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Galveston County, Texas United States of America
Geographic Location: 29° 18' 4.8528" N, 94° 47' 51.7056" W
This is a (sub) project of the State of Texas and Counties Project and the Galveston County, Texas sub-project is for those who were born, lived, and died in Galveston County, Texas.
- Galveston County, Texas Genealogy on familysearch.org
- Galveston County, Texas on Wikipedia
- Galveston County, Texas on historictexas.net website
Namesake: Bernado de Galvez (biography on Wikipedia)
Created and Organized: created in 1838 and organized in 1839
Parent Counties: Harrisburg, Liberty, and Brazoria counties
Adjacent Counties
east of Brazoria County, south of Harris County and west of Chambers County
Land Grants
Vehlein’s grant
History and Historical Timeline
November 1528 - Cabeza de Vaca
1785, the Spanish explorer José de Evia named the island Villa Gálvez or Gálveztown in honor of Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez
1816 pirate Louis-Michel Aury constructed permanent settlements as a base of operations to support Mexico's rebellion against Spain
- January 1943, Galveston Army Air Field was officially activated with the 46th Bombardment Group serving an anti-submarine role in the Gulf of Mexico.
County and Town Histories
- Maggie Abercrombie. Sketch of Galveston County, 1881
- Joseph O. Dyer. The Early History of Galveston, 1916, Read the book online at archive.org. Read the book online at The Portal to Texas History.
- Galveston: The Commercial Metropolis and Principal Seaport of the Great Southwest, 1885.
- Samuel Butler Graham and Ellen Newman. Galveston Community Book: A Historical and Biographical Record of Galveston and Galveston County, 1945
- Charles Waldo Hayes. Galveston: History of the Island and the City, 2 vols., 1974
- Bernard Marinbach. Galveston: Ellis Island of the West, 1983
- David G. McComb. Galveston: A History, 1986
- Ray Miller. Ray Miller's Galveston, 1983
- Andrew Morrison. The Industries of Galveston, 1887
- Galveston, The Oleander City. Galveston in a Nutshell, 1904. Read the book online at archive.org.
- A. Pat Daniels.Bolivar! Gulf Coast Peninsula, 1985
- Paul A. Schumann. Events That I Remember, A personal account of growing up in Galveston, Texas, 1909-1980 Read the book online at archive.org.
- The Port of Galveston and the State of Texas, 1890, by Andrew Morrison. Read the book online at archive.org.
- The Great Galveston Disaster, containing a full and thrilling account of the most appalling calamity of modern times including vivid descriptions of the hurricane, c1900, by Lester Paul. Read the book online at the Portal to Texas History.
- The Complete Story of the Galveston Horror, c1900 by John Coulter. Read the book online at archive.org
- Diamond Jubilee, 1847-1922, of the Diocese of Galveston and St. Mary's Cathedral, By Kirwin, J. M. (James Martin). Read the book online at archive.org.
- Lot and Block Book of Texas City, Galveston County, 1902-1911: showing names of property owners, dimensions, lot numbers, block numbers, and street number of each block. Read the book online at The Portal to Texas History.
Places
- Algoa
- Bacliff
- Bayou Vista
- Bayview
- Bolivar Peninsula
- Clear Lake Shores
- Crystal Beach
- Dickinson
- Friendswood
- Galveston
- Gilchrist
- High Island
- Hitchcock
- Jamaica Beach
- Kemah
- La Marque
- League City
- Port Bolivar
- San Leon
- Santa Fe
- Texas City
- Tiki Island
Notables
- John Baptista Ash, former U.S. Representative for Tennessee[24]
- Dez Bryant, American football wide receiver and return specialist for the Dallas Cowboys; born in Galveston County
- Red Bryant, American football defensive end for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League; born in Galveston County.
- Vic Landig (the chair of the city's Burial Committee),
- Judge G.P. Reddell
- Mr. Curtis Trahan, Mayor of Texas City 1947
- U.S. Representative Clark Thompson of Galveston
- Swede Sandberg, Railway Company Vice President
- Henry Martyn Robert (Robert's Rules of Order), an engineer
- [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lewis_Moody,_Jr. William Lewis Moody Junior], founder of an insurance company in 1905
- Isaac H. Kempner, founder of an insurance company with Moody
- Sam Maceo, organized a crime syndicate that "ran" Galveston Island
- Rosario Maceo
Disasters
Hurricanes
- November 1527 – One of only two known tropical cyclones to have made landfall in the state in November, a tropical cyclones destroys a merchant fleet on Galveston Island,[1] killing at least 162 people and possibly up to 200 (Wikipedia List of Texas Hurricanes pre-1900
- September 4, 1766 – Galveston is struck by a hurricane which washes five treasure ships ashore. The storm produces a storm surge of around 7 feet (2.1 m), which causes flooding near the coastline. A mission on the lower Trinity River is destroyed Wikipedia - List of Texas Hurricanes pre-1900
- September 12, 1818 – A hurricane floods Galveston Island up to 4 feet (1.2 m) deep, and also severely damages all but six buildings on the island. All ships near the island are seriously damaged or destroyed. The hurricane is the first known storm to affect the region in 21 years; the majority of the Texas coastline is uninhabited, until 1817 when privateer Jean Lafitte settles near Galveston for about five years.
- October 1837 – The Racer's Storm becomes the first hurricane on record to affect the entire Texas coastline. The hurricane approaches Galveston on October 6, bringing a storm tide of at least 6 ft (1.8 m) which floods all of Galveston Island and destroys most of the buildings in Galveston, and across the coast, ships are washed ashore up to 3 miles (5 km) inland.
- November 5, 1839 – A hurricane makes landfall near Galveston
- September 17, 1842 – A strong tropical storm hits near Galveston, which wrecks several buildings and houses from storm surge flooding. The storm kills 40 cattle when a house blows down. Damage is estimated at $10,000 (1842 USD, $220,000 2008 USD).[4]
- October 5, 1842 – Galveston is struck by another hurricane, with several buildings damaged or destroyed. The storm floods most of the island, though no lives are lost.
- In 1854 Atlantic Hurricane Season - the fourth storm of the season, another hurricane, moved inland near Galveston, Texas, causing 2 deaths from nearly 6 inches of rainfall, as well as $20,000 in damage
- September 15–17, 1877: Hurricane affected the entire Texas coast. In Galveston, winds were noted out of the east during the night of September 15. By September 17, tides had increased to 5.2 feet above mean low water. Winds increased to 60 mph at that time. High tides, though, were the main villain.
- The first storm of 1891 Atlantic hurricane season made landfall near Galveston, Texas
- 1900 Hurricane - The Great Galveston Hurricane was a Category 4 storm, with winds of up to 145 mph (233 km/h) made landfall on September 8, 1900. 6,000 to 12,000 people perished and this hurricane remains to the present day the deadliest single day event in US history. 1900 Galveston Hurricane (on Wikipedia)
- 1915 Hurricane - On August 17, 1915 the hurricane made landfall southwest of Galveston, Texas. 1915 Galveston Hurricane (on Wikipedia).
- Surprise Hurricane of 1943 - The storm struck the Bolivar Peninsula, crossed Galveston Bay, and made landfall a second time near the Houston Ship Channel. Because of war interests, warnings were few, and residents were caught off-guard. Maximum sustained winds were estimated at nearly 100 mph, with higher wind gusts. Damage was significant and primarily wind-related. The storm killed 19 people, and caused $17 million (1943 dollars) in damage to the Houston area. After the loss of life in this storm, weather information has never been censored again
- August 2, 1947 – Hurricane Three makes landfall on Galveston as a minimal hurricane, causing primarily wind damage to multiple structures. The hurricane causes one death and $2 million in damages.
- Hurricane Ike - September 13, 2008 - 113 people were reported killed, directly or indirectly, and 16 were still missing as of August 2011. Hurricane Ike on Wikipedia
Industrial
Texas City Disaster, April 16, 1947 - The deadliest industrial accident in US history.
The SS Grandcamp, a French ship carrying 2,300 tons of ammonium nitrate, caught fire while it was docked in the port at Texas City. 30 firemen were on the docks fighting the fire, when the ship exploded. The explosion caused a chain reaction. Nearby ships exploded. Fires and explosions ripped through nearby oil storage facilities and chemical plants. The Texas City area was devastated. 581 people were killed including all but one member of the Texas City Fire Department and three members of the Texas City Heights Volunteer Fire Department. A new hospital, set to open in a few weeks, was opened to care for the more than 5,000 injured, 1,784 of them were hospitalized between 21 area hospitals. More that 500 homes were destroyed. Many businesses were destroyed. Over 1,100 vehicles were damaged.
Firefighters initially came from 60 miles away, and eventually, as far away as Los Angeles. The ruins were still burning a week after the disaster, and the process of body recovery took nearly a month.
See also: