Galveston doesn't normally get a lot of attention; certainly not New Orleans attention, certainly not in this part of the country. And yet, Galveston has a history and a life all its own.
The Galveston Movement was a program designed to divert immigrant Jews from crowded East Coast cities to Galveston, seen as a gateway to the West. It was met with mixed results, but no doubt breathed life into the Jewish population of this part of the country. Temple B'Nai Israel, still located in the city, is America's first reform synagogue.
Galveston is also home to Texas A&M-Galveston, a satellite campus of Texas A&M and host to the Texas Maritime Academy, one of only ten Maritime schools in the country. (Me showing off something that is so not worth showing off: Maine, Massachusetts, Great Lakes, California, SUNY Maritime, Texas, Seattle, and the U.S. Naval, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marine Academies.) A&M Galveston pays homage to A&M proper with its unique mascot: the Sea Aggie.
Galveston remains an important port, welcoming cargo ships and serving as embarking point for Caribbean cruises.
My pal Suzy Q., who is a Longhorn and therefore sworn to hate all Aggies of all forms, can probably wax more poetically about this subject.
Galveston's infastructure has, of course, been devastated by Hurricane Ike. (As you may have heard, the most deadly hurricane in U.S. history also struck Galveston, causing some 6,000-9,000 deaths in 1900.) I hope they're able to recover, 'cause it seems like a neat little city. And even if it's not a neat little city, I hope they recover anyway, 'cause, you know, people and lives and homes and jobs are generally things worth having.
Why do I feel like I just wrote a book report?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I work with a fellow who cut his vacation short while at Galveston with his family to get out of Ike's way. They were at the beach house they rent every year.
He showed me pictures on Friday that he took while there at the beach house. He then showed me some before and after pictures from the internet that some news team took of the beach he stayed at. Oddly enough you could actually see his truck and tent that they had set up on the beach for the day in the "before" pic.
In the "after" pic, all but two of the houses in that beach community are gone....including the house they stay in every year. Absolutely shocking.
Post a Comment