History of Galveston, Texas, USA

Galveston, a port of entry, the seat of justice of Galveston county, and the most populous and commercial city of Texas, is situated on an island at the mouth of a bay of its own name, about 450 miles W. by S. from New Orleans, and 230 miles S. E. from Austin City. Lat. 29° 17' N. ; Lon. 94° 60' W. The island of Galveston, which separates the bay from the Gulf of Mexico, is about 30 miles in length and 3 miles in breadth. The surface is nearly level, and has a mean elevation of only 4 or 6 feet above the water. The bay extends northward from the city to the mouth of Trinity river, a distance of 35 miles, and varies in breadth from 12 to 18 miles. The harbour of Galveston, which is the best in the state, has 12 or 14 feet of water over the bar at low tide. Galveston is one of the most flourishing ports on the Gulf of Mexico, and carries on an active trade. Its shipping, June 30th, 1852, amounted to an aggregate of 1488 tons registered, and 4003 tons enrolled and licensed. Of the...

Galveston, a port of entry, the seat of justice of Galveston co., and the most populous and commercial city of Texas, is situated on the Gulf of Mexico, and on an island at the mouth of a bay of its own name, about 550 miles W. by S. of New Orleans. It is 214 miles by rail E.S.E. of Austin City. Lat. 29° 18' N.; lon. 94° 50' W. The island of Galveston, which separates the bay from the Gulf of Mexico, is about 30 miles in length and 3 miles in breadth. The surface is level, and has a mean elevation of only 7 or 8 feet above the water. The bay extends northward from the city to the mouth of Trinity River, a distance of 35 miles, and varies in breadth from 12 to 18 miles. The harbor of Galveston, which is the best in the state, has 12 or 14 feet of water over the bar at low tide. Galveston is one of the most flourishing ports on the Gulf of Mexico, and carries on an active trade. The chief articles of export are cotton, hides, grain, and flour. Steamships make regular passages from this...

The nation's deadliest natural disaster, the storm struck with little warning late on Sept. 8. Storm tides of 8 to 15 feet inundated Galveston Island and portions of the nearby Texas coast. The tides were largely responsible for the 8,000 deaths, with some estimates ranging as high as 12,000.

SPECIAL TO THE NEWS.

Galveston, Tex., July 22. - The dead body of Capt. D. T. Matthews, master of the sloop Ellen, was found on Friday morning at San Luis Pass, at the western extremity of the island. Capt. Matthews was a fisherman, employed several men to fish for him at San Luis Pass in the sloop Ellen. It was his custom to go out to the pass at stated intervals in a smaller boat - the Ellena [sic] - and bringing provisions and ice for the men on the larger boat, brought to the city the catch of fish from the larger boat on the return trip.

From one of the crew of the Ellen it was learned that Capt. Matthews was at the time of the storm in the small boat. When the boat was dragging anchor and for fear of the boat overturning, his mate rushed forward in an endeavor to cut the sail loose, but a mighty blast of wind came, overturning the little craft. The boom was loosened, and swinging around, struck the captain just above the left ear, killing him, it is supposed,...

The storm claimed 275 lives, including forty-two on Galveston Island, with most deaths due to drowning. Of 250 homes built outside the seawall (which was constructed after the catastrophic hurricane of 1900), just ten percent were left standing.