I Still Hear Your Seawaves Crashing

The City of Galveston was chartered in 1839, but the "Queen City of the Gulf" has been occupied since the early 1500s.

Occupying virtually all of a 32 mile long island 2 miles off the Texas coast, Galveston has been the home to Akokisa Indians and the infamous pirate Jean Lafitte, known for his piracy in the Gulf of Mexico, and lauded for his heroism in the Battle of New Orleans. During it's history, Galveston has also been known as "Little Ellis Island" and "The Wall Street of the Southwest."

Galveston was the location of the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. The Great Storm of 1900 killed, according to estimates, at least 6,000 and left 8,000 homeless.