AN HOUR SOUTH OF HOUSTON, AND AT least a century back in time, Galveston’s appeal is as much its unique history as its 32 miles of sandy beaches and majestic Victorian-era mansions.
In the early-19th century this strategically-sited Gulf of Mexico island was the lair of swashbuckling pirate Jean Lafitte; his lust for gold must have been inspirational – by mid-century, Galveston was one of America’s largest ports, boasting the country’s third-wealthiest population per capital and the nickname ‘The Wall Street of the South’.
Then, on September 8, 1900, everything changed. The low-lying island was hit by the deadliest hurricane in American history. Battered by winds of more than 100 miles an hours and waves of up to 17 feet, its buildings were washed out to sea or flattened and at least 6,000 of its residents were killed.
However, the local community, now numbering around 50,000, rallied, constructing tall sea walls, rebuilding the elegant Strand business district and mansions, and transforming itself into a thriving resort community that now attracts some six million visitors a year.
To learn more about its heritage, I headed for the Pier 21 Theatre to watch two short films – The Pirate Island of Jean Lafitte and The Great Storm of 1900. Lafitte, as depicted, was quite a charmer when he wasn’t rampaging around the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean pillaging ships and towns.
Operating in great style from his island mansion, he even became a bit of a hero by fighting alongside the Americans against the British in the Battle of 1812. But after a delegation of US Navy officers made him an offer he couldn’t refuse at a banquet he hosted, he moved on; in his haste, some say, leaving behind buried treasure.
The dramatic film of the 1900 hurricane was most poignant in the tale of a wealthy family who sheltered in their mansion until it was destroyed by battering rams of wave-powered timber. The mother was killed and the father and children swept out to sea, only surviving by clinging to floating wreckage. For light relief, I retreated to a local bar and ordered a powerful cocktail (I believe it was called a Hurricane), before enjoying delicious seafood at the Pier’s Olympia Grill and exploring such seaside attractions as the Texas Seaport Museum, the 1871 tall ship Elissa and the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum.
The Colonel paddlewheel boat cruises past Moody Garden’s three landmark pyramids
Nearby is the fourth-largest cruise port in America, home to the Carnival Cruise Lines’ newest ship, The Carnival Breeze, as well as Disney and Royal Caribbean voyages to the Caribbean islands and Mexico.
Strolling into the downtown historic district, I dropped by the Pirates! Legends of the Gulf Coast museum but, alas, the pirates were temporarily on leave, so I consoled myself with a huge chocolate-nut sundae at the counter of The Strand’s La King’s Confectionary Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlour & Candy Factory.
After a wander past The Strand’s handsome, iron-fronted buildings, with a peak into many a tempting shop, I reached the Railroad Museum, where rather ghostly plaster figures in vintage attire await trains that never arrive, although splendid old locomotives are parked outside.
Next came the Post Office Street Arts & Entertainment District, home to Texas’s oldest post office and the grand 1894 Opera House, which stages Broadway-type shows and other events. Joining a hospitable local tourism lady, I retired for evening cocktails to the open-air roof terrace of the historic Tremont House Hotel.
On the other, Gulf of Mexico, side of the island – 2.5 miles across at its widest – I explored the Galveston Historic Pleasure Pier’s amusement rides, arcades and places to eat. It was opened in May, 2012, on the site of a 1940s pier that was frequented during the Prohibition era by boozers, gamblers and, perhaps, the odd gangster.
Also popular, particularly with visiting families, is the Moody Gardens entertainment and educational complex to the north-west of the island. It encompasses everything from a hotel and spa, beach area and golf course to the largest 3D theatre in Texas and a paddlewheel boat that takes guests on an hour-long bayou cruise. I explored one of its three landmark glass pyramids, enjoying a climb through a rainforest and a personal introduction to a jaunty little penguin who painted me a picture with his feet. Nearby are the Schitterbahn Galveston Island Waterpark – home of the world’s tallest water coaster – and the Lone Star Flight Museum’s display of rare, wartime aircraft.
The streets of the city’s East End are lined with one of America’s largest collections of Victorian homes
Later, joining an East End Historic trolley tour, I viewed one of America’s largest concentrations of Victoria-era homes – street after street of grand, rainbow-coloured mansions, often resplendent with turrets and ornate porches. Some are fronted by bizarre wooden sculptures made from the remains of trees destroyed by 2008’s Hurricane Ike. One, said the driver/guide, is named after pop superstar Tina Turner ‘as she, too, was hit by Ike’ (her former husband, for those not in the know).
Built in 1892 for a railroad magnate and later home to the Catholic Bishop of Galveston. The Bishop’s Palace is now a property of the Galveston Historical Foundation.
Among the grandest and most-famous Galveston mansions are Broadway’s 1895 Moody Mansion, where history is enhanced by a self-guided audio tour, and the chateauesque 1892 Bishop’s Palace, built for a railroad magnate and later the home of the Catholic Bishop of Galveston.
A third 19th-century mansion reopened last year as the Bryan Museum, showcasing the world’s largest collections of South were western historic artefacts. Among those I saw – an early Texas land grant signed by the King of Spain; the sword used in the capture of Mexican General Santa Anna after the 1836 Battle of San Jacinto; and the gun that killed Billy the Kid. There’s even some original correspondence from Jean Lafitte. Alas, it does not reveal if (or where) he buried his legendary treasure on Galveston Island.
