Editing Galveston, Texas (section)

===Exploration and 19th-century development===
[[File:Plan of the City of Galveston, Texas.jpg|thumb|Plan of the City of Galveston (c. 1845)]] [[File:Map of City of Galveston.jpg|thumb|Map of City of Galveston (c. 1904)]]
Indigenous inhabitants of Galveston Island called the island ''Auia''.<ref name=McComb1>{{cite book|last=McComb|first=David G.|title=Galveston: A History|location=Austin|publisher=University of Texas Press|chapter=The Edge of Time|year=1986|isbn=978-0292-720534}}</ref> Though there is no certainty regarding their route and their landings, [[Cabeza de Vaca]] and his crew were shipwrecked at a place he called "Isla de Malhado" in November 1528. This could have referred to Galveston Island or [[San Luis Pass (Galveston Island)|San Luis Island]].<ref name=chipman>{{Cite web|series=The Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |first=Donald E. |last=Chipman |title=Malhado Island |date=June 15, 2010 |access-date=January 17, 2020 |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rrm01}}</ref>
During his charting of the Gulf Coast in 1785, the Spanish explorer José de Evia labeled the water features surrounding the island "Bd. de Galvestown" and "Bahia de Galvestowm" [sic]. He was working under the orders of Bernardo de Gálvez. In his early chart, he calls the western end of the island "Isla de San Luis" and the eastern end "Pt. de Culebras". Evia did not label the island itself on his map of 1799. Just five years later [[Alexander von Humboldt]] borrowed the place names Isla de San Luis, Pte. De Culebras, and Bahia de Galveston. Stephen F. Austin followed his predecessors in the use of "San Luis Island", but introduced "Galveston" to refer to the little village at the east end of the island. Evidence of the name Galveston Island appears on the 1833 David H. Burr.<ref name=McComb1/>

The island first permanent European settlements were constructed around 1816 by the [[pirate]] [[Louis-Michel Aury]] to support Mexico's rebellion against Spain. In 1817, Aury returned from an unsuccessful raid against Spain to find Galveston occupied by the pirate [[Jean Lafitte]].<ref name="HTOAURY">{{Cite web|title=Aury, Louis Michel |series=Handbook of Texas Online |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |first=Harris Gaylord |last=Warren |access-date=January 12, 2020 |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fau04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709204001/http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fau04 |archive-date=July 9, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Lafitte organized Galveston into a pirate "kingdom" he called "Campeche", anointing himself the island's "head of government".<ref name="HTOLAFITTE">{{Cite web|title=Lafitte, Jean |work=Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association |author=Harris Gaylord Warren |access-date=October 3, 2009 |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fla12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101119031432/http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fla12 |archive-date=November 19, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Lafitte remained in Galveston until 1821, when the [[United States Navy]] forced him and his raiders off the island.<ref name="HTOLAFITTE"/><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Legend of Jean Lafitte |work=Kemah Historical Society |author=Jimmie Walker |access-date=October 3, 2009 |url=http://www.kemahhistoricalsociety.net/legend1.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417173744/http://www.kemahhistoricalsociety.net/legend1.html |archive-date=April 17, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1825 the [[Congress of Mexico]] established the [[Port of Galveston]] and in 1830 erected a [[customs house]].<ref name="WLDPORT">{{Cite web|title=Port of Galveston |work=World Port Source |access-date=October 3, 2009 |url=http://www.worldportsource.com/ports/USA_TX_Port_of_Galveston_34.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090531161741/http://www.worldportsource.com/ports/USA_TX_Port_of_Galveston_34.php |archive-date=May 31, 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Galveston served as the capital of the [[Republic of Texas]] when in 1836 the [[Acting president|interim]] president [[David G. Burnet]] relocated his government there.<ref name="WLDPORT"/> In 1836, the French-Canadian [[Michel Branamour Menard]] and several associates purchased {{convert|4,605|acre|km2}} of land for $50,000 to found the town that would become the modern city of Galveston.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Menard, Michel Branamour |work=Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association |access-date=October 4, 2009 |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fme09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709190311/http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fme09 |archive-date=July 9, 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Galveston Collection |work=Texas Archival Resources Online, University of Houston |access-date=October 4, 2009 |url=http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/uhsc/00029/hsc-00029.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501222651/http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/uhsc/00029/hsc-00029.html |archive-date=May 1, 2008}}</ref><ref name="ISSTORM">{{Cite web|title=History of Galveston |work=Isaac's Storm, Random House |access-date=October 3, 2009 |url=http://www.randomhouse.com/features/isaacsstorm/greatstorm/historygalveston.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028044257/http://www.randomhouse.com/features/isaacsstorm/greatstorm/historygalveston.html |archive-date=October 28, 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref> As Anglo-Americans migrated to the city, they brought along or purchased [[Slavery in the United States|enslaved]] [[African-Americans]], some of whom worked domestically or on the waterfront, including on riverboats.

In 1839, the City of Galveston adopted a charter and was incorporated by the Congress of the [[Republic of Texas]].<ref name="ISSTORM"/><ref name="HTOGAL">{{Cite web|title=Galveston Island |work=Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association |access-date=October 3, 2009 |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rrg02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101109025620/http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/rrg02 |archive-date=November 9, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The city was by then a burgeoning [[port of entry]] and attracted many new residents in the 1840s and later among the flood of [[German Americans#Texas|German immigrants to Texas]], including Jewish merchants.<ref>[http://www.isjl.org/history/archive/tx/galveston.html "Galveston, Texas"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028165340/http://www.isjl.org/history/archive/tx/galveston.html |date=October 28, 2011}}, ''Encyclopedia of Southern Jewish Communities''</ref> Together with ethnic Mexican residents, these groups tended to oppose slavery, support the Union during the Civil War, and join the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] after the war.

During this expansion, the city had many "firsts" in the state, with the founding of institutions and adoption of inventions: post office (1836), naval base (1836), Texas chapter of a [[Freemasons|Masonic]] order (1840); cotton compress (1842), Catholic [[parochial school]] (Ursuline Academy) (1847), insurance company (1854), and gas lights (1856).<ref name="ISSTORM"/><ref name="Barrington, Carol; Kearney, Sydney 2006 241">{{Cite book|title=Day Trips from Houston: Getaway Ideas for the Local Traveler |page=241 |author1=Barrington, Carol |author2=Kearney, Sydney |year=2006 |publisher=Globe Pequot |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=euz4fbCDlLYC |isbn=0-7627-3867-7}}</ref>

During the [[American Civil War]], [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] forces under [[Major General]] [[John B. Magruder]] attacked and expelled occupying [[Union Army|Union]] troops from the city in January 1863 in the [[Battle of Galveston]].<ref name="HTOGBAT">{{Cite web|title=Galveston, Battle of |work=Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association |author=Alwyn Barr |access-date=October 3, 2009 |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qeg01 |author-link=Alwyn Barr |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101107164112/http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/qeg01 |archive-date=November 7, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> On June 19, 1865, two months after the [[Lee's surrender|end of the war]] and almost three years after the issuance of the [[Emancipation Proclamation]], General [[Gordon Granger]] of the Union Army informed the enslaved people of Texas that they were now free.<ref>{{Cite web|date=June 13, 2021 |title=Juneteenth and General Order No. 3 |url=https://www.galvestonhistory.org/news/juneteenth-and-general-order-no-3 |access-date=September 17, 2021 |website=Galveston Historical Foundation |language=en-US |archive-date=September 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917214151/https://www.galvestonhistory.org/news/juneteenth-and-general-order-no-3 |url-status=live}}</ref> This news was transmitted via [[General Order No. 3]], an event now commemorated on the [[Federal holidays in the United States|federal holiday]] of [[Juneteenth]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Featured Document Display: The Emancipation Proclamation and Juneteenth |url=https://museum.archives.gov/featured-document-display-emancipation-proclamation-and-juneteenth |access-date=September 17, 2021 |website=National Archives Museum |language=en |archive-date=September 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917214153/https://museum.archives.gov/featured-document-display-emancipation-proclamation-and-juneteenth |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Biden signs bill making Juneteenth, marking end of slavery, a federal holiday |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-signs-bill-making-juneteenth-marking-end-slavery/story?id=78335485 |access-date=September 17, 2021 |website=ABC News |language=en |archive-date=September 17, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917214152/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-signs-bill-making-juneteenth-marking-end-slavery/story?id=78335485 |url-status=live}}</ref>

After the Civil War, Galveston mandated street improvements and construction standards. The city required property owners facing commercial streets to construct and maintain sidewalks of wooden planks or bricks, or pay an assessment to the city for the construction of the same. During the same period, the city drew a boundary known as a "fire zone", within which new buildings could not be constructed of wood.<ref>Robinson (1981), p. 89.</ref>

In 1867 Galveston suffered a [[yellow fever]] epidemic; about 1800 people died in the city.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Southern Family in White & Black: The Cuneys of Texas |author=Hales, Douglas |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |year=2003 |pages=18–19 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VtaZVBagK7sC |isbn=1-58544-200-3 |access-date=November 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102052845/https://books.google.com/books?id=VtaZVBagK7sC |archive-date=January 2, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> These occurred in waterfront and river cities throughout the 19th century, as did [[cholera]] epidemics.

[[File:Beach hotel galveston.jpg|thumb|right|[[Beach Hotel (Galveston)|The Beach Hotel]] catered to vacationers until a fire in 1898.]]

The city's progress continued through the [[Reconstruction era]] with numerous "firsts": construction of the opera house (1870), and orphanage (1876), installation of telephone lines (1878) and electric lights (1883).<ref name="ISSTORM"/><ref name="Barrington, Carol; Kearney, Sydney 2006 241"/><ref>{{Cite web|title=History: Galveston's Colorful Past |work=Galveston Chamber of Commerce |access-date=October 3, 2009 |url=http://www.galvestonchamber.com/custom2.asp?pageid=198 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608021021/http://www.galvestonchamber.com/custom2.asp?pageid=198 |archive-date=June 8, 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The History of Galveston |work=Wyndham Hotels |access-date=October 3, 2009 |url=http://www.wyndham.com/hotels/GLSHG/historyofgalveston/main.wnt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100428091700/http://www.wyndham.com/hotels/GLSHG/historyofgalveston/main.wnt |archive-date=April 28, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Having attracted [[freedmen]] from rural areas, in 1870 the city had a black population that totaled 3,000,<ref>Hales (2003), ''Southern Family in White and Black'', p. 15</ref> made up mostly of former slaves but also by persons who were [[free people of color|free men of color]] and educated before the war. Blacks comprised nearly 25% of the city's population of 13,818 that year.<ref>US 1870 Census</ref>

During the post–Civil War period, leaders such as George T. Ruby and [[Norris Wright Cuney]], who headed the [[Texas Republican Party]] and promoted [[civil rights]] for [[freedmen]], helped to dramatically improve educational and employment opportunities for blacks in Galveston and in Texas.<ref>{{cite book|author1-link=Merline Pitre |author=Pitre, Merline |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fcu20 |title=Cuney, Norris Wright |work=Handbook of Texas |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |access-date=October 15, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101221144035/http://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fcu20 |archive-date=December 21, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Black Unionism in the Industrial South |author=Obadele-Starks, Ernest |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |year=2001 |pages=39–44 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4BvbD7rusAAC |isbn=0-89096-912-4 |access-date=October 17, 2020 |archive-date=April 28, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428070139/https://books.google.com/books?id=4BvbD7rusAAC |url-status=live}}</ref> Cuney established his own business of stevedores and a union of black dockworkers to break the white monopoly on dock jobs. Galveston was a cosmopolitan city and one of the more successful during Reconstruction; the [[Freedmen's Bureau]] was headquartered here. German families sheltered teachers from the North, and hundreds of freedmen were taught to read. Its business community promoted progress, and immigrants stayed after arriving at this port of entry.<ref>{{cite book|title=A Southern Family in White & Black: The Cuneys of Texas |author=Hales, Douglas |publisher=Texas A&M University Press |year=2003 |pages=15–16 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VtaZVBagK7sC |isbn=1-58544-200-3 |access-date=November 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102052845/https://books.google.com/books?id=VtaZVBagK7sC |archive-date=January 2, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>

By the end of the 19th century, the city of Galveston had a population of 37,000. Its position on the natural harbor of [[Galveston Bay]] along the Gulf of Mexico made it the center of trade in Texas. It was one of the nation's largest cotton ports, in competition with [[New Orleans]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Galveston Wharves |work=Handbook of Texas Online, Texas State Historical Association |author=Edward Coyle Sealy |access-date=September 13, 2009 |url=https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/etg01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101107163407/http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/etg01 |archive-date=November 7, 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Throughout the 19th century, the port city of Galveston grew rapidly and the Strand was considered the region's primary business center. For a time, the Strand was known as the "Wall Street of the [[American South|South]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.durangotexas.com/eyesontexas/TexasRegions/GulfCoast/galveston.htm |title=Gulf Coast Region: Galveston Texas |publisher=Eyes On Texas |access-date=September 25, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926171938/http://www.durangotexas.com/eyesontexas/TexasRegions/GulfCoast/galveston.htm |archive-date=September 26, 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref> In the late 1890s, the government constructed [[Fort Crockett]] defenses and coastal artillery batteries in Galveston and along the Bolivar Roads. In February 1897, the {{USS|Texas|1892|6}} (nicknamed Old Hoodoo), the first commissioned [[battleship]] of the United States Navy, visited Galveston. During the festivities, the ship's officers were presented with a $5,000 silver service, adorned with various Texas motifs, as a gift from the state's citizens.