Galveston Island map
29.27° N · 94.83° W · Galveston County · barrier island, about 27 miles long
Galveston Island is a barrier island on the upper Texas coast, separated from the mainland by West Bay and reached by the I-45 causeway. Almost everything on it is arranged along two lines: Broadway, which runs the length of the old city, and Seawall Boulevard, which runs on top of the seawall built after the 1900 hurricane.
The island runs southwest to northeast. The city occupies the northeast third; beach subdivisions and the state park fill the rest.
Where it is and how to get there
The island lies about 50 miles southeast of downtown Houston. I-45 runs the whole way and does not stop at the shore: it crosses the causeway over West Bay, becomes Broadway and dead-ends at the harbor. From Austin the drive is roughly 215 miles by way of SH-71 and I-10 into Houston, then I-45 south. From Beaumont it is about 130 miles west on I-10 and south on I-45, or a shorter but slower run down SH-124 and SH-87 to the Bolivar ferry.
There are only three ways off the island. I-45 north over the causeway is the main one. SH-87 runs northeast to Port Bolivar, where a free TxDOT ferry crosses the entrance to the Houston Ship Channel to Bolivar Peninsula in Chambers County. At the far southwest tip, the San Luis Pass toll bridge carries FM 3005 across to Follets Island and Brazoria County.
The seawall and the raised grade
The hurricane of September 1900 remains the deadliest natural disaster in United States history. The city's answer was two engineering projects. Work on a concrete seawall started in 1902 along the Gulf front; later extensions carried it to about ten miles. Behind it, the ground itself was jacked up, with buildings lifted on screws and dredged sand pumped underneath, so the island slopes down from the seawall toward the bay. That is why the streets nearest the Gulf sit high and the harbor side sits low.
Parts of the island
| Area | What is there |
|---|---|
| The Strand / downtown | Nineteenth-century iron-front commercial blocks near the harbor, Pier 21, the cruise terminals and the Port of Galveston |
| Seawall Boulevard | The Gulf-front drive on top of the wall; hotels, beach access points and the Pleasure Pier built out over the water |
| East End Historic District | Victorian houses on the grid between Broadway and the harbor, one of the largest such districts in the state |
| Broadway (Avenue J) | The divided boulevard from the causeway to downtown, lined with the oldest mansions and the cemeteries |
| Offatts Bayou / Moody Gardens | Sheltered water behind the island; the glass pyramids, Palm Beach and Scholes International Airport |
| East Beach and the ferry landing | The wide northeast end where the island turns toward the ship channel; the SH-87 ferry slip |
| West End | Beach subdivisions strung along FM 3005 past Jamaica Beach, thinning out toward San Luis Pass |
| Galveston Island State Park | About 20 miles down the island from downtown, crossing from the Gulf beach to the bay marsh on both sides of FM 3005 |
| Pelican Island | Across the channel by bridge; Texas A&M University at Galveston and Seawolf Park |
Getting around
- Broadway / I-45 – the spine from the causeway to downtown, ending near the harbor.
- Seawall Boulevard – the Gulf-side drive; numbered street access points run down to the sand.
- FM 3005 (Termini–San Luis Pass Road) – the continuation of Seawall Boulevard down the length of the west end.
- Harborside Drive – the working waterfront route past the port, wharves and rail yards.
- SH-87 – northeast from downtown to the ferry landing at the tip of the island.
Beaches on the west end are cut by pass currents at San Luis Pass, which is signed against swimming.
Nearby
The city of Galveston has its own page with neighborhoods and highways. Inland, I-45 runs back through the refinery towns of the bay: Pasadena and the rest of Harris County sit at the north end of the freeway. The rest of the Texas shore is mapped on the beaches map, which runs from here south past Matagorda to the barrier islands off Corpus Christi.