston Island in 1821 on orders of the U S Government and sailed away and became a legend.

In 1820, Jane Long, who later became known as the Mother of Texas, maintained a camp and fort at Port Bolivar.  With only a newborn child and a servant, she remained there for several years.  Her husband James Long unsuccessfully tried to raise an army against Spanish forces in Texas and later was taken prisoner and died in Mexico.  Independence was finally won from Mexico by General Sam Houston and his forces at nearby San Jacinto in 1836.

RECONSTRUCTION TO 1900

The greatest single development of the port occurred in the 1870's when the outer channel was dredged to a depth of 32 feet, sufficient to accommodate all ocean going vessels.

On the mainland, Shoal Point succeeded the Austinia settlement and became a permanent colony in 1894 when a group of land developers named it Texas City.

During this period, Galveston was hit by three catastrophes, a yellow fever epidemic, a fire in 1885, and the 1900 storm.  Some 6,000 lives were lost in the hurricane.  The citizens were determined to rebuild the city and a seawall was constructed by Galveston County followed by an enormous city grade raising project.  The first city commission form of government was founded and was later adopted by municipalities throughout the United States.

TEXAS REVOLUTION AND CIVIL WAR

Michel B Menard purchased what is now the present site of Galveston from the Republic of Texas in 1836 for $50,000.

Galveston County was created in 1838 by an act of the Texas Congress.  The city of Galveston was incorporated in 1839.

During the next decade, Galveston shared in the rapid growth and development of Texas.  Churches were established and banks were founded.  The Galveston News began publication and the first Federal Court in Texas was established.  The city was soon to become the most important cultural and commercial center in the state.

In 1858, trackage of the Galveston, Houston, and Henderson Railroad was completed between the island and Houston.

By July, 1861, the Federal blockade was extended to Texas.  Confederate forces evacuated Galveston in October, 1862, but in 1863, with General John Bankhead Magruder in command, the Confederate Forces occupied the city, capturing four vessels and some 300 Federal troops.  The Confederate Forces remained here until the end of the Civil War.

NOTE: The Battle of San Jacinto took place  April 20, 21 1836 (thank you Jack)

GALVESTON COUNTY COMMUNITIES

Algoa was named following the 1900 storm for a British tanker which ran aground there.

Arcadia was named in 1886 after a city in Louisiana.

Dickinson was founded in 1814, when John Dickinson purchased land from the Mexican Government.  Stephen F Austin and James P Perry acquired leagues in April 1833.

Friendswood was settled in 1895 by a colony of Quakers.  They pioneered the county's fig industry and erected homes with characteristic gables.

High Island on Bolivar Peninsula is located on a salt dome and was named for its elevation of 47 feet. 

 Nearby Gilchrist, founded in 1915, was named for Gibb Gilcarist, later President of Texas A&M.

Hitchcock was settled in the 1840's.  In 1848, Jonas Butler acquired a league of land on Hitchcock Bayou.  Frenchmen later settled on the bayou and the community was named after Lent M Hitchcock.

Kemah was named Evergreen about 1890, but in 1910 it was changed to Kemah, an Indian word meaning "Facing the Winds".

La Marque was first known as "Highland" and during the Civil War, it was known as "Buttermilk Station", as soldiers stopped there to buy buttermilk.  The name was changed to La Marque in 1882.

League City was settled in the early 1800's by the Karankawa Indians. It was named after J C League by the first permanent citizens who came there by ox wagon from Louisiana in 1873.

Bolivar was named by Warren O C Hall, a member of the Autierrez-Magee expedition, in honor of Simon Bolivar, the liberator of South America.

San Leon was first known as Edwards Point and later North Galveston.  It took its present name in 1915.

1901 - 1963

In 1913, the U S Army moved 10,000 men and eight of its twelve airplanes to Texas City, with the first successful test flight made from Texas City to San Antonio.

In 1823, Galveston County began initial seawall protection for Texas City.  Following the devastating effect of Hurricane Carla in 1961, construction began on a 17 mile protective system extending around Texas City and La Marque.

Disaster struck Texas City April 16, 1947 with the explosion of the French-flag steamer Grandcamp.  Resulting fires and explosions left 576 persons dead, 4000 persons injured, and $170,000,000 property damage.  Undismayed, the city rebuilt.

In addition to its fort facilities, Galveston is a large supplier of seafood, is a major financial center, has a tea blending plant, a nail and wire factory, grain elevators, a brewery, several large insurance companies, a ship repair yard and many fort associated industries.  A servicing facility for nuclear powered commercial vessels is also maintained here

A major contributor to the Galveston economy is the University of Texas Medical Branch.  Created in 1991, the facility is known as the "Mayo's of the South" and is a leading heart, surgical, and burns treatment center. The Galveston County Memorial Hospital was constructed on the mainland in 1962.

With the establishment of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Manned Spacecraft Center in 1961 at Clear Lake, bordering Galveston and Harris Counties.  Many re4sidents of Galveston County became employed in the space effort.  Space vehicles and equipment were tested in nearby Galveston Bay.

GALVESTON IN THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS

From January 1836 until U S Annexation in 1846, Galveston was the naval base for the fleet which protected shipping and sought to prevent Mexican invasion of Texas by way of the sea.

By September 1837, the four ships of the Texas Navy had all been lost.  Not until April 1840 was the Navy reorganized under President M B Lamar.

A former U S Naval Officer, Edwin W Moore, was made Commodore.  Afterward, when Moore became involved in a bitter controversy with President Sam Houston, Houston ordered the Navy to be sold.  At the sale, the incensed people of Galveston used forceful means to prevent bidding.  The ships at annexation were all transferred to the United States Navy.

TEXAS BAR ASSOCIATION

The association's primary task in the early 1920's was the formation of a State Bar, which every lawyer practicing in Texas would be required to join and support.  This goal was achieved in 1939, when governor W Lee O'Daniel signed legislation creating the State Bar of Texas.  Angus Wynne, President of the Texas Bar Association became the first president of the State Bar.

The Texas Bar Association ceased operations soon after the creation of the State Bar.  The Association held its final meeting in Fort Worth in July 1940 at which time it merged with the State Bar.

Childress first visited Texas in 1834, at the urging of his uncle, Impresario Sterling Clack Robertson.  He soon returned to Nashville, however, and worked as a newspaper editor.  By January 1836, he had returned to Texas and settled in Robertson's Colony.  The following month, Childress and Robertson were elected delegates to the Convention of 1836, where the Texas Declaration of Independence was adopted on March 2.  Childress is considered to be the primary author of that document.

Sent by the Republic of Texas to attain recognition of the New Country by the United States, Childress was unsuccessful and returned to Tennessee for a time.  While there he married Rebecca Stuart Jennings.  By 1841, Childress was in Galveston in an unsuccessful attempt to establish a law practice.  Despondent over his financial situation, he committed suicide on October 6 and was buried in a unmarked grave.  Thirty-five years later Childress County was named in his honor.

RABBI HENRY COHEN

When Rabbi Cohen died, the commissioners Court of Galveston County called him one of this country's greatest humanitarians and spiritual leaders.

NORRIS WRIGHT CUNEY

As a leader in the Republican Party, Cuney served as Chairman of the State Convention in 1882 and as a delegate to the National Conventions in 1876, 1880, 1884, and in 1888.  He was appointed Collector of Customs by President Benjamin Harrison in 1889.

Norris Wright Cuney was an important political and civic leader in Galveston.  A park was dedicated in his memory in 1937.  He is buried in Lake View Cemetery.

Kirwin was also instrumental in settling labor disputes on Galveston's docks and in forming the Galveston Home Protective League, an organization whose purpose was to remove saloons from resi9dential neighborhoods.  He led the fight against the local Ku Klux Klan in the 1920's.

When Monsignor Kirwin died in 1926, the whole city mourned one of its most respected citizens.  His body was returned to his hometown for burial.

LEON SMITH

Born in New England.  Went to sea at 13.  By age 20 was a captain.  In 1850's commanded on the Galveston to New Orleans run of Southern Mail Steamships.

With 2 days notice, prepared water-borne part of offensive that won Battle of Galveston on January 1, 1863.  Walled his ships with cotton bales.  In brief fighting captured the pride of the Federal Navy.

On September 8, 1863, ordered a Confederate ship into sea battle then personally rode through enemy fire to join Dick Dowling's 47 men on land and fight in the battle that turned out to be victory of Sabine Pass.

He and his ships helped prevent Federal landings to take food, water, and wood from Texas coasts.  They also ran Federal Blockade and aided other ships in slipping past enemy patrols with Texas cotton to exchange overseas for goods scarce in the South, guns, ammunition, shoes, coffee, cloth, and medicines.

Died in Alaska, December 26, 1869.

"There has never been a armed force which in purity of motives, intensity of courage, and heroism has equaled the army and navy of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1863"

As Texas Masonry flourished, "L M Openheimer Chapter of Rose Croix" was organized in 1882.  "Pike-Tucker council of Kadosh" was granted a charter in 1898.  The "Texas Consistory No 1" was established in 1899.  The present cathedral was dedicated in 1929.

THE SAMSON HEIDENHEIMER BUILDING

Built 1877

THE STRAND HISTORIC DISTRICT 

CENTRAL WHARF

Menard's was the third wharf in the city and came to be called Central Wharf because of its location at the foot of Center or 21st Street.  Ships, schooners, steamboats, New Orleans steamships, and small boats landed here.  Prior to the completion of the railroad all town cargo for Houston steamboats was delivered at Central Wharf.

The Morgan Line ships docked here maintaining a regular passenger, freight and mail service starting with the :Columbia" which arrived from New Orleans in 1837.  The Galveston Daily News reported "The rush at the Central Wharf during the late 60's and early 70's with the big fleet of red Morgan ships discharging cargo and passengers, with the river boats loading and unloading, was so great that a police officer was kept on duty there all the time."

The Gem Saloon, a wooden structure built on pilings, was at the foot of the wharf on the southwest corner of 21st Street and Avenue A.  Because of its location it became known as the "First and Last Chance Saloon".  11,670 passengers came by sea to Galveston in 1871, most of them coming in the Morgan line ships.  Sailings of Morgan ships to Galveston ended in 1880.

The Mallory Steamship Lines docked at Piers 22 and 23, discharging and taking on passengers and cargo, principally cotton, from 1866 until fire destroyed the docks in 1923.  The Mallory Line then moved to a new terminal extending from Pier 23 to Pier 26, in 1927.  At Pier 22, reconstructed after the fire, the Gulf Fisheries and Liberty Fish Company occupied new quarters.

The famous 1877 "Elisas" is now berthed here and is open to the public for touring with maritime exhibits.  The paddlewheel "Colonel" offers harbor tours and Fisherman's Wharf provides a seafood market.

THE STRAND  (Between 22nd and 21st Streets)

THE JACOB BUILDING

The three story late Victorian commercial structure, is rectangular with a flat roof.  The corner turret with the main entrance is capped with pointed tent-like roof.  A wide plain band separated the first floor from the upper stories.  The second store windows have flat arches.  The third story windows have molded compounded arches and rounded pilasters.

Decorating the double string course are carved terra cotta swags evenly spaced around the building.  A plain corner and frieze is capped with pinnacles that correspond in the flat pilasters on the facade.  When designed in 1898, entrance to the upper floors was on 21st Street near the alley and there were protruding show windows on the first floor.  The two upper floors are divided into fourteen apartments with the entrance moved to a story and a half annex on Post office Street.  The first floor has been occupied over the years by various businesses.

In 1890, Nettie Marx, daughter of M Marx, married Nat N Jacob.  In 1902, Marx Marx entered into partnership with Nat N Jacob for the purchase and sales of general merchandise with Jacob as the sole general partner and M Marx as the special partner.  Marx died in 1909 and the building remained in his estate until 1914 when Nettie M Jacob became the owner.  Jacob's crockery business occupied the first floor until 1916 when Jacob retired and left the city.

The first floor was remodeled in 1924 and in 1947.  A fire in the building on May 18, 1949 damaged the Cannon Shoe Store and the Holly Shop, a women's dress shop.  Two persons trapped in the apartments by flames were rescued by the Galveston Fire Department.

GALVESTON COTTON EXCHANGE BUILDING

KAUFFMAN & RUNGE - STEWART BUILDING
  

This great trading firm had been founded in 1842 by Julius Kauffman, Sr, a German immigrant's son.  In 1866-67 Henry and Julius Runge joined the firm, and Julius became president of the Galveston Cotton Exchange and the First City National Bank of Galveston.

In 1884, Kauffman & Runge attempted to corner the world cotton market, called "the most gigantic undertaking ever attempted in Texas".  The firm purchased all the cotton in the United States and Europe.  But many of the collaborators sold out, and the corner collapsed.  The firm recovered, but was liquidated in 1887.

Texas architect Eugene T Heiner used red brick with white cut keystones and trim in the building.  Brick pressed in rounded profiles and polycrome bricks softened corners and relieved the austerity of the surface.  Heiner designed fine public buildings across the state.

In 1887, Gustave Heye and Company, cotton and wool factors, purchased the building and occupied it for a number of years (as shown in the photograph).

In 1905 Maco Stewart, Sr, bought the building and added the striking four story atrium and arched skylight, which remain today.  Mr Stewart then founded Stewart Title, bringing to the South the recently developed Northeastern practice of guaranteeing land titles.  Since then Stewart Title has grown tremendously, with offices throughout Texas and 24 other states.

Stewart Title's home office has since moved to Houston, but the company has maintained its Galveston office in the building without interruption.  In 1976, Stewart Title under the leadership of Stewart Morris and with the operation of the Texas Historical Commission and Galveston Historical Foundation, completed restoration of the exterior and handsome renovation of the first floor.

Stewart Title Company has restored the building, replacing the ornate cornice which had been missing since the famous 1900 Galveston storm.

TRUEHEART - ADRIANCE BUILDING
 

H M Trueheart joined his father in 1866, admitted John Adriance as a partner in 1871, and built this structure in 1882.

After H M Trueheart retired in 1906, the firm continued through 1953 as John Adriance & Sons.

THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF GALVESTON

The bank's first office was the lower floor of the Hendley Building at the corner of 20th and Strand.  The names of officers throughout the bank's history represented the higher echelons of Galveston's business community, with such leaders serving as: Thomas H McMahan, Henry Rosenberg, Julius Runge, George Ball, George Sealy, James Moreau Brown, Morris Lasker, and Mrs R Waverly Smith, the first woman bank president in Galveston.

The First National Bank remained in continuous operation at this location until 1958, when it merged with the Hutchings-Sealy Bank to become the First Hutchings-Sealy National Bank.  Following this merger, the old bank building stood largely vacant.  In 1969, the Junior League of Galveston purchased and then restored the building to house the Centre On The Strand, whose purpose was to promote the cultural and educational environment of the community.  This pilot project helped initiate the ongoing preservation and restoration program for The Strand.

In 1972, the Galveston County Cultural Arts Council opened a gallery in the building along with the arts center classes and workshops to promote awareness of the arts in the county.  Today, the Arts Center on The Strand provides year around classes in painting, ceramics, sculpture, and photography, with continually changing exhibits by professional artists.

Silver and onyx mantel in music room won first prize, 1886, at New Orleans exposition.  Mrs Gresham painted murals, ceilings.

Catholic Diocese bought home, 1923.  Made one room into chapel with stained glass windows.

House built 1899