| Galveston Island State Park | |
|---|---|
 Beach in the park, on the Gulf of Mexico. | |
| Location | Galveston Island, Galveston County, Texas, United States |
| Coordinates | 29°12′4″N94°57′37″W / 29.20111°N 94.96028°W Coordinates: 29°12′4″N94°57′37″W / 29.20111°N 94.96028°W |
| Official website: | |
Galveston Island State Park is a Texas state park located on western Galveston Island in Galveston County, on the western Gulf Coast in Texas. [1]
The park protects 2,013.1-acre (814.7 ha) of dunes, estuaries, wetlands, brackish ponds, and beaches. It was established in 1975. It is adjacent to the city of Galveston.
Habitats include surf, beach, dunes, coastal prairie, fresh-water ponds, wetlands, bayous and bay shoreline. [2] It has numerous trails for scenery and wildlife viewing. [3] There is a public campground in the park.
Galveston Island is a barrier island between Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The island began to form around 5,000 years ago. It took another 3,000 years for the core to become high enough to withstand typical storm surges. [4] American Indians began to visit Galveston Island around 2,000 years ago. [4]
In the 16th century, Spanish exploration initiated European interaction with the indigenous Akokisa and Karankawa peoples. [4] It is believed that Cabeza de Vaca and his crew were shipwrecked here in 1520 and eventually made their way from the island to colonial New Spain (México).
The LaFitte brothers, fleeing the prosecution of pirates in the Caribbean, established a "government" here in 1817, with visions of creating a "Manhattan on the Gulf." Commerce did thrive here, but major storms in 1867, 1871, 1875, and 1886 greatly slowed progress. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 devastated the island, killing 5000 to 10,000 people, and prompted the construction of the seawall which protects the northern half of the island.
The saga of protecting the land began in 1950. [5] Maco Stewart Jr., whose father founded Stewart Title Company, owned more than 2,000 acres on the island. In his will, he severed the mineral rights from the surface land rights and gave half of the surface and mineral rights to his wife, Virginia Stewart, and divided the other half between his sons from a former marriage, Wells and Maco III. In giving them the surface rights, the senior Maco specified that, upon the death of his wife and sons, his "Galveston Island home" should be given to the state of Texas "to be used and maintained as a fish, game, and oyster preserve and for any other public purpose." The will further stated that his heirs "shall not have any right or authority to convey, mortgage, encumber or in any manner dispose of the `surface' estate."
By the late 1960s, Stewart's heirs wanted a park to be established. In 1969, under the State Parks Bond Program, 1,950 acres of the private land was purchased from the heirs. A small part of the original property with the family's Stewart Mansion was not included in the sale. The state park opened to the public in 1975.
Tropical Storm Frances destroyed the sand dunes at Galveston Island State Park on September 10, 1998. The dunes provide the only protection that the park has for its freshwater habitats and visitor facilities. A project restored the dunes through the use of recycled Christmas trees to trap and accumulate sand.
The park was closed again, due to damage from Hurricane Ike on September 14, 2008. In July 2009 the park was reopened for outdoor recreation and camping.
The Gulf Coast of the United States is the coastline along the Southern United States where they meet the Gulf of Mexico. The coastal states that have a shoreline on the Gulf of Mexico are Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida, and these are known as the Gulf States.
Galveston 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 Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area at its southern end on the northwestern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
Grand Isle is a town in Jefferson Parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana, located on a barrier island of the same name in the Gulf of Mexico. The island is at the mouth of Barataria Bay where it meets the gulf. The town of Grand Isle is statistically part of the New Orleans−Metairie−Kenner metropolitan statistical area, though it is not connected to New Orleans' continuous urbanized area.
Barrier islands are coastal landforms and a type of dune system that are exceptionally flat or lumpy areas of sand that form by wave and tidal action parallel to the mainland coast. They usually occur in chains, consisting of anything from a few islands to more than a dozen. They are subject to change during storms and other action, but absorb energy and protect the coastlines and create areas of protected waters where wetlands may flourish. A barrier chain may extend uninterrupted for over a hundred kilometers, excepting the tidal inlets that separate the islands, the longest and widest being Padre Island of Texas. Sometimes an important inlet may close permanently, transforming an island into a peninsula, thus creating a barrier peninsula. The length and width of barriers and overall morphology of barrier coasts are related to parameters including tidal range, wave energy, sediment supply, sea-level trends, and basement controls. The amount of vegetation on the barrier has a large impact on the height and evolution of the island.
The 1900 Galveston hurricane, also known as the Great Galveston hurricane and the Galveston Flood, and known regionally as the Great Storm of 1900 or the 1900 Storm, was the deadliest natural disaster in United States history and the fifth-deadliest Atlantic hurricane, only behind Hurricane Mitch overall. The hurricane left between 6,000 and 12,000 fatalities in the United States; the number most cited in official reports is 8,000. Most of these deaths occurred in and near Galveston, Texas, after the storm surge inundated the coastline with 8 to 12 ft of water. In addition to the number killed, the storm destroyed about 7,000 buildings of all uses in Galveston, which included 3,636 demolished homes; every dwelling in the city suffered some degree of damage. The hurricane left approximately 10,000 people in the city homeless, out of a total population of fewer than 38,000. The disaster ended the Golden Era of Galveston, as the hurricane alarmed potential investors, who turned to Houston instead. In response to the storm, three engineers designed and oversaw plans to raise the Gulf of Mexico shoreline of Galveston Island by 17 ft (5.2 m) and erect a 10 mi (16 km) seawall.
Southeast Texas is a sub-region of East Texas. It is geographically centered on the Greater Houston and Beaumont–Port Arthur metropolitan areas.
Southwick Beach State Park is a New York State park that lies along an unusual stretch of sandy beach on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. The park is 464 acres (188 ha) in size with a 3,500 foot (1,100 m) length of beach, and is visited annually by about 100,000 people. Immediately to the south is the Lakeview Wildlife Management Area, which extends the publicly accessible beach by several miles. They are in the Town of Ellisburg in Jefferson County, New York south of the lakeside community of Jefferson Park.
Key Biscayne is an island located in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay. It is the southernmost of the barrier islands along the Atlantic coast of Florida, and lies south of Miami Beach and southeast of Miami. The key is connected to Miami via the Rickenbacker Causeway, originally built in 1947.
Galveston Bay is a bay in the western Gulf of Mexico along the upper coast of Texas. It is the seventh-largest estuary in the United States, and the largest of seven major estuaries along the Texas Gulf Coast. It is connected to the Gulf of Mexico and is surrounded by sub-tropical marshes and prairies on the mainland. The water in the bay is a complex mixture of sea water and fresh water, which supports a wide variety of marine life. With a maximum depth of about 10 feet (3 m) and an average depth of only 6 feet (2 m), it is unusually shallow for its size.
Galveston Island is a barrier island on the Texas Gulf Coast in the United States, about 50 miles (80.5 km) southeast of Houston. The entire island, with the exception of Jamaica Beach, is within the city limits of the City of Galveston in Galveston County.
North Stradbroke Island, colloquially Straddie or North Straddie, is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, 30 kilometres (19 mi) southeast of the centre of Brisbane. Originally there was only one Stradbroke Island but in 1896 it split into North Stradbroke Island and South Stradbroke Island separated by the Jumpinpin Channel. The Quandamooka people are the traditional owners of North Stradbroke island.
Rollover Pass also called Rollover Fish Pass is part of a low-elevation area and was subject to overflow during high tides or storms. A man-made strait was cut through private property on the Bolivar Peninsula and linked the Gulf of Mexico with Rollover Bay and East Bay on the upper Texas coast in eastern Galveston County. Located on property which was owned by the Gulf Coast Rod, Reel and Gun Club and managed by the Gilchrist Community Association, the Pass was widened to allow more water flow in 1955 by the Texas Game and Fish Commission when it was granted an easement by the property owners. The intent was to increase bay water salinity, promote growth of submerged vegetation, and help marine fish to and from spawning and feeding areas in the bay.
Gulf Islands National Seashore offers recreation opportunities and preserves natural and historic resources along the Gulf of Mexico barrier islands of Florida and Mississippi. The protected regions include mainland areas and parts of seven islands. Some islands along the Alabama coast were originally considered for inclusion, but none are part of the National Seashore.
Perdido Key is an unincorporated community in Escambia County, Florida, United States, between Pensacola, Florida and Orange Beach, Alabama. "Perdido" means "lost" in the Spanish and Portuguese languages. The community is located on and named for Perdido Key, a barrier island in northwest Florida and southeast Alabama. The Florida district of the Gulf Islands National Seashore includes the east end of the island, as well as other Florida islands. No more than a few hundred yards wide in most places, Perdido Key stretches some 16 miles (26 km) from near Pensacola to Perdido Pass Bridge near Orange Beach.
Sandy Island Beach State Park is a New York State park on the eastern shore of Lake Ontario. Its highlight is a 1,500-foot (460 m) natural sandy beach. The park is near the southern end of a notable 17-mile (27 km) length of sandy shoreline, coastal dunes, and wetlands ; a 1959 study noted that "The eastern end of Lake Ontario contains not only the finest beaches on the entire lake but also the finest wildlife habitat."
Tropical Storm Cindy was a strong tropical storm which impacted portions of the United States Gulf Coast in September 1963. The third named storm of the 1963 Atlantic hurricane season, Cindy developed within a trough as a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico on 16 September. The disturbance quickly intensified, with a distinct eye becoming visible on satellite imagery as it drifted north-northwestwards toward the Texas coastline. After peaking with 1-minute maximum sustained winds of 65 mph (100 km/h), it made landfall at High Island on the morning of 17 September at peak strength with an atmospheric pressure of 997 mbar. Cindy remained nearly stationary for almost a day, dropping copious rainfall over the Texas coastal plain, before finally turning west-southwestward and dissipating west of Corpus Christi on 20 September.
The History of Galveston, Texas, begins with the archaeological record of Native Americans who used the island. The first European settlements on the island were constructed around 1816. The Port of Galveston was established in 1825 by the Congress of Mexico following its successful revolution from Spain. The city served as the main port for the Texas Navy during the Texas Revolution. Galveston was founded in 1836 by Michel Menard, Samuel May Williams, and Thomas F. McKinney, and briefly served as the capital of the Republic of Texas. The Battle of Galveston was fought in Galveston Bay during the American Civil War when Confederate forces under Major General John B. Magruder attacked and expelled occupying Union troops from the city.
Gulf Hammock is a wetlands area in the southern end of Levy County, Florida. It extends along the Gulf of Mexico coast from Cedar Key to the Withlacoochee River, and reaches several miles inland. Gulf Hammock includes the largest expanse of hydric hammock in Florida. The area is mostly uninhabited, with the area closest to the Gulf coast in a state park, and the inland areas primarily used for logging and hunting.
The U.S. state of Texas has a series of estuaries along its coast on the Gulf of Mexico, most of them bounded by the Texas barrier islands. Estuaries are coastal bodies of water in which freshwater from rivers mixes with saltwater from the sea. Twenty-one drainage basins terminate along the Texas coastline, forming a chain of seven major and five minor estuaries: listed from southwest to northeast, these are the Rio Grande Estuary, Laguna Madre, the Nueces Estuary, the Mission–Aransas Estuary, the Guadalupe Estuary, the Colorado–Lavaca Estuary, East Matagorda Bay, the San Bernard River and Cedar Lakes Estuary, the Brazos River Estuary, Christmas Bay, the Trinity–San Jacinto Estuary, and the Sabine–Neches Estuary. Each estuary is named for its one or two chief contributing rivers, excepting Laguna Madre, East Matagorda Bay, and Christmas Bay, which have no major river sources. The estuaries are also sometimes referred to by the names of their respective primary or central water bodies, though each also includes smaller secondary bays, inlets, or other marginal water bodies.
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