GALVESTON, a city and seaport of the state of Texas, North America, is situated on the n.e. extremity of Galveston island, at the opening of the bay of the same name into the gulf of Mexico; lat. 29° 19' n., long. 94° 46' west. It is the largest and most com mercial city of Texas. Its harbor, the best in the state, has 12 ft. of water over the bar at low tide. Its streets are straight, spacious, and elegant; and its principal buildings —the Roman Catholic university of St. Mary's, the Roman Catholic cathedral, and the Episcopal church—are large, imposing edifices of brick in the Gothic style. G. has also numerous churches, a convent of Ursuline nuns, and a number of schools of various kinds. In the year ending June 30, 1873, 321 vessels of 163,773 tons entered and cleared the port in the foreign trade; but the greater portion of the trade is zlong the coast. In the same year, the number of entrances of coasting-vessels was 633 vessels of 566,942 tons, 446 being steamers, regular lines of which ply from this town, t& New York and New Orleans, as well as to the s.w. towns of Texas. The prim;ipal trade, which has
increased greatly within the last few years, is the shipping of cotton. The foreign exports in 1873, amounted to nearly $18,000,000, and the imports to about $2,500,000. The town has good wharfs, several ship-building yards, foundries, machine-shops, cotton-presses, etc. Pop. estimated in 1850 at 4,177; and in 1870 it was 13,818. The bay of Galveston extends n. from the city to the mouth of Trinity river, a distance of about 35 m., and is from 12 to 18 in. broad. The island of Galveston is a long strip of low-lying ground with a mean elevation of from 3 to 4 ft. above sea-level, and is about 28 m. long, and from l F to ai m. broad. It was, from 1817 to 1821, the haunt of the pirate Lafitte, who was dislodged in the latter year.