Overview

Galveston today cherishes its often-stormy past, and few islands have had a history as wild as this Gulf Coast resort. In the early 1800s, the island was the booming base of the pirate/tycoon Jean Lafitte, and was soon on its way to becoming one of the country's great ports. But the city and its Strand business district, the so-called "Wall Street of the Southwest," were devastated in 1900 by a massive hurricane that killed more than 6,000. It remains the nation's deadliest natural disaster.

By the 1930s, Galveston was best known for its speakeasies and red-light districts, a reputation that lasted into the 1950s.
But today the island, about 50 miles southeast of Houston, is a family-oriented seaside resort, with restored historic districts that recall its Victorian heyday.

Texans come for the beaches (more than 30 miles of sand to choose from), waves (surfers here favor the breaks off the city's famed seawall), abundant birdlife (more than 320 recorded species, many of them at 2,000-acre Galveston State Park near the unpopulated southeast end of the island), surf-fishing (seatrout, redfish, and flounder), Mardi Gras (masked balls and all), and more than a dozen museums, including one that floats - the Elissa, a 1877 square-rigger that Lafitte himself would have envied.

 Plan Your Trip

BEACHES

Galveston has given Mother Nature a helping hand with the island beaches, spending millions to replenish sandy strands, adding as much as 150 feet to the width of some stretches, notably the always-popular East Beach. This is a party beach to brag about, with rentals of all kinds (umbrellas to windsurfers), shallow sandbars that make for easy wading - and parking for 7,000 cars. (If you're looking for less-crowded beaches, head to the eastern end of the island.)

SIGHTSEEING

With not one but three historic districts, the city center is a walking tour delight. But first take the Galveston Island Trolley tour through the Strand and Silk Stocking Historic Districts to set the mood. Then head to the East End Historic District for a look at Bishop's Palace: one of some 400 mansions in the East End, this Victorian masterpiece is on the American Institute of Architects' list of Top 100 U.S. buildings. (Perhaps the fact that one staircase took more than 7 years to carve impressed the AIA.) And don't miss the stunningly restored Grand 1894 Opera House, where today's leading performers take a stage that has seen the likes of Sarah Bernhardt and Groucho Marx.

CULTURE

Take a museum tour, starting with a look at exhibits (including film footage) of the deadly 1900 hurricane at the Galveston Country Historical Museum. Then visit the Texas Seaport Museum, which documents the names of the more than 130,000 immigrants who came to the U.S. through this port. Transportation buffs can tour the Lone Star Flight Museum (more than 40 restored plants) and The Railroad Museum, one of the nation's finest rail museums - which has branched out to include a collection of some 2,000 model automobiles.

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