GALVESTON, a city of south-eastern Texas, U.S.A., on the Gulf of Mexico ; a port of entry a,pd headquarters of a customs district, the county seat of Galveston county, the leading cotton shipping port in the United States, and one of the leading ex porters of wheat. It occupies 8 sq.m. extending across Galveston island, near the eastern end, and is connected with the mainland by a causeway of earth and concrete 2m. long, which carries the rail road tracks and a road for vehicles and pedestrians. Galveston is the southern terminus of the Colorado-to-Gulf and the Meridian highways; and is served by the Galveston, Houston and Hender son, the Missouri-Kansas-Texas, the Missouri Pacific, the Santa Fe, and the Southern Pacific railways, and by 75 steamship lines, operating to all the principal ports of the world. The population in 1920 was 44,255, of whom 6,892 were foreign-born white and 9,888 were negroes; and was 52,938 in 1930 by the Federal census.
The south side of the city, on the gulf, is protected by a massive concrete sea-wall, i7ft. high and 72m. long, below which stretches a fine bathing beach of hard, clean sand. A wide boulevard, start ing from the north-east corner of the city, follows the sea-wall, passing the principal hotels and the beach resorts, to Ft. Crockett and the Air Corps flying field at the south-west corner. The climate is mild and comparatively equable. There is sunshine for 65% of the possible hours in the year, and the normal monthly mean temperature ranges from 53•8° F in January to 83.4° in July. The city is both a summer and a winter resort.
The harbour, stretching along Galveston channel on the north side of the city, has berthing space for Ioo ocean-going steamers. Deepening of the channel from 3of t. to 3 2 f t., with an over depth of 2f t. to allow for siltage, is under way. Waterfront facili ties have been developed chiefly by the Galveston Wharf Com pany, in which the city owns one-third interest. Two of the rail ways and the principal oil companies have their own piers. There is 3,000,00o sq.ft. of covered storage space on the waterfront. Storage facilities for cotton provide for 2,000,000 bales, and the grain elevators have a capacity of over 5,000,000 bushels. Except for oil, most of the traffic is of a through character. Cargo moves rapidly, as rail and water facilities are well co-ordinated and no lighters are used. The average detention of freight cars at the port is less than three days. In 1916, 1,146 ships cleared for foreign ports and 53o for American ports. The total commerce of the port was valued at $688,403,560, of which $288,371,327 repre sented exports to foreign countries (chiefly cotton, cotton-seed products, sulphur, crude and refined oil, grain and lumber), and represented imports (chiefly raw sugar from Cuba, coffee, crude oil and novelties). The value of all the cotton pass ing through the port was $454,158,000, nearly as much as for all the other ports of the country combined. The assessed valua tion of property in 1927 was $57,142,449. Manufacturing is less important than commerce, but the factories within the city had an output in 1925 valued at $13,356,288. There are large flour and rice mills, sugar refineries, the only wire and nail factory in the State, a bagging factory, cottonseed oil mills and a new cotton mill (192 7) operating 14,000 spindles. The medical branch of the University of Texas is at Galveston. The Federal Government maintains life-saving, immigration, and "quarantine stations, and in 1927 appropriated $700,000 for a marine hospital. Ft. Crockett is headquarters of the third attack group of the air service.
Galveston Bay was named about 1782 by Spanish explorers, probably after Bernardo de Galvez, governor of Louisiana. In the early days of the 19th century it was the chief rendezvous of the notorious Jean Lafitte and his band of buccaneers and pirates, who were finally dispersed by United States authorities about 1820. The first settlement from the United States was made in 1837, and the town was incorporated by the Republic of Texas in 1839. In 1900, a West Indian hurricane, blowing steadily for 18 hours and reaching a velocity of 135m. an hour, piled up enormous waves which swept across most of the city. About 5,000 lives were lost, and the property loss was estimated at $17,000,000. The city was rebuilt rapidly on a more substantial scale and meas ures were taken which constitute thorough protection against the recurrence of such a disaster; the sea-wall was constructed I.cft.
higher than the high-water mark of the storm and 7.5f t. above the previous record; the causeway was built to take the place of several bridges that had been washed away; and the entire grade of the city was raised from one to 15f t. above the old level.
In the crisis created by the storm the city Government proved so inefficient that the Deepwater Commission (commercial experts concerned with developing the harbour) practically took control, and prepared a charter providing for Government by a board to be appointed by the governor of the State. A modification of this plan was in effect for a time, but in 1901 a third charter was adopted, providing for a commission form of Government (since known as the "Galveston Plan"), which is still in force and which has had a wide influence on municipal Government in the United States. The commerce of the port increased 15o% between 1910 and 1925.