Galveston, Texas

Galveston is a city in Texas, located on an island of the same name adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico.

According to legend, the island was the hideout of pirate Jean Lafitte.

On June 19, 1865, the Emancipation Proclamation was read here (Texas was the last state where it was read); this gave rise to the Juneteenth celebrations which are popular in the African-American community, starting in Texas but now spread nationwide.

Once the largest city in Texas, the 1900 Galveston Hurricane killed somewhere between 6,000-8,000 people. Although the island was elevated 14 feet (a remarkable feat of civil engineering), nearby Houston built an inland port and overtook Galveston as the main seaport in the state. The city now depends on tourism for its economy.