Galveston, Texas map
29.30° N · 94.80° W · Galveston County seat · elev. ~7 ft · Central Time
Galveston occupies the eastern end of a barrier island about 27 miles long and rarely more than three miles wide, with the Gulf of Mexico on one side and Galveston Bay and West Bay on the other. The hurricane of September 8, 1900 killed an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 people here — still the deadliest natural disaster in United States history — and the seawall and the raising of the city's grade were the answer to it.
Centered on the east end. The channel to the north separates the city from Pelican Island; the island tapers southwest toward San Luis Pass.
Where Galveston is in Texas
The island lies about 50 miles southeast of downtown Houston, at the end of I-45. There is exactly one free-flowing road connection to the mainland: the I-45 causeway across West Bay to La Marque and Texas City. At the other end of the island, the San Luis Pass toll bridge carries FM-3005 across to Follets Island and on to Surfside Beach and Freeport in Brazoria County. Northeast of the ship channel, SH-87 continues on Bolivar Peninsula, reached only by the state-run ferry from the end of Ferry Road; the crossing is free and takes roughly 20 minutes.
Galveston is the seat of Galveston County, a county that is 57 percent water. The city sits at the mouth of Galveston Bay, which is why the port was the most important in Texas through the nineteenth century, and why Houston had to dig a 50-mile ship channel to take that trade away.
The seawall and the grade raising
After 1900 the city built a concrete seawall along the Gulf front, begun in 1902 and extended in stages; it now runs about 10 miles, standing roughly 17 feet above mean low tide. Behind it, engineers pumped dredged sand under the raised buildings of the east end, tilting the whole city up toward the wall. Seawall Boulevard runs along the top of it, and the beaches below are the ones most visitors use. West of the wall's end the island is unprotected, and the beach houses there stand on tall pilings.
The port and the cruise terminal
The Port of Galveston occupies the north shore of the island along the ship channel, and its wharves date back to the 1820s, which makes it one of the oldest ports on the Gulf. Container traffic went to Houston long ago, but the cruise terminals on Harborside Drive have made Galveston one of the busiest cruise homeports in the United States; ships sail from piers 25, 27 and 10, all within walking distance of the Strand. Roll-on cargo, wind turbine components and offshore supply boats use the rest of the waterfront.
The Galveston Railroad Museum sits at the head of the Strand in the old Santa Fe depot, a reminder that the island was the end of the line for freight and for immigrants — more than a hundred thousand arrived through Galveston in the nineteenth century.
Highways and access
- I-45 (Gulf Freeway) – the only interstate; north across the causeway to Texas City, Clear Lake and Houston. It ends on the island at Broadway and 61st Street.
- SH-87 (Broadway / Ferry Road) – the main east–west street through the historic city, ending at the Bolivar ferry landing.
- FM-3005 (Seawall Blvd / San Luis Pass Road) – southwest the length of the island past Galveston Island State Park and Jamaica Beach to the San Luis Pass toll bridge.
- SH-275 (Harborside Drive) – along the harbor front past the cruise terminals and the piers.
- SH-146 – on the mainland, north from Texas City along the bay to Baytown.
- SH-6 – leaves the I-45 corridor at Hitchcock and runs northwest through Alvin toward Sugar Land.
Districts of the island
| Area | What's there |
|---|---|
| The Strand | Cast-iron commercial buildings on Strand and Mechanic streets; Mardi Gras and Dickens on the Strand happen here |
| Pier 21 / harbor front | Texas Seaport Museum and the 1877 barque ELISSA, the cruise terminals, Ocean Star rig museum |
| East End Historic District | Victorian houses east of downtown; Bishop's Palace and the Moody Mansion stand on Broadway |
| Seawall Boulevard | Hotels, Pleasure Pier and the public beaches along the ten-mile wall |
| Medical Center | University of Texas Medical Branch, the state's oldest medical school, on the east end |
| Offatts Bayou / 61st Street | Moody Gardens pyramids and Schlitterbahn on the bay side, where I-45 lands |
| Pelican Island | Across the channel by causeway: Texas A&M University at Galveston and Seawolf Park |
| West End | Beach subdivisions, Galveston Island State Park and the city of Jamaica Beach along FM-3005 |
Distances from Galveston
| City | Road miles | Route |
|---|---|---|
| Houston | 50 | I-45 N |
| Pasadena | 40 | I-45 N / Beltway 8 E |
| Sugar Land | 70 | I-45 N / Sam Houston Tollway W |
| The Woodlands | 80 | I-45 N |
| Beaumont | 95 | I-45 N / I-10 E |
| Port Arthur | 100 | I-45 N / SH-73 E |
| Corpus Christi | 250 | I-45 N / US-59 SW / SH-35 S |
Hurricane evacuation for the island runs north on I-45 only; the causeway is the bottleneck, and the ferry does not operate in a storm.