Editing Galena Park, Texas (section)

==History==
Issac Batterson and his family settled in the area in 1833; it was a part of the Ezekiel Thomas survey.<ref name=Cithist>"[http://cityofgalenapark-tx.gov/?/about_galenapark The History]" ([https://web.archive.org/web/20140826023056/http://cityofgalenapark-tx.gov/?/about_galenapark Archive]). City of Galena Park. Retrieved on August 11, 2014.</ref> The area of Galena Park began as the settlement of Clinton in 1835.<ref name="Handbook">"[https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hfg01 Galena Park, Texas]." ''[[Handbook of Texas]]''. Retrieved on November 4, 2009.</ref> The center of what would become Galena Park was a {{Convert|1000|acre|ha|adj=on}} tract that Batterson purchased from the estate of Ezekiel Thomas.<ref name=Cithist/> The settlement originally served as a farming and ranching community, but in the 1880s transformed into a railroad center along the new [[Port of Houston]].  With the coming of the [[petrochemical industry]] in the early 1900s, Clinton again transformed into a [[Oil refinery|refinery]] center.<ref name="Handbook"/>

Clinton attempted to establish a post office in 1935, but the request was denied, as another Clinton, Texas, had established the name.  The settlement's name was changed to Galena Park after the [[Texaco|Galena Signal Oil Company of Texas]], which built the first refinery there.  Galena Park's original name survives today as the name of a major street in the city, Clinton Drive.<ref name="Handbook"/> Because of the 1935 incorporation, Houston did not incorporate Galena Park's territory into its city limits, while Houston annexed surrounding areas that were [[unincorporated area|unincorporated]].<!--Print version exclusively has the information cited; the information is ''not'' included in the online edition--><ref name="Annexbitter">Lee, Renée C. "[http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/4243441.html Annexed Kingwood split on effects]." ''[[Houston Chronicle]]''. Sunday October 8, 2006. A21. Retrieved on July 6, 2011. "Some of the area communities that incorporated as cities and escaped annexation by Houston:" Print version exclusively has the information cited; the information is ''not'' included in the online edition.</ref> By the late 1930s Houston was growing as a port, so Galena Park expanded. Since the 1940s, area residents considered the city to be a part of [[greater Houston]].<ref name="Handbook"/>

The economy of Galena Park began to suffer in the early 1980s, when cranes used to haul ship cargo were reduced; prior to the early 1980s, a team of workers, known on the docks as longshoremen, took up to one week to unload cargo off a ship. Many lived in the Galena Park area and contributed to its local economy. The use of cranes, however, led to ships unloading all cargo in less than one day.<ref name=Harkinsonp1>Harkinson, Josh. "All Aboard." ''[[Houston Press]]''. March 18, 2004. [http://www.houstonpress.com/2004-03-18/news/all-aboard/ 1].</ref> The 1980s also hit Galena Park's economy with layoffs from the steel mills as the U.S. steel contracted due to overseas competition.{{citation needed|date=March 2014}} The economy further decreased after the [[September 11 attacks]], when seaport administrators tightened security rules that governed whether sailors could leave ships docked at port.<ref name=Harkinsonp1/>