Galveston Island State Park

State park in Texas, United States

Galveston Island State Park

Beach in the park,
on the Gulf of Mexico.

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Location| Galveston Island, Galveston County, Texas, United States
Nearest city| Galveston
Coordinates| 29°11′56″N 94°57′22″W﻿ / ﻿29.19889°N 94.95611°W﻿ / 29.19889; -94.95611
Area| 2,013.1 acres (815 ha)
Established| 1975
Visitors| 80,564 (in 2022)[1]
Operator| Texas Parks and Wildlife
Website| 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.[2]

## Geography

[edit]

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.

Coastal dune habitat in the park. Wetlands in the park. Restored dune habitat in the park.

Habitats include surf, beach, dunes, coastal prairie, fresh-water ponds, wetlands, bayous and bay shoreline.[3] It has numerous trails for scenery and wildlife viewing.[4] There is a public campground in the park.

## History

[edit]

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.[5] American Indians began to visit Galveston Island around 2,000 years ago.[5]

In the 16th century, Spanish exploration initiated European interaction with the indigenous Akokisa and Karankawa peoples.[5] 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.

### Park establishment

[edit]

The saga of protecting the land began in 1950.[6] 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.

### Dunes renewal projects

[edit]

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.

## Fauna

[edit]

The first nest in a decade of the Kemp's ridley sea turtle was found at the park in 2020.[7]

## See also

[edit]

* Sand dune ecology
* List of Texas state parks

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Christopher Adams. "What is the most visited state park in Texas? Here's the top 10 countdown". KXAN.com. Retrieved November 21, 2023.
2. ^ Galveston Island State Park
3. ^ Friends of the Park
4. ^ Park Trails map
5. ^ a b c Native Americans history
6. ^ Houston Chronicle: "Settlement-in-suit-over-isle-state-park" (1985)
7. ^ "Egg-citing news: Sea turtle nest found on Galveston Island for first time in a decade". ABC13 Houston. KTRK-TV. May 24, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Galveston Island State Park.

* Official Galveston Island State Park website
* Friends of Galveston Island State Park — natural history + events info-images.
* Film footage of Galveston Island State Park from Exploring the Texas State Park System on the Texas Archive of the Moving Image

* v
* t
* e

City of Galveston

Attractions|

* Ashton Villa
* Balinese Room
* Bishop's Palace
* East End Historic District
* Elissa (ship)
* Fort Crockett
* Galveston Island Historic Pleasure Pier
* Galveston Island State Park
* Galveston Pirate SC
* Galveston Railroad Museum
* Galveston Seawall
* Galveston Island Trolley
* Grand 1894 Opera House
* Lone Star Flight Museum
* Moody Gardens
* Moody Plaza
* Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum
* Old Red
* Rosenberg Library
* Sts. Constantine and Helen Serbian Orthodox Church
* St. Mary Cathedral Basilica
* Schlitterbahn Galveston Island Waterpark
* Seawolf Park
* Strand Historic District
* 1861 United States Customs and Federal Court House
* USS Cavalla
* USS Stewart

Industries|

* American National Insurance Company
* Galveston Railroad
* Island Transit
* Moody Foundation
* Moody National Bank
* Port of Galveston
* Texas First Bank
* Scholes International Airport at Galveston

History|

* Battle of Galveston Harbor
* First Battle of Galveston
* Second Battle of Galveston
* The Beach Hotel
* Fort Point Light
* Galveston Railroad
* Galveston Hurricane of 1900
* Galveston Hurricane of 1915
* Galveston Movement
* Jewish history
* Karankawa Indians
* Free State of Galveston
* Strand Historic District
* 1861 United States Customs and Federal Court House
* Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway

Geography|

* Galveston Bay
* Galveston Island
* Gulf of Mexico
* San Luis Pass
* West Bay

Education|

* Galveston College
* Galveston ISD
* Ball HS
* Central HS
* O'Connell College Preparatory School
* Texas A&M University at Galveston
* University of Texas Medical Branch

| Defunct|

* Central HS
* Dominican HS

|

Healthcare
& research|

* Galveston National Biocontainment Laboratory
* John Sealy Hospital
* Sealy & Smith Foundation
* Shriners Hospital for Children
* Transitional Learning Center
* University of Texas Medical Branch

Media|

| Newspapers|

* The Daily News

|

Television|

* KLTJ (Daystar)
* KTMD (Telemundo)

AM radio|

* KGBC

FM radio|

* KOVE

VHF radio|

* KHB40

Other|

* Galveston Causeway
* Mayor
* List of museums in the Texas Gulf Coast
* Bolivar Bridge
* A Weekend in September
* Battle on the Bay
* Mythic Galveston

* v
* t
* e

Protected areas of Texas

Federal|

| National Estuarine Research Reserves|

* Mission-Aransas

|

National Forests|

* Angelina
* Davy Crockett
* Sabine
* Sam Houston

National Grasslands|

* Caddo
* Lyndon B. Johnson
* McClellan Creek
* Rita Blanca

National Historic Sites and Historical Parks|

* Blackwell School
* Fort Davis
* Lyndon B. Johnson
* Palo Alto Battlefield
* San Antonio Missions

National Marine Sanctuaries|

* Flower Garden Banks

National Memorials|

* Chamizal

National Monuments|

* Alibates Flint Quarries
* Castner Range
* Military Working Dog Teams
* Waco Mammoth

National Parks|

* Big Bend
* Guadalupe Mountains

National Preserves|

* Big Thicket

National Recreation Areas|

* Amistad
* Lake Meredith

National Seashores|

* Padre Island

National Trails|

* Butterfield Overland
* El Camino Real de los Tejas
* El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro

National Wild and Scenic Rivers|

* Rio Grande

National Wildlife Refuges|

* Aransas
* Attwater Prairie Chicken
* Balcones Canyonlands
* Big Boggy
* Brazoria
* Buffalo Lake
* Caddo Lake
* Grulla
* Hagerman
* Jocelyn Nungaray
* Laguna Atascosa
* Little Sandy
* Lower Rio Grande Valley
* McFaddin
* Muleshoe
* Neches River
* San Bernard
* Santa Ana
* Texas Point
* Trinity River

Other|

* National Historic Landmarks
* National Natural Landmarks
* National Register of Historic Places
* Wilderness Areas

State|

| State Parks
and Natural Areas|

* Abilene
* Albert and Bessie Kronkosky State Natural Area
* Atlanta
* Balmorhea
* Barton Warnock Visitor Center
* Bastrop
* Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley
* Big Bend Ranch
* Big Spring
* Blanco
* Bonham
* Brazos Bend
* Buescher
* Caddo Lake
* Caprock Canyons
* Cedar Hill
* Chinati Mountains State Natural Area
* Choke Canyon
* Cleburne
* Colorado Bend
* Cooper Lake
* Copper Breaks
* Daingerfield
* Davis Hill
* Davis Mountains
* Devils River State Natural Area
* Devil's Sinkhole State Natural Area
* Dinosaur Valley
* Eisenhower
* Enchanted Rock State Natural Area
* Estero Llano Grande
* Fairfield Lake
* Falcon
* Fort Boggy
* Fort Parker State Park
* Fort Richardson State Park
* Franklin Mountains
* Galveston Island
* Garner
* Goliad
* Goose Island
* Government Canyon State Natural Area
* Guadalupe River
* Hill Country State Natural Area
* Honey Creek State Natural Area
* Huntsville
* Indian Lodge
* Inks Lake
* Kickapoo Cavern
* Lake Arrowhead
* Lake Bob Sandlin
* Lake Brownwood
* Lake Casa Blanca International
* Lake Colorado City
* Lake Corpus Christi
* Lake Livingston
* Lake Mineral Wells
* Lake Somerville
* Lake Tawakoni
* Lake Whitney
* Lockhart
* Longhorn Cavern
* Lost Maples State Natural Area
* Martin Creek Lake
* Martin Dies Jr.
* Matagorda Island
* McKinney Falls
* McKinney Roughs
* Meridian
* Mission Tejas
* Monahans Sandhills
* Mother Neff State Park
* Mustang Island
* Old Tunnel
* Palmetto
* Palo Duro Canyon
* Palo Pinto Mountains
* Pedernales Falls
* Possum Kingdom
* Purtis Creek
* Ray Roberts Lake
* Resaca de la Palma
* San Angelo
* Sea Rim
* Sheldon Lake
* South Llano River
* Stephen F. Austin
* Tyler
* Village Creek
* Walter Umphrey
* Wyler Aerial Tramway

|

State Historic Sites|

* Acton
* Admiral Nimitz
* Barrington Living History Farm at Washington-on-the-Brazos
* Battleship TEXAS
* Caddo Mounds
* Casa Navarro
* Confederate Reunion Grounds
* Eisenhower Birthplace
* Fanthorp Inn
* Fannin Battleground
* Fort Griffin
* Fort Lancaster
* Fort Leaton
* Fort McKavett
* Fort Richardson State Park
* Fulton Mansion
* Goliad
* Hueco Tanks
* Kreische Brewery
* Landmark Inn
* Levi Jordan Plantation
* Lipantitlan
* Lyndon B. Johnson
* Magoffin Homestead
* Mission Espiritu Santo
* Mission Dolores
* Mission Rosario
* Monument Hill
* Penn Farm
* Point Isabel Lighthouse
* Sabine Pass Battleground
* Sam Bell Maxey House
* Samuel T. Rayburn House
* San Felipe
* San Jacinto Battleground
* Sauer-Beckmann Farm
* Seminole Canyon
* Starr Family Home
* Varner–Hogg Plantation
* Washington-on-the-Brazos
* Zaragoza Birthplace

State Forests
and Arboretums|

* E.O. Siecke
* I.D. Fairchild
* John Henry Kirby
* Masterson
* W. Goodrich Jones
* Ruth Bowling Nichols Arboretum
* Olive Scott Petty Arboretum

State Wildlife Trails|

* Great Texas Coastal
* Heart of Texas
* Panhandle Plains
* Prairies and Pineywoods

* Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

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