In 1528, when the first Europeans landed, Galveston Island was home to Akokisa and Karankawa Indians who camped, fished and hunted the swampy land and buried their dead here. In the late 1600’s, French explorer Robert Cavelier La Salle claimed this area for King Louis and named it St. Louis. On July 23, 1786, Jose de Evia was commissioned by Bernardo de Gálvez, a Spanish colonial governor and general, to chart the Gulf of Mexico from the Texas coast to New Orleans. Evia charted an area near the mouth of a river and named it Galveston Bay. Later, the island and city took the same name.

The pirate Jean Lafitte arrived on the Island in 1817, making it his base of operations and naming it Campeche. The little village contained huts for the pirates, a large slave market, boarding houses for visiting buyers, a shipyard, saloons, pool halls, gambling houses and Lafitte’s own house, the “Maison Rouge.” At one point, Campeche was home to about 1,000 people. In May 1821, after Lafitte’s attack on an American ship, he was forced to abandon his operations in Galveston.

In 1836, Michel B. Menard, a native of Canada, purchased a “league and labor” of land for $50,000 from the Austin Colony, and established the City of Galveston. Galveston’s harbor became an active port with ships from all over the world bringing their goods here. The Strand, named after a street in London, was filled with wholesalers, cotton agents, paint, drug, grocery, hardware and dry goods stores and insurance companies. The Strand became known as the “Wall Street of the Southwest” for the largest and most important wholesale houses west of the Mississippi River.

Galveston’s prosperity suddenly came to a halt on September 8, 1900, when the deadliest natural disaster in United States history hit Galveston Island. A storm with winds exceeding 120 miles per hour and tidal surge devastated the island. To prevent such a natural disaster from devastating the island again, the city built a seawall seven miles long and 17 feet high and began a tremendous project to raise the level of the island. Galveston overcame the devastation to become a top resort city.

During the 1920s through the 1940s, Sam Maceo’s famous nightclubs, the Balinese Room and the Hollywood Dinner Club, were host to such performers as Phil Harris, Paul Whiteman, Guy Lombardo, Duke Ellington, Freddy Martin, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, and Jimmy Dorsey. Galveston attracted people from all over the nation with great dining, big name entertainment, roulette, blackjack, craps tables and slot machines. This era ended in 1957 when the Texas Rangers raided the city and closed all the illegal gambling spots.

Today Galveston remains a destination of fun and family adventure. Whether you are seeking a relaxing holiday with the family or a romantic weekend with the one you love, Pointe West on Galveston island is the perfect destination.