My Volkswalk Blog: November 30, 2012 - Historic Galveston, Part 1 (YRE)

On our way to Galveston "that song" started going through my head. It took me three days to get rid of it. (Did you know it's available as a ringtone for your cellphone? You could do worse. . .) I guess I expected cowboys because of the song, so I was quite surprised to find a city that was once a leading cultural, economic, and political center in Texas.

It is helpful to know a little about the rich history of Galveston in order to appreciate what there is to see there. The Galveston Chamber of Commerce does a better job than I could on the history of this interesting town, so I will borrow from their website:

A great part of Galveston’s appeal is its rich and exciting past. It gleams with the luster of antique silver rather than the gaudy chrome of some newer cities. First inhabited by Karankawa Indians in the 16th-century, the Island’s first noted visitor was Cabeza de Vaca, the Spanish explorer who landed here in 1528. French privateer Jean Lafitte made his home in Galveston in 1817 and made his living off of nearby Spanish merchant shipping. Rumors still are whispered of Lafitte’s treasure buried somewhere on the Island.

The first American colonists arrived in 1827. In 1836, the same year that Texas gained its independence from Mexico and became a republic, the City of Galveston was born. Canadian fur trader Michel B. Menard purchased seven square miles of land for $50,000. That land became the City of Galveston.

Over the years, the Island was battered by a number of tropical storms, yellow fever and the Civil War, but those adversities couldn’t slow Galveston’s growth. With its natural seaport leading to business opportunities in shipping, imports and rail, Galveston’s population boomed and the city thrived. In 1885, it was the largest and richest city in the state. In the late 1800s, The Strand was the banking, retail and shipping hub of the area, and was known throughout the country as the Wall Street of the Southwest.

Galveston also was the cultural center of the state. The Grand 1894 Opera House, now restored to the original vibrantly beautiful theatre of its opening year, hosted international stars Sarah Bernhardt, Paderewski and Anna Pavlova.

To illustrate its leadership role Texas's growth in the 19th-century, one need only look at Galveston’s list of firsts in Texas. Galvestonians can brag about having the first post office, naval base, hospital, grocery store, gaslights, telephone, opera house, medical college, golf course, public library, and the first chamber of commerce. It also is home to the state’s oldest daily newspaper, The Galveston County Daily News.

Our Visit

When we arrived in Galveston, there were "No Parking after 5 pm" signs everywhere downtown. Little booths were being set up along the street to sell beer. Restaurants and shops were setting out tubs of beer bottles on ice. I wondered what big drunken fiesta would be taking place that night and was glad we would be missing it. When I found out that it was a going to be a family-oriented Dickens Festival, I realized I had misjudged Galveston.

Tree sculpture of Two Herons

Not long after leaving the downtown area, it became apparent that we would have the opportunity to see a number of tree sculptures along our route. I had not taken a pamphlet about them from the start box because I really hadn't registered on my consciousness that this would be part of our walk and there were only a few pamphlets left. However, the tree sculptures are mentioned in the walk instructions, so do read up on them before you start. As luck would have it, near the start of our walk we passed by a house where a gentleman who was sitting on the front porch greeted us. He seemed to be a one-man chamber of commerce and he ran inside his house and got a brochure about the tree sculptures and insisted that we take it. The tree sculptures were created after Hurricane Ike (2008) devastated thousands of Galveston's trees. Most of them are in the yards of homes. Galveston residents worked to keep 100% of the "Iked" trees out of landfills. More than 100 tons of these trees were used in the restoration of America's only remaining whaling ship.

We passed many charming Victorian houses, particularly in the Queen Anne style. Most of these homes had historical plaques. Some also had plaques showing the uncomfortably high high-water mark from Hurricane Ike. It is obvious that a great deal of love and pride has gone into the restoration and maintenance of these homes.


Close-up of plaque in photo above

The Trube Castle: "the strangest house in a city of strange houses"

"Old Red"

Upon reaching the campus of the University of Texas Medical Branch, we were treated to "Old Red," another one of those red stone Romanesque Revival buildings that seem to be so popular in Texas.

Sacred Heart

We continued past many more lovely houses to Broadway, where we stopped in our tracks by Sacred Heart Catholic Church. This stunning white building has Moorish, Byzantine, Gothic and Romanesque elements. I've never seen anything like it.