Galveston (/ˈɡælvɪstən/ GAL-vis-tən) is a coastal resort city
and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican
Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of 209.3 square miles
(542 km2), with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of
surrounding Galveston County and second-largest municipality in the
county. It is also within the Houstonâ€"The Woodlandsâ€"Sugar Land
metropolitan area at its southern end on the northwestern coast of the
Gulf of Mexico.Galveston (/ˈɡælvɪstən/ GAL-vis-tən) is a coastal
resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island
and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of 209.3
square miles (542 km2), with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the
county seat of surrounding Galveston County and second-largest
municipality in the county. It is also within the Houstonâ€"The
Woodlandsâ€"Sugar Land metropolitan area at its southern end on the
northwestern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.Galveston, or Galvez' town,
was named after the Spanish military and political leader in the 18th
century: Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez (1746â€"1786),
who was born in Macharaviaya, Málaga, in the Kingdom of Spain.
Galveston's first European settlements on the Galveston Island were
built around 1816 by French pirate Louis-Michel Aury to help the
fledgling Republic of Mexico fight for independence from Spain, along
with other colonies in the Western Hemisphere of the Americas in
Central and South America in the 1810s and 1820s. The Port of
Galveston was established in 1825 by the Congress of Mexico following
its independence from Spain. The city was the main port for the
fledgling Texas Navy during the Texas Revolution of 1836, and later
served temporarily as the new national capital of the Republic of
Texas.During the 19th century, Galveston became a major U.S.
commercial center and one of the largest ports in the United States.
It was for a time Texas' largest city, known as the "Queen City of the
Gulf". It was devastated by the unexpected Galveston Hurricane of
1900, whose effects included massive flooding and a storm surge which
nearly wiped out the town. The natural disaster on the exposed barrier
island is still ranked today as the deadliest in United States
history, with an estimated death toll of 6,000 to 12,000 people. The
city subsequently reemerged during the Prohibition era of 1919â€"1933
as a leading tourist hub and a center of illegal gambling, nicknamed
the Free State of Galveston until this era ended in the 1950s with
subsequent other economic and social development. Galveston, Texas Top Movies & Young Movies