West Galveston Island

West Galveston Island (HM1BVT)

Location: Galveston, TX 77554 Galveston County
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Country: United States of America
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N 29° 11.856', W 94° 57.01'

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Inscription
First known to world history in the 16th century, from report of Spanish soldier Cabeza De Vaca, who was shipwrecked on this island in 1528. Area was also visited by French explorer La Salle in 1685. Second known Caucasian to live here was the buccaneer Jean Lafitte, who had to fight Karankawa Indians for the site he chose as operating base for his pirate fleet in 1815 or 1816. In the 1820's a debarkation point for illegal slave ships developed on West Island.

Humane and civilized traffic afterward found its way here. Stagecoach service was established in the 1850's from Galveston to Old Velasco (now Freeport) on a West Beach road, with a ferry at San Luis Pass. An important lace manufacturing concern was located here, and by 1885 the Galveston & Western Railway carried visitors by the hundreds to a race track near the center of the island.

Since 1957 West Island has rapidly become a major recreational and resort area, with leisure homes fronting the Gulf, the canals and the bay. There is still enough wilderness to attract migratory shore birds; more than 95 per cent of the known species in America annually spend some time on this island.
Details
HM NumberHM1BVT
Tags
Year Placed1967
Placed ByState Historical Survey Committee
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Thursday, September 25th, 2014 at 12:06am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)15R E 310396 N 3231452
Decimal Degrees29.19760000, -94.95016667
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 29° 11.856', W 94° 57.01'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds29° 11' 51.36" N, 94° 57' 0.60" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)409, 281
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 4229 13 Mile Rd, Galveston TX 77554, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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