Coastal Visions: Images of Galveston County
A full-color photography book showcasing the Galveston County area, paired with the histories of companies, institutions, and organizations that have made the region great.
A full-color photography book showcasing the Galveston County area, paired with the histories of companies, institutions, and organizations that have made the region great.
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<strong>Coastal</strong><br />
<strong>Visions</strong><br />
IMAGES OF<br />
GALVESTON<br />
COUNTY<br />
Photography by Robert Mihovil<br />
Text by Leslie Watts<br />
A publication <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>
Thank you for your interest in this HPNbooks publication. For more information about other<br />
HPNbooks publications, or information about producing your own book with us, please visit www.hpnbooks.com.
<strong>Coastal</strong><br />
<strong>Visions</strong><br />
IMAGES OF<br />
GALVESTON<br />
COUNTY<br />
Photography by Robert Mihovil<br />
Text by Leslie Watts<br />
A publication <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
HPNbooks<br />
A division <strong>of</strong> Lammert Incorporated<br />
San Antonio, Texas
The tugboat Crosby Rambler pushes a barge on the Intracoastal<br />
Waterway that carries traffic from Brownsville, Texas, to southern Florida.<br />
This photograph was made from the bridge just north <strong>of</strong> High Island on<br />
Highway 124, the most northeastern point <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
First Edition<br />
Copyright © 2012 HPNbooks<br />
All rights reserved. No part <strong>of</strong> this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, without permission<br />
in writing from the publisher. All inquiries should be addressed to HPNbooks, 11535 Galm Road, Suite 101, San Antonio, Texas, 78254. Phone (800) 749-9790.<br />
ISBN: 9781935377825<br />
Library <strong>of</strong> Congress Card Catalog Number: 2012939449<br />
<strong>Coastal</strong> <strong>Visions</strong>: <strong>Images</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
photography: Robert Mihovil<br />
narrative: Leslie Watts<br />
design: Glenda Tarazon Krouse<br />
contributing writer for sharing the heritage: Brenda Thompson<br />
HPNbooks<br />
president: Ron Lammert<br />
project managers: Joe Bowman<br />
Larry Sunderland<br />
administration: Donna M. Mata<br />
Melissa G. Quinn<br />
book sales: Dee Steidle<br />
production: Colin Hart<br />
Evelyn Hart<br />
Tony Quinn<br />
Omar Wright<br />
PRINTED IN MALAYSIA<br />
COASTAL VISIONS - <strong>Images</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
2
4 Introduction<br />
5 <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>–Land and Water<br />
6 Chapter1 Rich Heritage<br />
28 Chapter2 Unified Community<br />
48 Chapter3 Vibrant Lifestyle<br />
70 Chapter4 Essential Enterprise<br />
92 Chapter5 Visionary Populace<br />
114 <strong>Galveston</strong> Partners<br />
193 Sponsors<br />
194 About the Photographer<br />
195 About the Author<br />
Contents<br />
3
Introduction<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> is as diverse as its people. From its earliest days, the land encompassed<br />
today by <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> has been central to the history <strong>of</strong> Texas. First inhabited by Native<br />
Americans as early as the 1500s, progressing to the swashbuckling days when pirates roamed<br />
the Island, <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> watched as Texas grew into an independent republic and later<br />
a state. The largest and most progressive community in Texas until the late 1800s, <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
led the state in the development <strong>of</strong> commerce and culture, and the Port <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> was<br />
widely described as the “Queen <strong>of</strong> the Gulf”.<br />
Stretching from the nation’s fourth largest city <strong>of</strong> Houston’s outlying southern suburbs,<br />
to the Gulf’s sandy beaches and coastal waters, <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>of</strong>fers a wide range <strong>of</strong><br />
geography and lifestyles. Located adjacent to NASA’s Johnson Space Center, the county is<br />
home to bustling industry including petrochemical, medical, technology, business, education,<br />
and tourism. <strong>Galveston</strong> has been known for almost 200 years for its natural deep water<br />
harbor which is home port for numerous cargo ships and cruise lines. It also encompasses<br />
historic neighborhoods, exclusive second-home enclaves, small fishing villages and quiet<br />
middle-class communities. Despite such diversity the character <strong>of</strong> the region is unified and<br />
shaped by the governance and public service shared by nearly three hundred thousand residents.<br />
Combining the fun benefits <strong>of</strong> a coastal community with a strong job-producing economy<br />
and educational opportunities, <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> is a great place to live, work and play.<br />
Year-round activities include indoor and outdoor sports, cultural events and performing arts.<br />
Colleges and universities, including branches <strong>of</strong> Texas A&M and the University <strong>of</strong> Texas, <strong>of</strong>fer<br />
advanced degree and certification programs. With nationally recognized health care facilities,<br />
it also provides a wide range <strong>of</strong> medical services and medical education programs.<br />
In addition to full-time residents, vacationers from across the nation descend on <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> each year for recreation, relaxation and special events such as Mardi Gras and other<br />
festivals. Reminiscent <strong>of</strong> the heady days <strong>of</strong> the 1940s, construction is slated to be complete<br />
in May <strong>of</strong> 2012 for the new “Pleasure Pier” on <strong>Galveston</strong>’s Seawall. This will add additional<br />
shops, restaurants and rides to a county already packed with fun family activities.<br />
I hope you enjoy reading this book and seeing the pictures depicting life in <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>. This book may inspire you to pay a visit to <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>, and, once here, to stay<br />
and enjoy what <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> has to <strong>of</strong>fer.<br />
Mark Henry<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Judge<br />
COASTAL VISIONS - <strong>Images</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
4
A map <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> shows the dramatic diversity <strong>of</strong> physical landmarks within the<br />
county boundaries. The county stretches from coastal plains in the north to low-lying<br />
barrier islands in the south. Nearly half the county area is comprised <strong>of</strong> water,<br />
primarily <strong>Galveston</strong> Bay. Through <strong>Galveston</strong> Bay runs the Houston Ship Channel.<br />
Along the dredged channel tanker ships, container ships and numerous barges<br />
navigate, carrying over 220 million tons <strong>of</strong> cargo annually. Most vessels enter<br />
the ship channel through <strong>Galveston</strong> Harbor pass, although many others enter<br />
by way <strong>of</strong> the Intracoastal Canal, which also runs through the county, in a<br />
northeast-southwest direction. The Port <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> and the Port <strong>of</strong> Texas City<br />
are both within the county boundaries. The Port <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> is the departure<br />
point for numerous cruise ships, while the Port <strong>of</strong> Texas City is designed to move<br />
petrochemicals to and from Texas City refineries. The main highway artery in the<br />
county is IH-45, which runs from Dallas to <strong>Galveston</strong>. In the northern part <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>, growing communities are home to thousands <strong>of</strong> residents who work in Houston,<br />
as well as in <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> enterprises. Cattle ranches and other agricultural operations are located<br />
throughout the western part <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>. <strong>Galveston</strong> Island and Bolivar Peninsula annually<br />
attract over 5 million visitors to the county, and provide location for thousands <strong>of</strong> second homes. The<br />
geographic diversity <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> is reflected in the diverse population and economy <strong>of</strong> the county.<br />
Land & Water<br />
EAST BAY<br />
High<br />
Island<br />
Kemah<br />
Friendswood<br />
League City<br />
Bayview<br />
Bacliff<br />
Gilchrist<br />
45<br />
Dickinson<br />
San Leon<br />
GALVESTON BAY<br />
Bolivar Peninsula<br />
Algoa<br />
Santa Fe<br />
Alta Loma<br />
La Marque<br />
Texas City<br />
Port Bolivar<br />
Hitchcock<br />
Bayou Vista<br />
45<br />
Tiki Island<br />
WEST<br />
BAY<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Island<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>–Land and Water<br />
5
Chapter<br />
1<br />
Set aside in<br />
1840-41 to provide<br />
a public burial place on<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Island, the Old<br />
City Cemetery was laid out<br />
on the far western edge <strong>of</strong> the<br />
populated area. Encompassing<br />
four city blocks, the land was<br />
divided into a complex <strong>of</strong> smaller<br />
cemeteries, some with specific<br />
religious and secular affiliations.<br />
This tombstone in the Episcopal<br />
area stretches upward toward puffy<br />
gray clouds and blue sky, and the<br />
surrounding ground area is covered<br />
with a blanket <strong>of</strong> bright yellow<br />
Coreopsis wild flowers.<br />
COASTAL VISIONS - <strong>Images</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
6
RICH<br />
Heritage<br />
Possibly <strong>Galveston</strong> Island’s most recognized building, the Bishop’s Palace,<br />
shown here at dusk, was constructed between the years <strong>of</strong> 1887 and 1892 as the<br />
private home <strong>of</strong> lawyer, investor, lobbyist and politician Walter Gresham and his family. Designed<br />
by well-known <strong>Galveston</strong> architect Nicholas Clayton, the home was purchased by the Roman Catholic<br />
Church in 1932 to be used as the <strong>of</strong>ficial residence for the bishop, but reappointed as a “house museum” in 1963.<br />
Named among the top 100 such structures in North America by the American Institute <strong>of</strong> Architects, it is open for tours.<br />
Chapter 1<br />
7
lways, there is the sea.<br />
Ebbing and flowing, powerful<br />
and molding, it was laying<br />
the groundwork for the future <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> long before humankind knew the<br />
world was round.<br />
Historians are unsure as to when and for<br />
how long the first Native American population<br />
groups made their homes on the area’s islands<br />
and coastal plains, but it is for certain that<br />
they, like today’s inhabitants, were drawn to<br />
the region’s beauty, climate and the abundant<br />
resources it provided.<br />
Although evidence suggests the existence<br />
<strong>of</strong> a 5,000-year-old Native American burial<br />
ground near Caplen on the county’s Bolivar<br />
Peninsula, experts agree that tribal groups<br />
such as the Karankawas surely had established<br />
a regular presence on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island during<br />
the sixteenth century.<br />
COASTAL VISIONS - <strong>Images</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
8
At about this same time on the other side<br />
<strong>of</strong> the globe, however, inhabitants <strong>of</strong> those<br />
distant lands had begun to experience<br />
growing curiosity about what lay beyond<br />
their own European horizons. Although<br />
explorers were sent out from several nations,<br />
it was Spain that by the sixteenth century<br />
was making great inroads into North and<br />
Central America, dispatching militia and<br />
missionaries to establish a foothold on the<br />
new lands they had found there. Of these<br />
early Spaniards, the one most connected<br />
with <strong>Galveston</strong> was Cabeza de Vaca—and,<br />
yes, this does translate as “head <strong>of</strong> (a) cow.”<br />
Opposite: Bill Silverberg plays the role <strong>of</strong> pirate Jean Lafitte in a performance <strong>of</strong><br />
Pirates and Petticoats during the Jane Long Festival on Port Bolivar.<br />
Above: In a demonstration using blanks but real gun powder, members <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Orange <strong>County</strong> Regulators and The Single Action Shooting Society participate in a<br />
staged gun battle during the Jane Long Festival on Bolivar Peninsula. The event is held<br />
at Fort Travis Seashore Park and includes sharp shooters, cowboy poetry, bunker tours,<br />
food booths, longhorns, live music and the dramatic presentation Pirates and Petticoats.<br />
Chapter 1<br />
9
COASTAL VISIONS - <strong>Images</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
10
One <strong>of</strong> few survivors <strong>of</strong> a Spanish group<br />
exploring the upper Gulf <strong>of</strong> Mexico, de Vaca<br />
and his compatriots were blown ashore in<br />
1528 somewhere along the Karankawas’<br />
coastal hunting ground. Although initially<br />
well-treated, the group was eventually<br />
imprisoned by the Karankawas for about<br />
six years before de Vaca made a successful<br />
escape southward to Mexico. Cabeza de Vaca<br />
had a lasting influence on the Karankawa’s<br />
sand bar, however, by providing what is<br />
thought to be some <strong>of</strong> the first known<br />
written accounts <strong>of</strong> the island and<br />
its inhabitants.<br />
As part <strong>of</strong> Spain’s continued interest in<br />
the new world, Bernardo de Galvez, a military<br />
hero who served during the 1780s as viceroy<br />
<strong>of</strong> Mexico, ordered a survey <strong>of</strong> the coastline<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Gulf <strong>of</strong> Mexico. In honor <strong>of</strong> his sponsor,<br />
navigator Jose de Evia gave the name<br />
Bahia de Galvez to the gulf’s largest bay, and<br />
the entire area—island, city and county—<br />
eventually became known as <strong>Galveston</strong>.<br />
As the nineteenth century dawned, vigorous<br />
westward expansion <strong>of</strong> the fledgling<br />
United States made it necessary to push a<br />
number <strong>of</strong> New Orleans undesirables a little<br />
further down the coast from that thriving<br />
port. As a result, <strong>Galveston</strong> soon became an<br />
attractive location for various freebooters,<br />
pirates and privateers trying to keep one step<br />
ahead <strong>of</strong> the law. The most notable <strong>of</strong> these<br />
was Jean Lafitte, who—after being chased out<br />
<strong>of</strong> Louisiana waters—moved his business<br />
interests westward and found <strong>Galveston</strong> the<br />
perfect setting for a new colony.<br />
Opposite: Anne Willis <strong>of</strong> Crystal Beach<br />
plays the “Spirit <strong>of</strong> Jane Long” in Pirates<br />
and Petticoats during the Jane Long<br />
Festival on the Bolivar Peninsula. Jane<br />
survived the winter <strong>of</strong> 1821 on Bolivar<br />
Point, during which time she gave birth<br />
to one <strong>of</strong> the first Anglo children to be<br />
born in what would later become Texas.<br />
According to a local historian, Jane helped<br />
plan the Texas Revolution and is called<br />
“The Mother <strong>of</strong> Texas” because <strong>of</strong> her<br />
strength and bravery.<br />
Above: Dr. James Long, portrayed by<br />
Sid Bouse, proposes marriage to his<br />
future wife, Jane, as played by Dr. Melanie<br />
Wallace, during the production <strong>of</strong> Pirates<br />
and Petticoats, an original dramatic<br />
presentation during the Jane Long Festival<br />
on Port Bolivar.<br />
Chapter 1<br />
11
Hope Leskowitz and brother, William, <strong>of</strong> Seabrook peep through<br />
the iron gates at the old Fort Travis bunker on the Bolivar Peninsula.<br />
Named Campeche, Lafitte’s fortified compound<br />
eventually boasted around 1,000<br />
inhabitants, and what is thought to be the<br />
site <strong>of</strong> Maison Rouge, Lafitte’s personal home,<br />
is easily located today by a historical marker<br />
on the island’s bay side, near the Port <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>. To the west, close to an area that<br />
archeologists believe was a Karankawa settlement,<br />
another historical marker tells how, on<br />
this site in 1821, the “freebooter” Jean Lafitte<br />
and his men fought the last Native Americans<br />
in the “Battle <strong>of</strong> the Three Trees,” after which<br />
both groups disappeared from the land<br />
known as <strong>Galveston</strong>.<br />
Opposite: A prickly pear cactus adds color to the vegetation<br />
growing atop a long abandoned Fort Travis bunker on the Bolivar Peninsula.<br />
COASTAL VISIONS - <strong>Images</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
12
Chapter 1<br />
13
Top: Re-enactors representing<br />
Union forces return fire during<br />
a re-enactment <strong>of</strong> the Civil<br />
War’s 1863 Battle <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>.<br />
The event included a living<br />
history encampment.<br />
Above: Played out on both land and sea, the 1863 Battle <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> ended with Confederate<br />
forces driving out the Union ships that had occupied <strong>Galveston</strong>’s harbor since October <strong>of</strong> 1862.<br />
The Confederate re-enactors shown here are all members <strong>of</strong> the nineteenth century Living History<br />
Association, 1st Texas Infantry, 8th Texas Calvary. Celebrating their “victory,” left to right,<br />
are Matte Schlageter, Ed Welch, Fred Anthamatten, Jeff Thompson and Mike Bringhurst.<br />
COASTAL VISIONS - <strong>Images</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
14
Top: Depicting a Confederate solider, a member <strong>of</strong><br />
the nineteenth century Living History Association fires<br />
his flintlock rifle during a re-enactment <strong>of</strong> the Battle <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>. <strong>Galveston</strong> Historical Foundation marked<br />
the anniversary <strong>of</strong> the 1863 Civil War battle, the<br />
most important military event in <strong>Galveston</strong>’s history,<br />
with this dramatization on The Strand, located in<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Island’s historic downtown district.<br />
Right: David Smith portrays a Confederate soldier in the<br />
re-enactment <strong>of</strong> the Civil War’s 1863 Battle <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>.<br />
The event was sponsored by <strong>Galveston</strong> Historical<br />
Foundation to mark the anniversary <strong>of</strong> the most<br />
significant military encounter in <strong>Galveston</strong> history.<br />
Chapter 1<br />
15
The elegant Landes-McDonough Home, located on <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
Island’s Post<strong>of</strong>fice Street, was built in 1887 for Henry A. Landes,<br />
a cotton trader, merchant and community leader. Landes became<br />
mayor <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> after the great Storm <strong>of</strong> 1900. Although the<br />
basement <strong>of</strong> the home was flooded during Hurricane Ike in<br />
2008, the main floors suffered relatively minor damage.<br />
COASTAL VISIONS - <strong>Images</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
16
The civilized world was on the move,<br />
however, and the continent’s western lands<br />
were in the crosshairs for many Americans<br />
and others seeking a better life. “GTT”—<br />
standing for “Gone to Texas”—was a wellknown<br />
term for many restless adventurers,<br />
and <strong>Galveston</strong>, with its natural deep-water<br />
harbor was an ideal point <strong>of</strong> entry for people,<br />
supplies, and new ambitions.<br />
Although <strong>Galveston</strong> entered the nineteenth<br />
century still under the control <strong>of</strong> Spain, its<br />
jurisdiction passed to Mexico in 1820, and<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>, in 1825, was designated a provisional<br />
Mexican port <strong>of</strong> entry with a Mexican<br />
customs house. Things were changing quickly<br />
and following the Texas republic’s declaration<br />
<strong>of</strong> independence from Mexico in 1836,<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> received <strong>of</strong>ficial recognition<br />
in 1838 as part <strong>of</strong> the new nation.<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>’s first luxury hotel, the Tremont,<br />
was opened in 1839, and The <strong>Galveston</strong> News<br />
began publication in 1842.<br />
It was a time and land <strong>of</strong> opportunity,<br />
and—not unexpectedly—the prosperity<br />
being enjoyed on the island, which became<br />
known as the “Queen <strong>of</strong> the Gulf” because<br />
<strong>of</strong> its busy port and resulting luxurious<br />
lifestyle, also spurred the growth <strong>of</strong> new<br />
communities on the county’s mainland areas<br />
to the north.<br />
The Santa Fe Area Historical Foundation Depot<br />
Museum, as seen through early morning fog,<br />
takes on the mystery <strong>of</strong> yesteryear.<br />
The depot is located in Hitchcock.<br />
Chapter 1<br />
17
The inland areas <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> were<br />
flourishing by the end <strong>of</strong> the nineteenth<br />
century. The Miller-Brautigam Home shown<br />
here holds the title <strong>of</strong> the oldest remaining<br />
house in the City <strong>of</strong> Sante Fe. Constructed<br />
in 1896 <strong>of</strong> cypress wood for Henry Miller,<br />
owner <strong>of</strong> the Alta Loma Lumber Company,<br />
it was purchased in 1930 by the Albert<br />
Brautigam family. In 1995 it became the<br />
home <strong>of</strong> Sante Fe Mayor Ralph Stenzel.<br />
Farmland for crops and livestock beckoned,<br />
along with deciduous trees and fresh<br />
water. For those making their way to and<br />
from the island port, there was a need for<br />
food, shelter and fresh supplies. Horses needed<br />
new shoes, wagons required constant<br />
repairs and surplus cargo had to be stored.<br />
As a plus, <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s more inland<br />
locations <strong>of</strong>fered additional protection from<br />
the storms and “overflows” that <strong>of</strong>ten plagued<br />
the low-lying island city.<br />
Railroads soon were being built as an<br />
alternative to rough wagon trails, and these,<br />
too, encouraged communities to sprout up<br />
in support <strong>of</strong> the specialized needs <strong>of</strong> the<br />
new “iron horse.” Initially a Karanakawa<br />
community, then later named Butler’s Ranch<br />
after first resident George W. Butler, the<br />
area known today as League City was the<br />
chosen location in 1854 for the <strong>Galveston</strong>,<br />
Houston and Henderson Railroad. The town<br />
<strong>of</strong> Santa Fe took its name from a railroad line<br />
established in that area in 1877.<br />
During the Civil War soldiers traveling<br />
between Houston and <strong>Galveston</strong> enjoyed stopping<br />
<strong>of</strong>f for buttermilk at a farming community<br />
about half way between the two points.<br />
Known then as Buttermilk Station, this later<br />
became the City <strong>of</strong> La Marque. Friendswood<br />
was so named by a group <strong>of</strong> Quakers—<strong>of</strong>ficially<br />
known as the Society <strong>of</strong> Friends—who<br />
arrived by train in that area in 1895.<br />
COASTAL VISIONS - <strong>Images</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
18
To the east <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> Island, the Bolivar<br />
Peninsula, with gulf access on three sides and<br />
a mainland connection to the north, attracted<br />
its own special group <strong>of</strong> early settlers. In<br />
1815 the peninsula had been accessed and<br />
named for Simon Bolivar by explorer Henry<br />
Perry. A few years later Dr. James Long <strong>of</strong><br />
Natchez, who had his own plans for the area’s<br />
development, established Fort Las Casas on<br />
the peninsula. As a result <strong>of</strong> Long’s wife, Jane,<br />
giving birth to a daughter there in December<br />
<strong>of</strong> 1821, Bolivar is <strong>of</strong>ten credited with being<br />
the birthplace <strong>of</strong> the first Anglo child to be<br />
born in Texas, and Jane is frequently referred<br />
to as the “Mother <strong>of</strong> Texas,” although this title<br />
may also be a result <strong>of</strong> her alleged participation<br />
in the planning <strong>of</strong> the Texas Revolution.<br />
The peninsula’s subsequent development<br />
on its southern point included an early<br />
settlement established in 1893 that became<br />
known as Port Bolivar. The peninsula also<br />
became known for its production <strong>of</strong> food<br />
crops and long-fiber “sea island” cotton, and<br />
later served as the location for <strong>Galveston</strong>’s<br />
second Fort Travis, with construction beginning<br />
in 1898 and ending in 1943. The first<br />
drilling for oil in <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> also<br />
began on the peninsula’s High Island in 1901.<br />
The sturdy Victorian-era Frank B. Davison<br />
Home was constructed <strong>of</strong> cypress in<br />
1895-97 for Frank B. and Florence Haven<br />
Davison. Davison was a prominent civic<br />
leader and pioneer in Texas City. Open for<br />
tours, the home is located in the historic<br />
area <strong>of</strong> Texas City and is one <strong>of</strong> a number<br />
<strong>of</strong> community museums paying tribute<br />
to <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s early mainland<br />
settlers and their contributions to the area’s<br />
future development.<br />
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The reverse silhouette <strong>of</strong> a<br />
longhorn is featured in this<br />
metal work sculpture by<br />
John Barber. It can be seen<br />
in one <strong>of</strong> the windows<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Butler Longhorn<br />
Museum in the League City<br />
Historical District.<br />
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Opposite, bottom: Photographed from the third floor, looking toward the stage and box<br />
seats, the interior <strong>of</strong> The Grand 1894 Opera House provides insight into the levels <strong>of</strong><br />
sophistication and luxury that existed on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island in the late nineteenth century.<br />
At the time <strong>of</strong> its construction, The Grand included a hotel and shops in addition to its<br />
luxurious 1,500-seat theater and large stage area. Painstakingly restored, it today hosts<br />
world-class and local theatrical productions year round.<br />
Above: A full-mount longhorn named Classic Ace is on display at the Butler Longhorn<br />
Museum in the League City Historical District. Named for Milby Butler, the museum<br />
tells the story <strong>of</strong> Butler’s role in supporting the amazing comeback <strong>of</strong> the Texas longhorn.<br />
Chapter 1<br />
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Opposite, top: Located in a replica <strong>of</strong> the first house built in Friendswood,<br />
the Friendswood Heritage Museum is operated by the Friendswood Historical<br />
Society and dedicated to “preserving and portraying our unique history.”<br />
Friendswood was founded as a Quaker colony in 1895 by the F. J. Brown and<br />
T. H. Lewis families in search <strong>of</strong> their “promised land.” The museum’s exterior<br />
replicates the original 1895 house built by Frank J. Brown upon his arrival<br />
in the area.<br />
Opposite, bottom: Historian and author Joycina Day Baker enjoys a quiet<br />
moment in the parlor <strong>of</strong> the Friendswood Heritage Museum, where she is shown<br />
holding a book she published on Friendswood history. The museum is housed in<br />
a replica <strong>of</strong> the Frank J. Brown home, the first house built in Friendswood.<br />
Above: This barn at the Friendswood Heritage Museum is a reconstructed<br />
replica made <strong>of</strong> 100-year old lumber reclaimed from cotton warehouses<br />
originally located on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island. The machinery shown under the barn’s<br />
overhang is a fig sprayer, such as those that would have been used to maintain<br />
fig trees during the community’s heyday as a major provider <strong>of</strong> fresh figs and<br />
other produce.<br />
Right: The organ at the Friendswood Heritage Museum is a 1906-era<br />
Mason & Hamlin pump organ from the original Quaker church in Friendswood.<br />
Chapter 1<br />
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Above: Located on Skyline Drive near the Texas City Dike, the Half Moon Shoal<br />
Lighthouse replica serves as a landmark and museum in the Bay Street Park area.<br />
Right: The Saint Mary Mission Church is located on Highway 518 in League City.<br />
Constructed in 1910, the Gothic Revival structure was relocated and restored by<br />
parishioners in the late twentieth century. The Roman Catholic church was the<br />
social center <strong>of</strong> the community during its earliest history.<br />
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Chapter 1<br />
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26
As <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> entered the twentieth<br />
century, the success enjoyed by the Port <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> predictably gave rise to other shipping<br />
expansion, including further development<br />
<strong>of</strong> Port Bolivar and the founding <strong>of</strong> a<br />
new port in Texas City.<br />
The dredging <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> Bay to help<br />
maintain necessary depths and the building <strong>of</strong><br />
a series <strong>of</strong> jetties created an awareness <strong>of</strong> yet<br />
additional options to improve water transport<br />
in the area. These improvements resulted in<br />
the eventual construction <strong>of</strong> today’s Gulf<br />
Intracoastal Waterway, a protected canal-style<br />
channel that stretches from Brownsville to<br />
Ft. Meyers, Florida. On a clear day, the view<br />
from the top <strong>of</strong> the canal’s bridge at <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>’s northernmost point <strong>of</strong>fers a panorama<br />
<strong>of</strong> busy tug boats, flat coastal plains with<br />
grazing cattle and working oil wells—and, on<br />
the southern horizon, the sparkle <strong>of</strong> distant<br />
gulf waters crashing against a sandy shore.<br />
Today, the story <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> is still<br />
a work-in-progress. Although the numerous<br />
cities, towns, villages and other populated<br />
places <strong>of</strong> the county have contributed their<br />
own special histories to the diverse tapestry<br />
<strong>of</strong> modern-day <strong>Galveston</strong>, their greater gift<br />
is a spirit <strong>of</strong> unity that is directed toward<br />
the county’s future and realizing the dreams<br />
<strong>of</strong> tomorrow.<br />
Opposite: A functioning windmill near<br />
Hitchcock is a scenic reminder <strong>of</strong> the<br />
importance <strong>of</strong> agrarian activities in<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> during the nineteenth and<br />
twentieth centuries. Located on land owned<br />
by Westwind Helicopters, Inc., the windmill<br />
still pumps water into a nearby pond.<br />
Above: The Gulf <strong>of</strong> Mexico is greeted by<br />
sand dunes and a picket fence at San Luis<br />
Pass on the southwestern end <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Island.<br />
Chapter 1<br />
27
Chapter<br />
2<br />
Highland Bayou Park in La Marque<br />
<strong>of</strong>fers a scenic venue for community gatherings,<br />
festivals and general recreational activities.<br />
The 230-acre site provides local families and corporations<br />
with playgrounds, fishing ponds, picnic tables and a boat ramp<br />
plus facilities for volleyball, tennis, basketball and horseshoes.<br />
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28
UNIFIED<br />
Community<br />
The strong town-and-gown relationship between business and education in <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
is illustrated by the placement <strong>of</strong> many graduates in local area enterprises. Here,<br />
a graduate <strong>of</strong> Texas A&M University at <strong>Galveston</strong> talks on the radio as<br />
she pilots a tug boat into Pier 10 at the Port <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>.<br />
Chapter 2<br />
29
Above: Dedicated on May 30, 2010, to the men and women who served in the armed forces <strong>of</strong> the United States, this striking 16-foot wide flag sculpture<br />
made from aluminum is part <strong>of</strong> the Veterans’ Memorial in Friendswood. Located adjacent to the city hall, the sculpture rests on black marble with the words<br />
“honor,” “gratitude,” “respect” and “remembrance” engraved into its base.<br />
Opposite, top: Although the large flag sculpture at Friendswood’s Veteran’s Memorial is constructed <strong>of</strong> grayish aluminum, its highly polished surfaces reflect<br />
the vibrant colors <strong>of</strong> its surroundings. Here, its stars have taken on blue and yellow reflections from the sky and dormant grass. The sculpture recognizes the<br />
many military contributions made by <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> citizens.<br />
Opposite, bottom: Heading out to sea to harvest nature’s bounty is a community affair in <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>. Here, the shrimp boat Dying Breed is cheered<br />
by an enthusiastic crowd as it makes its way past the Kemah boardwalk during the community’s “Blessing <strong>of</strong> the Fleet,” an annual event each May.<br />
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30
lways, there is the sea.<br />
Insisting, cajoling, threatening,<br />
consoling, it is both boon and<br />
bane for those who make their homes and<br />
pursue their livelihoods on its coast. In<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>, the Gulf <strong>of</strong> Mexico and its<br />
authority over neighboring coastal land areas<br />
have created an invisible yet inseparable bond<br />
between the communities and peoples who<br />
live within reach <strong>of</strong> their power and influence.<br />
Encompassing almost 450 square miles, <strong>of</strong><br />
which more than half are water, <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> by nature and nurture presents its<br />
own special challenges and rewards. In<br />
addition to some 400 miles <strong>of</strong> beachfront,<br />
there are bays and bayous, lagoons and lakes,<br />
playgrounds and parks to manage. Several<br />
hundred thousand permanent residents,<br />
representing a broad spectrum <strong>of</strong> income<br />
levels and lifestyles—plus a year-round influx<br />
<strong>of</strong> tourists numbering into the millions—also<br />
must be accommodated by the county’s<br />
infrastructure and public services.<br />
Chapter 2<br />
31
The Gottfried Moller Rain Water Pump Station, located on the Bay Street<br />
Extension in Texas City, is part <strong>of</strong> the community’s flood control and water<br />
management system. It is located near the levee on Dollar Bay near Moses<br />
Lake and incorporates an Archimedes’ principle screw-type design system.<br />
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32
The act <strong>of</strong> balancing growing commerce<br />
and heavy industry with sensitive lifestyle<br />
and environmental issues—coupled with a<br />
growing awareness <strong>of</strong> the importance <strong>of</strong><br />
community well-being—is today providing<br />
numerous opportunities for creative problem<br />
solving throughout the county.<br />
From pre-school to graduate school,<br />
educational programs for the county’s young<br />
people are being developed and finely tuned<br />
to ensure that the leaders <strong>of</strong> tomorrow will<br />
have the job skills needed to compete in the<br />
work force <strong>of</strong> the twenty-first century.<br />
Ensuring a quality lifestyle for the community<br />
is also <strong>of</strong> paramount importance to<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> leaders. Numerous public<br />
parks and recreational areas <strong>of</strong>fer the county’s<br />
citizens a broad range <strong>of</strong> choices for leisure<br />
and fitness activities. Free concerts and<br />
cultural events entertain and educate, and<br />
area businesses regularly sponsor community-wide<br />
projects to enhance the local quality<br />
<strong>of</strong> life. A number <strong>of</strong> groups also have been<br />
formed to help protect the county’s diverse<br />
environment, and protected wildlife and<br />
nature preserves dot the county.<br />
Through special activities and memorials,<br />
citizens regularly join ranks to show their<br />
appreciation to the county’s military men<br />
and women. Various festivals, including the<br />
Blessing the Fleet in Kemah and the Bolivar<br />
Peninsula’s Crab Festival, provide an opportunity<br />
for local citizens to celebrate the<br />
importance and show their support <strong>of</strong><br />
county economic drivers such as the seafood<br />
and fishing industries.<br />
Established in 1891 to provide training for<br />
future physicians, the University <strong>of</strong> Texas<br />
Medical Branch at <strong>Galveston</strong> has grown<br />
from a single school with 23 students and<br />
13 faculty members to a modern center <strong>of</strong><br />
academic medicine and health science with<br />
more than 70 major buildings, 2,500<br />
students and 1,000 faculty members.<br />
Occupying 84 acres, UTMB includes four<br />
schools, three institutes for advanced study<br />
and a major medical library. It also<br />
maintains a network <strong>of</strong> hospitals and clinics<br />
<strong>of</strong>fering a full range <strong>of</strong> primary and<br />
specialized medical care throughout the<br />
Gulf Coast area, and is affiliated with the<br />
adjacent Shriners Hospitals for Children—<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> and other treatment and research<br />
facilities. This ro<strong>of</strong>top vantage point <strong>of</strong>fers a<br />
view across <strong>Galveston</strong> Bay to the refineries<br />
<strong>of</strong> Texas City in the distance.<br />
Chapter 2<br />
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34
Opposite: An ornate<br />
four-face clock is a<br />
popular landmark in<br />
Walter Hall Park in<br />
League City. The clock<br />
was produced by Electric<br />
Time <strong>of</strong> Medfield,<br />
Massachusetts, and was<br />
dedicated April 8, 1999.<br />
Above: Cindy Clement plays with her granddaughter Lacey Higgins during one <strong>of</strong> the free<br />
summer band concerts that take place weekly behind Ashton Villa on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island.<br />
The Tuesday evening <strong>Galveston</strong> Beach Band performances are among the island’s most<br />
beloved summer traditions. Offered free <strong>of</strong> charge, they regularly attract locals and visitors<br />
alike to enjoy musical selections that range from jazz, pops and big band sounds to show<br />
and patriotic tunes. Each concert also features a children’s parade, in which kids both young<br />
and old wave American flags as they “march” around the venue in time with the music.<br />
Left: John Tarver,<br />
popular saxophonist<br />
with the <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
Beach Band, blows<br />
sweet and low during<br />
one <strong>of</strong> the group’s<br />
weekly summer<br />
concerts, <strong>of</strong>fered<br />
free <strong>of</strong> charge each<br />
Tuesday evening<br />
behind Ashton Villa<br />
on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island.<br />
Chapter 2<br />
35
Located at Walter Hall Park in League City, the waterfall at Helen’s Garden is a favorite<br />
venue for nature lovers and area photographers. Named in honor <strong>of</strong> Helen Hall, wife <strong>of</strong><br />
legendary League City business leader Walter Hall, the lush garden area is located in the<br />
heart <strong>of</strong> the community’s historical district and includes walking paths, benches, waterfalls,<br />
fountains and restrooms. Helen Hall is <strong>of</strong>ten referred to as the “matriarch” <strong>of</strong> League City and,<br />
as a civic leader in her own right, was a charter member <strong>of</strong> the local library board <strong>of</strong> trustees.<br />
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36
With down-home entertainment and camaraderie,<br />
the <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Fair and Rodeo<br />
spotlights the county’s support for agricultural,<br />
farming and ranching activities. Young and<br />
old delight in rodeo activities, midway attractions<br />
and various shows and competitions<br />
that involve livestock, music, art, barbeque<br />
and beauty queens. Established in 1938 the<br />
fair’s foundation is based on the county’s<br />
commitment to youth, education and agriculture,<br />
and proceeds go toward scholarships for<br />
high school seniors from <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
Enriching and giving back to the community<br />
is an important part <strong>of</strong> the petrochemical<br />
industry’s mission throughout <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>. Here, Jose Ramirez plays on the<br />
colorful playground equipment at Carbide<br />
Park while his brother Elias Ramirez takes<br />
a snow cone break on the bottom <strong>of</strong> the<br />
park’s slide.<br />
Chapter 2<br />
37
Above: Championship horsemanship<br />
and rope handling take center stage before<br />
a large crown at the <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
Fair and Rodeo’s popular calf roping event<br />
in Hitchcock. Other activities during the<br />
fair include cook-<strong>of</strong>fs, art and talent<br />
shows, livestock shows, auctions and<br />
beauty contests.<br />
Opposite, top: Bull riding events can send<br />
everyone scrambling for safety at the<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Fair and Rodeo in<br />
Hitchcock, an annual celebration <strong>of</strong> the<br />
county’s farming, ranching and<br />
agrarian roots.<br />
As concerned citizens work together for<br />
the betterment <strong>of</strong> the county as a whole,<br />
major industries ranging from health care,<br />
education and tourism to shipping and<br />
petrochemical processing also work with<br />
county leaders to ensure that economic<br />
growth does not interfere with citizen<br />
well-being, and vice-versa. Further underlining<br />
the need for both cooperation in and<br />
coordination <strong>of</strong> any far-reaching effort is<br />
the area’s diversity in population groups<br />
and cultures.<br />
A recognition <strong>of</strong> the necessity <strong>of</strong> working<br />
together is not a new concept in <strong>Galveston</strong>.<br />
Tribal society was probably an ideal social<br />
arrangement for the area’s early habitation.<br />
Maintaining a unified community was a major<br />
factor in the ability <strong>of</strong> the Karankawa Indians<br />
to maintain life as they procured food and<br />
shelter under challenging circumstances.<br />
Similarly, the pirate groups that followed<br />
were also well aware that their strength lay in<br />
a communal loyalty to an identified leader,<br />
however questionable his trade.<br />
Opposite, bottom: Bull riding is always<br />
filled with excitement and sometimes<br />
unexpected results at the <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
Fair and Rodeo in Hitchcock.<br />
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38
Chapter 2<br />
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40<br />
Later, as <strong>Galveston</strong> evolved from a small<br />
trading post on an elongated sand bar at the<br />
edge <strong>of</strong> the nation’s frontier to a major center<br />
<strong>of</strong> organized—and civilized—commerce and<br />
culture, its needs changed as well. The sense<br />
<strong>of</strong> community that was earlier necessary<br />
to maintain life became key to the region’s<br />
prosperity during the mid-to-late nineteenth<br />
century. Unification for survival gave way to<br />
unification for destiny.<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>’s emerging nineteenth century<br />
business leaders—the men who were creating<br />
the largest and most prosperous community<br />
in the newly formed Republic <strong>of</strong> Texas—<br />
well knew the importance <strong>of</strong> working together.<br />
It had been unification <strong>of</strong> purpose in the<br />
1830s that had allowed a group <strong>of</strong> relative<br />
newcomers to put together a consortium<br />
known as the <strong>Galveston</strong> City Company that<br />
purchased and platted almost 5,000 acres<br />
<strong>of</strong> island property. The resulting lots were<br />
quickly sold to aspiring <strong>Galveston</strong>ians<br />
and eventually became the basis for the City<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>.<br />
In 1843 city leaders took the idea <strong>of</strong><br />
community unification even further in their<br />
establishment <strong>of</strong> an <strong>of</strong>ficially recognized and<br />
very active chamber <strong>of</strong> commerce. Even<br />
before Texas became a part <strong>of</strong> the United<br />
States, <strong>Galveston</strong>’s business community was<br />
busy encouraging like-minded citizens to<br />
join together in laying the groundwork for<br />
economic development.
Opposite, top: Young people concentrate on<br />
the action as they attempt to round up goats<br />
during the Goat Scramble event at the<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Fair and Rodeo<br />
in Hitchcock.<br />
Opposite, middle: Tiny cowboys and<br />
cowgirls fill a trailer during the opening<br />
parade <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Fair and<br />
Rodeo along Highway 6 in Hitchcock. The<br />
event places special emphasis on the<br />
participation <strong>of</strong> young people, and proceeds<br />
go toward scholarships for <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> high school seniors.<br />
Opposite, bottom: Andrew Harrity checks<br />
on his rabbit before the rabbit judging at the<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Fair and Rodeo in<br />
Hitchcock. Since 1938, the fair and rodeo<br />
has embraced a county-wide mission <strong>of</strong><br />
promoting youth, education and agriculture.<br />
Above: Heidi McMillen <strong>of</strong> Sante Fe, with<br />
her face painted like a chipmunk, watches<br />
the rodeo action from a high rail during the<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Fair and Rodeo in<br />
Hitchcock, an annual county-wide event<br />
that is dedicated to serving <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> youth.<br />
Chapter 2<br />
41
Left: The Mutton Bustin’<br />
competition requires a<br />
strong handhold at the<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Fair<br />
and Rodeo in Hitchcock.<br />
The fair and rodeo<br />
provides scholarship<br />
funding for area high<br />
school seniors.<br />
Right: Ouch! This rider<br />
is tossed during the<br />
Mutton Bustin’<br />
competition at the<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Fair<br />
and Rodeo in Hitchcock.<br />
Founded in 1938,<br />
the fair and rodeo is<br />
dedicated to the youth<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
Although the Civil War slowed progress<br />
in <strong>Galveston</strong> just as it did throughout the rest<br />
<strong>of</strong> the nation, by the late 1860s, <strong>Galveston</strong>’s<br />
fortunes were once again on the upswing.<br />
The county’s commitment to taking care <strong>of</strong><br />
its own was advanced further with the<br />
establishment <strong>of</strong> public schools for white<br />
and African-American students. In 1870,<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> began publication <strong>of</strong> the first<br />
African-American newspaper in Texas.<br />
In 1890, in an unsurpassed gesture <strong>of</strong><br />
altruism, private funding provided for the<br />
island’s John Sealy Hospital to be opened<br />
with a stated mission <strong>of</strong> ensuring that even<br />
the most needy citizens <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> could<br />
receive proper medical care. A nursing school<br />
was founded concurrently to help staff the<br />
hospital and, a year later, the first statesupported<br />
medical school was opened nearby.<br />
Today both these schools and the hospital<br />
are integral parts <strong>of</strong> this century’s University<br />
<strong>of</strong> Texas Medical Branch at <strong>Galveston</strong>, which<br />
now includes two additional schools plus<br />
three institutes for advanced study, a major<br />
medical library and numerous clinics and<br />
patient care facilities.<br />
Progress was coming to mainland areas as<br />
well during the late nineteenth century. With<br />
the construction <strong>of</strong> railroads, bridges and businesses,<br />
the more northerly communities were<br />
realizing their own identities as integral parts<br />
<strong>of</strong> the <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> whole. In addition<br />
to the expansion <strong>of</strong> ranching and agricultural<br />
interests, they, too, were establishing schools,<br />
post <strong>of</strong>fices, commercial ventures, and, <strong>of</strong><br />
course, their own governmental groups and<br />
chambers <strong>of</strong> commerce. At the turn <strong>of</strong> the<br />
century, the discovery <strong>of</strong> oil in the area and<br />
the resultant growing importance <strong>of</strong> the<br />
petrochemical industry catalyzed mainland<br />
development and remains a major driving<br />
force in the county’s economy today.<br />
Additional progress came out <strong>of</strong> peril in<br />
the aftermath <strong>of</strong> the 1900 storm, when the<br />
need to quickly and efficiently rebuild<br />
supported the establishment <strong>of</strong> the nation’s<br />
first commissioner form <strong>of</strong> government for<br />
the City <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>. The efficiency <strong>of</strong> this<br />
organizational plan was such that by 1920,<br />
some 500 U.S. cities had adopted it.<br />
As the necessity for cooperative efforts not<br />
only within but between communities became<br />
more and more evident, the <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
Commissioners Court was established to<br />
manage the administrative aspects <strong>of</strong> the<br />
county as a whole. Forming a protective<br />
umbrella <strong>of</strong> centralization for a number <strong>of</strong><br />
vital services, including the judicial system<br />
and health and emergency services, this<br />
group consists <strong>of</strong> sixteen elected <strong>of</strong>ficials and<br />
is headed by the county judge, who also is<br />
elected by <strong>Galveston</strong> citizens.<br />
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Above: The Starship 2000<br />
ride holds appeal for young<br />
and old at the <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> Fair and Rodeo<br />
in Hitchcock.<br />
Right: Bootz Crash the<br />
Clown, also known as<br />
Mike Stultz <strong>of</strong> Dickinson,<br />
and Frank Schurwon <strong>of</strong><br />
Texas City, members <strong>of</strong><br />
the El Mina Shrine<br />
clowns group, entertain<br />
spectators during the<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Fair and Rodeo’s<br />
opening parade on Highway 6 in Hitchcock.<br />
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The most visible part <strong>of</strong> the county<br />
court’s work is emergency planning and<br />
services, including creating and updating<br />
the county’s plan for handling weather and<br />
environmental emergencies. A crucial element<br />
in this planning is designing the<br />
county’s evacuation procedures, a necessity<br />
in coastal communities that must always<br />
be aware <strong>of</strong> their proximity to the gulf and<br />
alert to the possibility <strong>of</strong> tropical storms<br />
and hurricanes.<br />
Other proactive measures, such as yearly<br />
county-wide hurricane preparedness meetings,<br />
were a vital factor in the county’s ability<br />
to ride out Hurricane Ike in 2008 with a<br />
remarkably low rate <strong>of</strong> injury and death,<br />
compared to previous similar storms.<br />
For those areas where city emergency<br />
and law enforcement services are not already<br />
provided, the county helps ensure citizen<br />
safety and well-being through the sheriff’s<br />
<strong>of</strong>fice and funding assistance for volunteer<br />
fire and emergency departments.<br />
Today, as in the past, each area <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> has its own special needs and<br />
goals, but there is growing awareness that all<br />
are part <strong>of</strong> an even greater whole. By working<br />
and playing together, sharing resources and<br />
building for a better tomorrow, the county’s<br />
citizens themselves, in cooperation with local<br />
governing bodies, are creating a structure for<br />
future growth and development, a <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> that will take them healthily and<br />
happily into the twenty-first century.<br />
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Opposite: Water management is an<br />
important part <strong>of</strong> life in <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
Here, the Hitchcock Diversionary Canal,<br />
as seen from an overpass on Second Street<br />
near the <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> public boat<br />
ramp, provides a scenic sunrise view as it<br />
functions to drain excess water from inland<br />
areas into the bay.<br />
Left: Here a brown pelican perches on the<br />
pilings <strong>of</strong> an old fishing pier on High Island.<br />
The area also is home to a rookery.<br />
Known nationally for their conservation<br />
efforts, the communities along the Bolivar<br />
Peninsula are widely recognized as a bird<br />
watchers’ paradise.<br />
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A great Blue Heron reflects the fading light<br />
<strong>of</strong> a golden day at Pier 19 in <strong>Galveston</strong>.<br />
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St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church on High Island is easily<br />
recognized by the multiple birdhouses on its property. One <strong>of</strong> the<br />
birdhouses has even been designed to look like the church.<br />
Nationally recognized as a bird watching paradise, the<br />
community is known for its preservation efforts.<br />
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Chapter<br />
3<br />
Following a nice hit to center field, Damone Gasaway <strong>of</strong> the “Tsunami”<br />
team looks for the ball after he flies past third base. Third baseman Zach Gallagher <strong>of</strong><br />
“Powerhouse” awaits the throw from the outfield. The game took place at a replica <strong>of</strong> Fenway Park<br />
at the Big League Dreams Sports Park in League City. The park also <strong>of</strong>fers baseball and soccer facilities.<br />
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VIBRANT<br />
Lifestyle<br />
The 1877 tall ship Elissa requires lots <strong>of</strong> tender, loving care.<br />
Here, she is being secured at Pier 21, next to the Texas Seaport Museum<br />
operated by <strong>Galveston</strong> Historical Foundation. Elissa is maintained by an enthusiastic<br />
volunteer corps, who learn the ancient crafts associated with her upkeep and also how to sail her.<br />
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49
lways, there is the sea.<br />
Energizing, entertaining and<br />
source <strong>of</strong> recreation and<br />
relaxation, it sets the tone for <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>’s vibrant lifestyle—a lifestyle that<br />
combines the inherent fun and benefits <strong>of</strong><br />
living near the coast with a strong jobproducing<br />
economy, numerous educational<br />
opportunities and exemplary health care and<br />
public services.<br />
A belief in the superiority <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>’s environment—coupled with gratitude<br />
for being so fortunate as to be allowed to live<br />
here as well—seems <strong>of</strong>ten to imbue its<br />
citizens with a spirit <strong>of</strong> pride and prosperity<br />
that is independent <strong>of</strong> many other earthly<br />
circumstances. Young, old, rich, poor, or<br />
in-between—the great majority <strong>of</strong> residents<br />
and visitors, for the most part, are just glad<br />
to be here.<br />
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Opposite, bottom: Out at third!<br />
No. 7, Anthony Matamoras<br />
<strong>of</strong> the “All Out Sports 2” team<br />
is tagged out at third base by<br />
“Fo9ers” Thomas Shoppe<br />
during a baseball tournament at<br />
Big League Dreams Sports Park<br />
in League City. “All Out Sports<br />
2” beat the “Fo9ers,” and the<br />
game was played at a replica<br />
<strong>of</strong> Fenway Park.<br />
Right: Pow-wow on the mound—<br />
“Salinas” team players have a<br />
meeting on the pitcher’s mound<br />
during a baseball tournament<br />
against the “Rebels” at Big<br />
League Dreams Sports Park<br />
in League City. The game<br />
was played at replica <strong>of</strong><br />
Wrigley Field.<br />
Below: Out at second! A player slides headfirst into second base, but not before being<br />
tagged out at a s<strong>of</strong>tball tournament at League City’s Big League Dreams Sports Park.<br />
The game was played at a replica <strong>of</strong> Fenway Park.<br />
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Opposite, top: The annual Lone Star Motorcycle Rally is among<br />
the largest <strong>of</strong> such gatherings in the world. Each year, thousands<br />
<strong>of</strong> motorcyclists from throughout the nation rev up their engines<br />
and head to <strong>Galveston</strong> Island for a weekend <strong>of</strong> fun and frolic.<br />
Opposite, middle: Sponsored by the Lakewood Yacht Club, the<br />
Harvest Moon Regatta attracts several hundred participants each<br />
year. This photograph was taken under excellent weather conditions<br />
from <strong>Galveston</strong> Island’s Pleasure Pier on the Seawall.<br />
Opposite, bottom: Collin Carpenter <strong>of</strong> Texas City fires his Russianmade<br />
30-caliber Saiga at the Texas City Municipal Shooting Range.<br />
The all-weather facility includes 28 shooting stations for all legal<br />
caliber rifles, 11 stations for hand guns and separate areas for skeet<br />
and trap. It is one <strong>of</strong> very few legal and licensed outdoor gun ranges<br />
in the area, and concealed handgun certification also is <strong>of</strong>fered.<br />
Above: Luis Armendariz <strong>of</strong> Friendswood wade fishes in the fog at sunrise<br />
along Skyline Drive in Texas City. Using salt water lures as he fishes for<br />
“reds,” he reports the area is known as a “very good fishing spot.”<br />
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53
Those born on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island proudly<br />
hold forth collective bragging rights for<br />
their B.O.I or “born on the island” status. In<br />
defense, anyone new to the area—usually<br />
defined as having been an island resident for<br />
anything shorter than a lifetime—can make<br />
his or her own claim to being an I.B.C.,<br />
or “islander by choice.” Citizens <strong>of</strong> the<br />
county’s mainland communities have similar<br />
pride in the unique attributes <strong>of</strong> their own<br />
hometowns. As a result, the competition<br />
between various communities as to who is<br />
“on top” during any particular week is<br />
<strong>of</strong>ten fierce, whether based on the recent<br />
accomplishments <strong>of</strong> a successful favorite<br />
son or daughter, the securing <strong>of</strong> a new<br />
commercial venture, the acquisition <strong>of</strong> a<br />
resident celebrity or the current rankings <strong>of</strong><br />
rival high school football teams.<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s growing reputation as<br />
one <strong>of</strong> the state’s most desirable areas in<br />
which to live, work and play is supported by<br />
growing population numbers in several communities<br />
and a stream <strong>of</strong> new businesses.<br />
Offering a diversity <strong>of</strong> people, job and educational<br />
opportunities, housing and leisure<br />
activities, <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> is working<br />
toward <strong>of</strong>fering something for everyone.<br />
The population itself includes roughnecks,<br />
poets, bankers, commercial fishermen, astronauts,<br />
accountants, cowboys (and cowgirls!),<br />
physicians, construction workers, ship captains,<br />
teachers and rocket scientists, and each<br />
brings his or her own unique experiences,<br />
ideas and talents to the mix.<br />
Educational and occupational diversity in<br />
the county is supported by several public<br />
school systems, a number <strong>of</strong> private and<br />
church-run schools, schools for special needs<br />
students and several colleges and universities<br />
that <strong>of</strong>fer academic opportunities that range<br />
from two-year associate degrees and pr<strong>of</strong>essional<br />
certifications to post-doctoral studies<br />
and cutting-edge research posts.<br />
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Opposite: The Society <strong>of</strong> Friends Church in Friendswood was<br />
founded by Quakers who immigrated to the area in 1895.<br />
Above: Religion plays an important role in <strong>Galveston</strong>, and groups<br />
representing non-denominational beliefs as well as most major<br />
denominations meet regularly within the county. “Most sacred heart<br />
<strong>of</strong> Jesus, have mercy on us” is the inscription at the base <strong>of</strong> this<br />
impressive granite statue located on the front steps <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Queen <strong>of</strong> Peace Catholic Church in La Marque.<br />
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A pair <strong>of</strong> horses <strong>of</strong>f FM 159 in La Marque greet each<br />
other in early morning light. <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> <strong>of</strong>fers many<br />
opportunities for horse lovers not only to enjoy riding but<br />
also to maintain horses on their own properties.<br />
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Amarillo<br />
Red<br />
Above: Amarillo Red, a twenty-two-year-old Registered<br />
Texas Longhorn, grazes contentedly on ten acres <strong>of</strong><br />
clover and lush grass in Sante Fe. The longhorn<br />
is one <strong>of</strong> the Stanley family’s many pets.<br />
Right: Texas Cowgirl, a twenty-three-year-old<br />
Registered Texas Longhorn, and Amarillo Red,<br />
(above), are two <strong>of</strong> the magnificent breed owned<br />
by Sharon and Larry Stanley <strong>of</strong> Sante Fe.<br />
The Stanley’s numerous pet animals also<br />
include dwarf ponies, a peacock, chickens,<br />
goats and an English Labrador.<br />
In addition to two main community colleges,<br />
the state’s two major universities—Texas A&M<br />
and The University <strong>of</strong> Texas—maintain extensive<br />
educational facilities in <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>,<br />
specializing, respectively, in maritime and<br />
marine science and in medicine, nursing and<br />
allied health science. A young person—without<br />
leaving the county—can learn how to<br />
weld or speak Chinese, but can also study to<br />
be a brain surgeon.<br />
Texas Cowgirl<br />
Continuing education and leisure learning<br />
courses are also popular and <strong>of</strong>fer instruction<br />
in computer skills, performance and visual<br />
arts, foreign languages, construction, culinary<br />
and similar skills, plus dance and other physical<br />
activities such as yoga, tai chi and Pilates.<br />
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Below: Hayley Vineyard, “Junior Miss Good Ole’ Days,” and Paige Molis, “Miss Good Ole’ Days,” wave from a lime green vintage automobile<br />
during the parade for Hitchcock’s annual Good Ole’ Days Festival. The event also includes barbeque, a talent show and other entertainment.<br />
Opposite, clockwise, starting at the top left:<br />
At left, “Little Miss Good Ole’ Days” contestant Harmoney Jennings wears a fluffy red tulle skirt and a black top with sparkles.<br />
The annual Hitchcock Good Ole’ Days Festival includes beauty pageants, entertainment, barbeque, a talent show and parade.<br />
Hannah Alvarez, a contestant for the title <strong>of</strong> “Tiny Miss Good Ole Days,” wears a blue and white flowered dress for her pageant appearance<br />
during the Hitchcock Good Ole’ Days Festival. The annual event is sponsored by the Hitchcock Chamber <strong>of</strong> Commerce.<br />
On stage, Allyssa Schattel, wearing a cowgirl hat and carrying a bouquet <strong>of</strong> yellow roses, competes for the title <strong>of</strong> “Little Miss Good Ole’ Days”<br />
during the Hitchcock Good Ole’ Days Festival. The popular annual event boasts a turnout larger than the population <strong>of</strong> the host city<br />
<strong>of</strong> Hitchcock itself.<br />
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59
Right: Queen Victoria, as portrayed by<br />
Anne Boyd, plays a major role in the annual<br />
Dickens on The Strand festival held on<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Island each December. Here<br />
“her majesty” is showered with artificial<br />
snow as she greets her subjects during the<br />
Queen’s Parade as it passes in front <strong>of</strong> Old<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Square. Sponsored by <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
Historical Foundation, the family-friendly<br />
festival has been named among the world’s<br />
top events <strong>of</strong> its type.<br />
Below: Pirates swagger down the historic Strand during the Queen’s Parade, a highlight <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> Island’s<br />
Dickens on The Strand, an annual event sponsored by <strong>Galveston</strong> Historical Foundation. Turning the city’s<br />
historic downtown area into a Victorian cityscape each December, the weekend festival <strong>of</strong>fers several<br />
parades, ongoing free entertainment, street vendors, traditional foods, costume contests and numerous<br />
period-appropriate events.<br />
Real estate diversity throughout the county<br />
supports myriad choices in housing styles and<br />
prices. Multimillion dollar estates featuring<br />
the latest in construction technology, water<br />
front communities with adjacent boat docks,<br />
historic homes with hand-hewn architectural<br />
elements, modest first-home bungalows and<br />
easy-living retirement condominiums are all<br />
part <strong>of</strong> one <strong>of</strong> the nation’s healthiest and most<br />
reasonably priced real estate markets. There<br />
are also wide open spaces that allow their<br />
owners the opportunity to raise and ride<br />
horses, or indulge in such pets as longhorn<br />
steers, chickens, goats and peacocks.<br />
From baseball to Broadway-style musicals,<br />
diversity is also the name <strong>of</strong> the game when<br />
it comes to <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s opportunities<br />
to enjoy life and leisure. Year-round activities<br />
include indoor and outdoor sports, cultural<br />
events and performing arts. Again, the diversity<br />
is such that residents and visitors can attend<br />
a rodeo one night and an opera the next, or<br />
enjoy a morning touring an oil rig museum,<br />
an afternoon “on safari” in a wildlife park, and<br />
an evening <strong>of</strong> fine dining and dancing.<br />
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Above: Christopher Read<br />
<strong>of</strong> League City portrays an<br />
1890s steamship captain<br />
as he participates in the<br />
“Sideburn Competition”<br />
during <strong>Galveston</strong> Island’s<br />
annual Dickens on<br />
The Strand festival.<br />
Left: Bret Bailey <strong>of</strong> Flower<br />
Mound, Texas, twirls his<br />
mustache on stage<br />
during the “Mustache<br />
Competition,” one <strong>of</strong> the<br />
many events featured as<br />
part <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> Island’s<br />
annual Dickens on<br />
The Strand festival.<br />
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The area’s arts and events calendars include<br />
regular performances <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
Symphony, amateur and pr<strong>of</strong>essional theater,<br />
and other performance art productions that<br />
appeal to a wide range <strong>of</strong> audiences. Exhibits,<br />
lectures, concerts and spectator sports are<br />
<strong>of</strong>fered in abundance even in the county’s<br />
smaller communities, and there is hardly a<br />
week that does not include a major fun-filled<br />
festival or activity, many <strong>of</strong> which support<br />
worthwhile charitable and civic projects.<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s special events range in<br />
mood from down-home casual to downtown<br />
fanciful, and many focus <strong>of</strong> themes celebrating<br />
the county’s history. For a half-century,<br />
Hitchcock’s Good Ole’ Days Festival has<br />
attracted residents and visitors alike to enjoy<br />
a weekend <strong>of</strong> revisiting its glorious past, and<br />
interest in the event has become such that<br />
the number <strong>of</strong> those attending is now larger<br />
than the population <strong>of</strong> Hitchcock itself.<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Island’s Dickens on The Strand<br />
holiday festival has been named one <strong>of</strong> the<br />
top events <strong>of</strong> its type in the world. On the<br />
first weekend <strong>of</strong> December, it transforms<br />
the island’s historic downtown area into a<br />
Victorian London cityscape with costumed<br />
re-enactors, parades, shopping and family<br />
activities, including ongoing street entertainment,<br />
period appropriate foods and wares,<br />
lectures, tours and events featuring the works<br />
<strong>of</strong> nineteenth century author Charles Dickens.<br />
Above: Real estate choices in <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> range from vintage Victorian styles to<br />
new, modern, upscale developments with all the trimmings. The two historic homes shown<br />
here are located on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island’s Post<strong>of</strong>fice Street and survived not only the<br />
Great Storm <strong>of</strong> 1900 but Hurricane Ike in 2008.<br />
Opposite: A stately black and white lighthouse lends nostalgic charm from its modern-day<br />
position on the south shore <strong>of</strong> Clear Lake. The 99-foot structure is situated on the tip <strong>of</strong><br />
Beacon Island, a private island adjacent to the South Shore Harbour Marina, and was<br />
designed to intentionally resemble the lighthouse at Cape Canaveral, Florida.<br />
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Outdoor activities also thrive in <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>’s coastal climate. The Texas City Dike<br />
attracts visitors and residents alike who<br />
want to try their luck “hooking a big one”<br />
<strong>of</strong>f the world’s longest man-made fishing<br />
pier. Also in Texas City, an outdoor shooting<br />
range <strong>of</strong>fers plenty <strong>of</strong> space to practice one’s<br />
marksmanship and also <strong>of</strong>fers concealed<br />
handgun certification.<br />
Popular athletic activities include outdoor<br />
favorites such as hiking, jogging, bicycling,<br />
roller skating and skate boarding. Even<br />
water sports such as swimming, surfing and<br />
boating are possible during what might be<br />
considered an “<strong>of</strong>f season” in other areas.<br />
Tennis, golf and fishing also enjoy year round<br />
popularity, with a number <strong>of</strong> tournaments<br />
and organized events.<br />
Team sports in almost all major categories<br />
—especially baseball, football, basketball<br />
and soccer—are local favorites on both the<br />
juvenile and adult levels. League City’s Big<br />
League Dreams Sports Park provides replicas<br />
<strong>of</strong> several well-known sports fields to provide<br />
an enhanced experience for those competing<br />
in tournament play there.<br />
Cutting-edge bands and music groups find<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> audiences receptive to new ideas<br />
in music, especially during such events as the<br />
annual Lone Star Motorcycle Rally, but there<br />
is no shortage <strong>of</strong> choices for those with<br />
more traditional tastes. Churches, synagogues<br />
and other places <strong>of</strong> worship representing the<br />
world’s major beliefs also have found a welcoming<br />
home in <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>, and religion<br />
plays an important role in many citizens’ lives.<br />
Opposite: A modern Gulf Coast boating<br />
community, Waterford Harbor <strong>of</strong>fers<br />
643 luxury floating docks, with extra wide<br />
piers on both sides <strong>of</strong> each slip. Surrounded<br />
by beautiful homes, the easily accessed<br />
marina is located on Clear Lake and<br />
linked to <strong>Galveston</strong> Bay.<br />
Above: Waterford Harbor in Kemah is<br />
known for its luxurious waterfront homes,<br />
floating docks and substantial bulkheads.<br />
The upscale boating community is located<br />
<strong>of</strong>f FM 2094.<br />
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Below: Caroline Pielop <strong>of</strong> Houston, still wearing her bright yellow and blue life vest,<br />
hugs her teddy bear from the dock at the Harborwalk Marina in Hitchcock. Her father,<br />
Stuart Pielop, and brother, Ben, watch from the boat Long Run following an afternoon <strong>of</strong><br />
fishing at the north jetties. They caught one bull red. Pielop says he likes everything about<br />
Harborwalk, including the marina, floating docks, security, club house and restaurant.<br />
Opposite: The Suzy Q, a 38-foot sailboat owned by Richard Sherman, rests at her dock along<br />
West Shore Drive in Clear Lake Shores. The Watergate Marina is shown in the background.<br />
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Boating figures predominantly in several<br />
other seasonal favorites, including community-sponsored<br />
boat parades, fleet blessings<br />
and the Lakewood Yacht Club’s annual<br />
Moonlight Regatta that traverses <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
Bay each fall. Boat tours <strong>of</strong> the Port <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> give participants a chance to view<br />
waterfront areas that provided much <strong>of</strong> the<br />
impetus for <strong>Galveston</strong>’s founding, and the<br />
1877 “tall ship” Elissa, one <strong>of</strong> only three<br />
historic square-riggers that still sails, is<br />
open daily for tours and is always looking<br />
for volunteers to help maintain and learn to<br />
sail her.<br />
For those interested in other aspects <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s past, there are numerous<br />
opportunities to explore the area’s rich history<br />
through self-guided and docent-led tours,<br />
museums and special events such as<br />
homes tours and historic re-enactments.<br />
Several local libraries maintain exhibits <strong>of</strong><br />
historic photos and mementos, and the area<br />
additionally <strong>of</strong>fers museums and exhibits<br />
dedicated to railroading, aviation and sailing<br />
as well as other significant aspects <strong>of</strong> the<br />
county’s early days.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the most treasured aspects <strong>of</strong> life in<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>, however, is the opportunity<br />
it <strong>of</strong>fers for sitting back and just relaxing.<br />
Yes, there are activities galore and a seemingly<br />
never-ending list <strong>of</strong> fun things to go and do<br />
and see, but there are also those times that<br />
seem perfect for doing nothing, which may<br />
be the most favorite pastime <strong>of</strong> all.<br />
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67
Four colorful chairs<br />
wait for occupants on a<br />
West Shore Drive dock<br />
in Clear Lake Shores.<br />
The Watergate Marina is<br />
shown in the background.<br />
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Above: This sunset scene looks out toward Tiki Island from<br />
Tiki Tom’s RV Park and Fishing Pier. Tiki Tom’s <strong>of</strong>fers access to six acres<br />
<strong>of</strong> protected grassland, oyster reefs and four 250-foot piers. Located on<br />
Jones Lake on West Bay, just <strong>of</strong>f I-45 at Tiki Island, the area also has<br />
a reputation for <strong>of</strong>fering great bird watching opportunities.<br />
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Chapter<br />
4<br />
Dolphins<br />
play in <strong>Galveston</strong> harbor near<br />
the bows <strong>of</strong> tugboats Andrew K. <strong>of</strong> Bay Houston<br />
Towing and The Judge <strong>of</strong> Suderman Young Towing.<br />
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ESSENTIAL<br />
Enterprise<br />
Two tug boats guide a massive<br />
tanker toward the Port <strong>of</strong> Texas City.<br />
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Above: An oil well pumps busily on High Island at sunrise.<br />
Although residents <strong>of</strong> the area were among the first in <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> to discover oil on their land, oil slicks had been noted on<br />
nearby Gulf <strong>of</strong> Mexico waters as early as the sixteenth century.<br />
Opposite: The ferry boat Robert H. Dedman heads out across<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Bay toward Bolivar Point at sunset. In the background<br />
is the shoreline <strong>of</strong> Pelican Island, and a Texas flag, located on<br />
another ferry passing close by, can be seen in the foreground.<br />
The free ferry service is operated by the Texas Department <strong>of</strong><br />
Transportation and provides service between <strong>Galveston</strong> Island<br />
and the Bolivar Peninsula 24 hours a day.<br />
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lways, there is the sea. Provider <strong>of</strong> transport,<br />
purveyor <strong>of</strong> food and fun, it and the land it embraces<br />
on the upper Texas coast <strong>of</strong>fered both the compelling<br />
rationale and rich resources necessary for <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>’s founding and its future development.<br />
The role <strong>of</strong> the county’s coastal location has been—and will<br />
continue to be—central to the area’s development. Past and<br />
present economic drivers—including shipping and its ancillary<br />
services, petrochemical procurement and processing, seafood<br />
production and commerce, agriculture, insurance, education,<br />
health care and tourism—are all connected in some way to its<br />
favorable coastal location, climate and natural resources.<br />
Cotton transport by sea played a major role in <strong>Galveston</strong>’s<br />
early commercial development. Ships from its port ran the Union<br />
blockade during the Civil War in an effort to maintain the area’s<br />
strong hold on global cotton transport, and in 1873 a local Cotton<br />
Exchange was organized to further <strong>Galveston</strong>’s dominance in<br />
the cotton market. By 1900 the Port <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> was the leading<br />
U.S. port for the export <strong>of</strong> cotton and wheat.<br />
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Opposite, top: A mechanic checks out an<br />
Era Helicopter at Scholes International<br />
Airport. The vehicle is especially designed<br />
for making emergency rescues in the Gulf <strong>of</strong><br />
Mexico at distances <strong>of</strong> 150 miles-plus from<br />
shore. Scholes International Airport began<br />
service in 1931, and can today handle all<br />
types <strong>of</strong> planes up to a Boeing 767. It is a<br />
major staging point for air service to<br />
petrochemical rigs in the Gulf <strong>of</strong> Mexico.<br />
Opposite, bottom: Scholes International<br />
Airport in <strong>Galveston</strong> is a major center for<br />
air service to the <strong>of</strong>fshore energy industry.<br />
Here, a helicopter from PHI, Inc., fleet<br />
stands ready to continue the company’s role<br />
in serving customers’ <strong>of</strong>fshore operations in<br />
the energy industry.<br />
Left: The control tower at Scholes<br />
International Airport on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island is<br />
equipped to handle a variety <strong>of</strong> air traffic.<br />
The 1,200-acre airport includes a newly<br />
renovated airport terminal, 24-hour fixed<br />
base operator, 24-hour weather service,<br />
24-hour ARFF station on field, navigational<br />
aid and precision approaches providing<br />
all-weather capabilities. With two<br />
6,001-by-150-foot runways, the airport<br />
is capable <strong>of</strong> accommodating all types <strong>of</strong><br />
planes up to a Boeing 767. The facility<br />
began service as a municipal airport in<br />
March <strong>of</strong> 1931 on a 120-acre tract with<br />
two shell runways. In this photo, the streak<br />
<strong>of</strong> light in the background was made by a<br />
helicopter taking <strong>of</strong>f from the airport.<br />
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The ship Maritime Champion is loaded with grain at the automated Archer<br />
Daniels Midland <strong>Galveston</strong> Grain Elevator, located at the Port <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>.<br />
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The need for an alternative to muddy<br />
wagon roads had been apparent from<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>’s earliest days, and the <strong>Galveston</strong>,<br />
Houston and Henderson Railroad Company<br />
was chartered in 1853 to join <strong>Galveston</strong> with<br />
points north. More than 150 years later, rail<br />
transport remains essential to the county’s<br />
economic well-being as a vital part <strong>of</strong> servicing<br />
the area’s petrochemical refineries and<br />
transporting a variety <strong>of</strong> goods to and from<br />
local ports.<br />
Not even “King Cotton” could compare<br />
with oil, however. Although the first hint <strong>of</strong><br />
possible petroleum deposits in the area<br />
occurred in 1543 when explorers on an <strong>of</strong>fcourse<br />
Spanish ship noted an unusual sheen<br />
on the water near what is now High Island,<br />
it was 1901 before exploratory drilling was<br />
initiated in the area. Today, a large number <strong>of</strong><br />
on- and <strong>of</strong>f-shore wells operate throughout<br />
the area, but the county’s most notable connection<br />
with the petrochemical industry<br />
comes from the numerous refineries whose<br />
massive processing plants are major contributors<br />
to the local economy.<br />
Aviation also figures into <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>’s essential enterprise. Although much<br />
<strong>of</strong> its flight activity today centers around<br />
service to the petrochemical industry, Texas<br />
City became a national aviation leader in<br />
1913 when nine planes were assigned there<br />
as part <strong>of</strong> the nation’s First Aero Squadron,<br />
an event that is considered the birth <strong>of</strong><br />
U.S. Air Force. Air mail service, provided by<br />
open cockpit bi-planes, was begun between<br />
Houston, <strong>Galveston</strong> and Dallas with the<br />
establishment <strong>of</strong> Contract Air Mail Route 21<br />
in 1928.<br />
Located in Santa Fe, Haak Vineyards and<br />
Winery is <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s first and only<br />
winery. Its illuminated, old-world style<br />
chapel, reception pavilion and scenic<br />
vineyard make is a popular site for special<br />
events, and it also hosts regular tours,<br />
wine tastings and other activities.<br />
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Rail transport continues to be an essential part <strong>of</strong> the machinery that keeps<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> on the move. Here, Union Pacific locomotives are shown<br />
at the intersection <strong>of</strong> Highway 519 and Loop 197, with a petrochemical<br />
complex in the background.<br />
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Today, <strong>Galveston</strong> Island’s Scholes<br />
International Airport serves as a major<br />
staging point for air service to the Gulf <strong>of</strong><br />
Mexico’s petrochemical industry. Founded in<br />
1931, Scholes began service on a 120-acre<br />
tract <strong>of</strong> land boasting two shell runways.<br />
Today, the airport has grown to occupy<br />
1,200 acres and provides vital support for<br />
numerous local and non-local ventures.<br />
Equipped to handle a variety <strong>of</strong> air traffic,<br />
Scholes is used by a number <strong>of</strong> companies to<br />
handle fleet helicopters and private planes.<br />
Airport features include a newly renovated<br />
airport terminal, 24-hour fixed base operator,<br />
24-hour weather service, 24-hour ARFF station,<br />
highly technical navigational aids and<br />
precision approaches providing all-weather<br />
capabilities. With two 6,001-by-150-foot<br />
runways, Scholes can accommodate all types<br />
<strong>of</strong> planes up to a Boeing 767.<br />
Scholes is also a leader in its ability to<br />
support quick response to deep water<br />
emergencies. Today’s Era Helicopters located<br />
at Scholes can make emergency rescues in<br />
the Gulf <strong>of</strong> Mexico at distances <strong>of</strong> 150<br />
miles-plus from shore, and are setting new<br />
standards for prompt, safe rescue on the<br />
open seas.<br />
Railroading played an important role in the<br />
early development <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>,<br />
and railroad depots dotted the mainland<br />
countryside. The 1902 Dickinson Railroad<br />
Museum shown here is open for tours.<br />
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Below: The petrochemical industry plays a vital role in <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s economy.<br />
Here a major refinery in Texas City is both illuminated against the night sky and reflected<br />
in the water at its base.<br />
Opposite: This aerial view <strong>of</strong> the Bollinger Shipyard in Texas City shows a petrochemical<br />
refinery complex in the background. Repair and support services for the ship, barge and rig<br />
industries are important parts <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s diversified commercial enterprise.<br />
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Luxury homes surround the yachts and sailboats tethered to South Shore Harbour Marina’s floating docks.<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>’s proximity to the coast was a<br />
decisive factor in its selection in the 1880s<br />
as the site <strong>of</strong> the state’s first public medical<br />
school and later, in 1962, as the appropriate<br />
location for Texas A&M University at<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>’s campus concentrating on maritime<br />
studies. Both schools are recognized<br />
today as leaders in their respective disciplines.<br />
UTMB, in particular, has grown from its<br />
initial one-building campus for 23 students<br />
and 13 faculty members to a modern 84-acre<br />
campus with more than 70 buildings, 2,500<br />
students, four schools and 1,000 faculty<br />
members. UTMB is additionally affiliated<br />
with the nation’s first Shriners hospital to<br />
specialize in the treatment <strong>of</strong> pediatric burns,<br />
and is the home <strong>of</strong> the state’s only and the<br />
nation’s largest Biosafety level 4 laboratory<br />
on an academic campus.<br />
UTMB also contributes to the local economy<br />
through its role as one <strong>of</strong> the largest<br />
employers in the Houston-<strong>Galveston</strong> area.<br />
Not only do its schools require their own<br />
administrative and other personnel, but a<br />
large network <strong>of</strong> patient care facilities<br />
throughout the county and beyond must be<br />
staffed on a variety <strong>of</strong> levels.<br />
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Yachts and sailboats line the floating<br />
docks at South Shore Harbour Marina.
As seen from above, a man and<br />
woman carry supplies to one <strong>of</strong><br />
the numerous boats docked at<br />
South Shore Harbour’s floating dock<br />
complex that provides water craft<br />
shelter on all sides.<br />
Yachts line the floating docks at the South Shore Harbour Marina.<br />
The South Shore Harbour complex includes a resort, spa and conference center<br />
with 25,000 square feet <strong>of</strong> space that can accommodate a variety <strong>of</strong> meetings and gatherings.<br />
It is conveniently located only minutes from Houston’s Hobby Airport, NASA’s Johnson Space Center,<br />
the Kemah Boardwalk, the Big League Dreams Sports Park and historic League City.<br />
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Land-lubbers and sailors alike appreciate the<br />
Topwater Grill’s nautical decorating theme<br />
and fresh seafood. Located in San Leon,<br />
the restaurant provides a docking area<br />
for those who choose to arrive by water.<br />
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Tourism is also moving toward becoming a<br />
major economic driver in <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
Building on a decades-long appreciation <strong>of</strong><br />
the area’s coastal location, the county’s development<br />
as a regional recreational center,<br />
water wonderland and cruise ship port is<br />
moving into the arena <strong>of</strong> big business today.<br />
In contrast to the time when the arrival <strong>of</strong><br />
a “pleasure ship” in <strong>Galveston</strong> was big news,<br />
today’s cruise ship industry is making the Port<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> one <strong>of</strong> the fastest growing cruise<br />
ports in the nation, and many <strong>of</strong> the today’s<br />
most modern vessels regularly line the docks<br />
alongside the port’s recently remodeled cruise<br />
ship terminal. Already either a home port or a<br />
seasonal port for several <strong>of</strong> today’s major<br />
cruise lines, the island is attracting even more<br />
cruise ship traffic each year as additional lines<br />
include it in their ports <strong>of</strong> call.<br />
At the other end <strong>of</strong> water travel enterprise<br />
is the free ferry service between <strong>Galveston</strong> and<br />
the Bolivar Peninsula. Considered part <strong>of</strong> the<br />
state highway system, the service is operated<br />
24 hours a day by the Texas Department <strong>of</strong><br />
Transportation. Capable <strong>of</strong> accommodating<br />
motor vehicles as well as walk-on passengers,<br />
the ferry provides not only essential transport<br />
between the island and the peninsula, but<br />
<strong>of</strong>fers an up-close view <strong>of</strong> the bay’s busy shipping<br />
channels, Pelican Island and the wreck <strong>of</strong><br />
SS Selma. As a special treat, playful dolphins<br />
<strong>of</strong>ten display their own special form <strong>of</strong> entertainment<br />
as they frolic alongside the various<br />
vessels traversing <strong>Galveston</strong>’s open waters.<br />
Opposite, bottom: Sail or drive to<br />
The Topwater Grill in San Leon.<br />
Boaters can dock at the door <strong>of</strong> this<br />
restaurant known for its fresh seafood<br />
and a choice <strong>of</strong> al fresco or indoor dining.<br />
Above: The <strong>Galveston</strong> Island Convention<br />
Center at the San Luis Resort combines<br />
well appointed executive conference facilities<br />
with the amenities <strong>of</strong> a relaxing resort<br />
overlooking the Gulf <strong>of</strong> Mexico.<br />
Here, the two-story, 140,000-square-foot,<br />
multi-function property reflects its own<br />
image along the <strong>Galveston</strong> Seawall.<br />
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86
With so much opportunity for boating, it’s<br />
no surprise that the county is one <strong>of</strong> the<br />
nation’s leaders in pleasure craft ownership<br />
and <strong>of</strong>fers numerous facilities for boaters.<br />
Private docks, public launching ramps and<br />
other maritime-centered facilities can be<br />
found throughout <strong>Galveston</strong> to service water<br />
craft ranging from solitary kayaks to luxurious<br />
yachts and speed boats.<br />
Floating docks and high-level surveillance<br />
and security are among the progressive<br />
features to be found at many area marinas as<br />
they seek to provide the latest in convenience<br />
and service. The surrounding residential<br />
communities also <strong>of</strong>ten include some <strong>of</strong><br />
the county’s most exclusive and luxurious<br />
housing choices.<br />
Adding extra impetus to the area’s growing<br />
economy are several luxurious conference<br />
and resort centers, located on the mainland<br />
and on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island. Providing support<br />
for the county’s growing demand for largeoccupancy<br />
facilities to handle state, national<br />
and international conferences and meetings,<br />
these modern centers are capable <strong>of</strong> supporting<br />
all types <strong>of</strong> gatherings that can benefit from<br />
their high-tech amenities, pr<strong>of</strong>essional service<br />
and warm hospitality in a resort setting.<br />
Other areas <strong>of</strong> county enterprise are<br />
similarly tapping into the visitor and tourism<br />
industry to attract guests from around the<br />
nation to local museums, parks and events<br />
that center on <strong>Galveston</strong> history or coastal<br />
activities. A plethora <strong>of</strong> festivals celebrate<br />
local produce and other foods, as well as<br />
the county’s diverse cultures and ethnic<br />
groups. The Blessing <strong>of</strong> the Fleet kicks <strong>of</strong>f the<br />
shrimping season in several communities,<br />
and the Crab Festival is a major event on the<br />
Bolivar Peninsula.<br />
Opposite: The Texas Gulf Coast is known<br />
for its fresh seafood industry. Whether<br />
providing the “fruits <strong>of</strong> the sea” to<br />
restaurants across the nation or cooking<br />
it up in local eateries, <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
purveyors know that fresh is always<br />
best. This combination platter from<br />
Crazy Allen’s Swamp Shack in Kemah<br />
includes shrimp, crab, crawfish,<br />
gumbo and corn on the cob.<br />
Below: Supporting <strong>Galveston</strong> Island’s<br />
growing tourism industry, the “Wolfpack”<br />
is among Schlitterbahn <strong>Galveston</strong> Island<br />
Water Park’s most popular rides. Open<br />
year round, the family-owned facility<br />
provides water activities and<br />
recreation for all ages.<br />
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Below: Chasity Morris <strong>of</strong> San Antonio and daughter Rosslan, wearing ear<br />
plugs, enjoy one <strong>of</strong> the many concerts at the Texas Crab Festival in<br />
Crystal Beach on the Bolivar Peninsula.<br />
Bottom: A young festival<br />
participant walks on water<br />
while staying dry at the<br />
“Bubblee” attraction during<br />
the Texas Crab Festival<br />
in Crystal Beach on<br />
the Bolivar Peninsula.<br />
The activity features<br />
huge beach balls in which<br />
a person can stand.<br />
Once the ball is zipped up,<br />
walking on water without<br />
getting wet is just a step away.<br />
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<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s numerous shopping<br />
options range from giant malls to small boutiques.<br />
There are several centers that feature<br />
nationally recognized up-scale stores, but<br />
there are also discount shopping opportunities<br />
throughout the area. Concurrent with the<br />
nation’s growing awareness <strong>of</strong> the importance<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong>fering “walking city” environments for<br />
commercial enterprise, many <strong>Galveston</strong> communities<br />
are working to revitalize their original<br />
downtown areas to provide village-style<br />
venues that include restaurants, small shops,<br />
entertainment and other attractions in keeping<br />
with modern tastes.<br />
Left: The seafood industry is celebrated in<br />
many <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> festivals and<br />
events. Here, Eric Thomas enjoys a pony<br />
ride at the Texas Crab Festival, held at<br />
Gregory Park in Crystal Beach on the<br />
Bolivar Peninsula. The event includes a<br />
crab cook-<strong>of</strong>f, crab races, volleyball and<br />
horseshow tournaments, a “crab legs”<br />
contest for people, and a “Weiner Dog<br />
Nationals” race for dachshunds.<br />
Below: Adults become kids again at the<br />
Texas Crab Festival in Crystal Beach on the<br />
Bolivar Peninsula. Here, April Bierbower <strong>of</strong><br />
Spring, Texas, and friends enjoy a “train<br />
ride” in brightly colored plastic barrels,<br />
hooked together and pulled by a tractor.<br />
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Above: The 130,000-ton cruise ship Magic, launched by Carnival Cruise Lines in 2011, sits alongside Texas Cruise Ship Terminal I at its home<br />
port on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island. One <strong>of</strong> the world’s newest cruise ships, the Magic has 1,845 staterooms. Pelican Island is shown in the background.<br />
Opposite: A mix <strong>of</strong> old and new can be seen in this ro<strong>of</strong>top view <strong>of</strong> historic downtown <strong>Galveston</strong> at dusk. Taken looking down Twenty-third Street<br />
toward the Port <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>, it shows the lights <strong>of</strong> the historic Tremont Hotel’s ro<strong>of</strong>top bar on the left, and the restored Washington Building<br />
is on the right. Center stage is the 3,690-passenger Carnival Cruise Line’s newest ship, Magic, docked at Texas Cruise Ship Terminal 1.<br />
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Despite its growing urbanization, however, <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
continues to maintain many areas with large acreage dedicated to<br />
cattle raising, farming and other agricultural endeavors. Santa Fe’s<br />
Haak Vineyards, the county’s first and only vineyard and winery,<br />
<strong>of</strong>fers not only quality beverages for sale, but tours, wine tastings,<br />
festive dinners and facilities for meetings, weddings and other<br />
special events.<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>’s simpler lifestyle and less crowded roads are also a<br />
part <strong>of</strong> its appeal as a “bedroom community” to numerous<br />
Houston workers. Several <strong>of</strong> the county’s residential areas are<br />
among the fastest growing in the state, and League City and<br />
Friendswood in particular—located virtually on the south door<br />
step <strong>of</strong> NASA’S Johnson Space Center—have attracted many who<br />
have big-city jobs but, on a personal level, enjoy a closer-tonature,<br />
less congested way <strong>of</strong> daily life.<br />
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Chapter<br />
5<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> is going places.<br />
Here, the new <strong>Galveston</strong> Causeway,<br />
a part <strong>of</strong> I-45, is shown as it links<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Island with the <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
mainland. The causeway was designed to include<br />
lighting both above and below the elevated span.<br />
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VISIONARY<br />
Populace<br />
The design and testing <strong>of</strong> NASA’s Orion Multi Purpose Crew Vehicle is part <strong>of</strong> the ongoing work at Johnson Space Center, located<br />
only minutes from <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s League City and Friendswood communities. In addition to providing a look at the<br />
nation’s first interplanetary spacecraft designed to carry astronauts on long duration, deep space missions, this full-scale<br />
mock up <strong>of</strong> the Orion spacecraft serves as a vital test lab for navigation, rendezvous and docking operations.<br />
When paired with additional propulsion and life support systems, Orion will eventually be able to take<br />
humans to Mars. S<strong>of</strong>tware engineers at Lockheed Martins’ Space Exploration Development Lab in<br />
Houston work with NASA astronauts, spacesuit designers and aerospace engineers to test<br />
avionics, s<strong>of</strong>tware and sensors in flight-like scenarios. The lab enables early testing and<br />
development for spacecraft systems and components, which will help reduce<br />
cost and risk during vehicle production and actual spaceflight.<br />
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lways, there is the sea. Inspiring and<br />
empowering, it has drawn to its shores and coastal<br />
plains those in search <strong>of</strong> adventure, opportunity<br />
and advancement. Providing a temperate climate,<br />
ample food supplies and means <strong>of</strong> transport for commerce and<br />
travel, the coastal area known today as <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> has,<br />
from its earliest days, attracted people <strong>of</strong> vision.<br />
Early inhabitants braved a total unknown to establish their first<br />
settlements, and later immigrants liked what they already knew,<br />
but envisioned creating more. By the mid-nineteenth century,<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> was nationally recognized for its many innovations<br />
and “firsts,” a tradition that is continuing today in many <strong>of</strong> the<br />
county’s twenty-first century endeavors.<br />
Among those whose dreams for <strong>Galveston</strong> have contributed to<br />
its present day position <strong>of</strong> leadership in academic medicine and<br />
related research are the visionary scientists and physicians who<br />
joined the state’s new medical school in 1891. Today the University<br />
<strong>of</strong> Texas Medical Branch at <strong>Galveston</strong> continues to draw illustrious<br />
faculty and researchers to <strong>Galveston</strong>, with international attention<br />
being focused on its study <strong>of</strong> rare diseases and their prevention.<br />
Opposite, top: An emu steps out in the early morning mist at the entrance <strong>of</strong> the Bayou<br />
Wildlife Park. “By living with the animals for the past thirty years, I’ve learned things<br />
not found in many books,” says Clint Wolston, owner and developer <strong>of</strong> the park.<br />
Opposite, bottom: White spotted deer are among the numerous wild animals that can<br />
be viewed at the Bayou Wildlife Park. The park includes more than eighty acres <strong>of</strong><br />
woods and prairies and contains<br />
approximately 500 animals<br />
representing fifty different species<br />
from Africa, India, Asia, Australia<br />
and North and South America.<br />
Right: A large white rhino is one<br />
<strong>of</strong> the endangered species at Bayou<br />
Wildlife Park. Clint Wolston,<br />
owner <strong>of</strong> the park, is shown on<br />
a golf cart in the background.<br />
He has developed the eighty-acre<br />
park as a private animal reserve<br />
over the past thirty years.<br />
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Left: The new 5,300 square foot<br />
Dickinson Independent School District<br />
Education Support Center is a<br />
Collaborative for High Performance<br />
Schools (CHPS) facility and is designed<br />
for high performance environments that<br />
are energy and resource efficient, healthy,<br />
comfortable, well lit, and that contain<br />
amenities needed for quality education.<br />
Below: The exterior <strong>of</strong> the Dickinson<br />
Independent School District Education<br />
Support Center is shown here.<br />
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Located on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island, the <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
National Laboratory at UTMB is home to<br />
the state’s only and the world’s largest biocontainment<br />
laboratory on an academic campus.<br />
The facility’s eight-story, high-security<br />
National Biocontainment Laboratory houses<br />
several Biosafety Level 4 research laboratories<br />
for exotic disease diagnosis and research.<br />
Within the high-tech facility, scientists are<br />
engaged in efforts to translate research ideas<br />
into products aimed at controlling emerging<br />
infectious diseases and defending society<br />
against bioterrorism.<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> also is recognized as a<br />
choice residential location for many who<br />
work in the nation’s nearby space industry<br />
at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Today,<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>—a land that was once<br />
explored by those who navigated by the stars<br />
—has become the home <strong>of</strong> many who in<br />
modern times are navigating to the stars.<br />
In their ongoing mission, NASA scientists<br />
are working on the Orion project to develop<br />
the nation’s first interplanetary spacecraft<br />
designed to carry astronauts on long duration,<br />
deep space missions. When paired with additional<br />
propulsion and life support systems,<br />
Orion will eventually be able to take humans<br />
to Mars. Providing a vital component for<br />
testing navigation, rendezvous and docking<br />
operations, the JSC lab supports the development<br />
<strong>of</strong> spacecraft systems and components<br />
that will help reduce cost and risk during<br />
vehicle production and actual spaceflight.<br />
Visionaries with architectural expertise<br />
were key to nineteenth century <strong>Galveston</strong>’s<br />
reputation for excellence in construction, and<br />
local developers today are continuing this<br />
ongoing quest for safe, sustainable housing<br />
that is pleasing to the eye and a pleasure<br />
to occupy. Combining carefully engineered<br />
infrastructure systems with modern technology<br />
and innovative materials, a number <strong>of</strong><br />
county builders are achieving new levels <strong>of</strong><br />
security, durability, economy and beauty in<br />
today’s homes and public buildings.<br />
Located on the campus <strong>of</strong> the University <strong>of</strong><br />
Texas Medical Branch at <strong>Galveston</strong>, the<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> National Laboratory at UTMB<br />
is an eight-story, high-security National<br />
Biocontainment Laboratory housing biosafety<br />
level 4 research laboratories for exotic<br />
disease diagnosis and research. The GNL is<br />
the largest biocontainment laboratory in<br />
the world on an academic campus. Within<br />
the high-tech facility, scientists are engaged<br />
in efforts to translate research ideas into<br />
products aimed at controlling emerging<br />
infectious diseases and defending society<br />
against bioterrorism. The GNL complements<br />
and enhances UTMB’s decades <strong>of</strong> prominence<br />
in biomedical research, and additionally<br />
provides a world renowned resource for<br />
training researchers in infectious diseases.<br />
The GNL provides specialized research<br />
capabilities to develop therapies, vaccines<br />
and diagnostic tests for naturally occurring<br />
emerging diseases as well as microbes that<br />
might be employed by terrorists.<br />
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The Quaker City String Band, shown here on<br />
Ship’s Mechanic Row in <strong>Galveston</strong> Island’s entertainment district,<br />
traditionally performs in several <strong>of</strong> the city’s Mardi Gras parades,<br />
including “Z Krewe,” the “Children’s Parade”<br />
and the “Knights <strong>of</strong> Momus Grand Night Parade.”<br />
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Above: The Quaker City String Band, which has<br />
performed in the Philadelphia Mummer’s Parade<br />
since 1931, plays a big part in <strong>Galveston</strong> Island’s<br />
annual Mardi Gras celebrations. Here, band<br />
members—wearing clown costumes to reflect a<br />
theme <strong>of</strong> “My Kind <strong>of</strong> Clown”—are being led by<br />
Jimmy Good as they perform in the Mardi Gras<br />
entertainment district at Old <strong>Galveston</strong> Square.<br />
Mardi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday,” annually brings out<br />
revelers by the thousands who enjoy this traditional<br />
pre-Lenten celebration with parades, balls and other<br />
celebrations. Reinstated in 1985 as part <strong>of</strong> the plan<br />
to support the re-development <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>’s<br />
historic downtown district, the event has enjoyed<br />
spirited growth as part <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>’s commitment<br />
to the parallel and concurrent missions <strong>of</strong> historic<br />
preservation and encouraging new areas <strong>of</strong> tourism.<br />
Left: Two members <strong>of</strong> the Quaker City String Band<br />
wear huge, colorful clown heads as they perform<br />
with banjoes on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island’s<br />
Seawall during the Mardi Gras<br />
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Children’s Parade.<br />
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With their fancifully decorated and color coordinated umbrellas, Allison and Bob Brown<br />
were among the participants in the “Funky Uptown Umbrella Brigade” parade. The event<br />
took place during <strong>Galveston</strong>’s 2012 Mardi Gras and marked the continuation <strong>of</strong> an ongoing<br />
rivalry between <strong>Galveston</strong> supporters and a Romanian group to secure the Guinness World<br />
Record title for the largest choreographed umbrella dance on the globe. The <strong>Galveston</strong> event<br />
attracted 1,503 dancers in 2012, setting a new world record as they performed the hokey<br />
pokey in <strong>Galveston</strong>’s Victorian-era downtown entertainment district.<br />
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Sustainability, conservation and the minimization<br />
<strong>of</strong> environmental costs in the county<br />
are being specifically addressed through<br />
such projects as the Dickinson Independent<br />
School Districts Education Support Center.<br />
Containing 5,300 square feet <strong>of</strong> space,<br />
the structure is a Collaborative for High<br />
Performance Schools (CHPS) facility and is<br />
designed to provide a high performance<br />
environment that is energy and resource<br />
efficient, healthy, comfortable, well lit, and<br />
that contains the amenities needed for<br />
quality education.<br />
Harkening back to the time when <strong>Galveston</strong>’s<br />
successful nineteenth century business leaders<br />
provided incentives for overall economic<br />
development, today’s community leaders<br />
similarly seek to provide a catalyst for<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> and its economic well-being.<br />
Among <strong>Galveston</strong>’s modern visionaries<br />
are descendants <strong>of</strong> early <strong>Galveston</strong> business<br />
magnate William L. Moody. Using the family’s<br />
vast resources acquired from cotton trading<br />
and transport, railroads, insurance and<br />
investments, Moody’s son William L. Moody,<br />
Jr., granddaughter Mary Moody Northen<br />
and other family members later established<br />
the Moody Foundation and Mary Moody<br />
Northen Incorporated. Today, these organizations<br />
provide generous continuing support<br />
for numerous <strong>Galveston</strong> area initiatives<br />
related to education, environmental issues,<br />
historic preservation and health care,<br />
especially research on traumatic brain injury.<br />
This night view <strong>of</strong> The Strand Historic<br />
Landmark District on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island<br />
illustrates the successful realization <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> leaders’ vision to restore and<br />
rejuvenate the city’s downtown area.<br />
Where buildings stood dilapidated and<br />
empty only a few decades earlier, residents<br />
and tourists alike now enjoy a vibrant<br />
downtown filled with opportunities for<br />
shopping, sightseeing, dining and<br />
entertainment as well as a<br />
horse and buggy ride.<br />
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Above: Alongside Offatts Bayou on <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
Island, a brown pelican is silhouetted against a s<strong>of</strong>t<br />
background showing a solitary sailboat and Moody<br />
Garden’s Rainforest Pyramid. One <strong>of</strong> the island’s<br />
most popular attractions, Moody Gardens includes<br />
a multi-acre resort complex and numerous<br />
educational and recreational attractions.<br />
Right: Completed in 1895, the 2,800-square-foot<br />
Moody Mansion was the home <strong>of</strong> William L.<br />
Moody, Jr., and his family. Based initially on<br />
cotton, the financial empire established by Moody<br />
grew to include banking, ranching, insurance and<br />
hotels. Mr. Moody purchased the house just after<br />
the 1900 storm, and members <strong>of</strong> the Moody<br />
family went on celebrate more than eighty<br />
Christmas seasons there. Containing many <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Moody family’s furnishings and personal effects,<br />
the four-story structure has been fully restored,<br />
and visitors can tour numerous areas that depict<br />
the elegant life <strong>of</strong> a powerful <strong>Galveston</strong> family.<br />
Opposite: As seen from Eagle Point in<br />
San Leon, the rising sun illuminates a handful<br />
<strong>of</strong> broken shoreline pilings as they jut out into<br />
the water. The distant ship on the horizon is<br />
heading out to sea.<br />
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Incorporating advanced technology and<br />
materials, Beachtown on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island’s<br />
East End combines traditional style with<br />
easy maintenance in a pedestrian-friendly<br />
community that includes individual homes<br />
and townhomes.<br />
The eponymous Moody Gardens, which<br />
had its inception in providing care and rehabilitative<br />
therapy for those suffering from<br />
brain injury, has grown to include a nationally<br />
recognized center for education, recreation<br />
and large meetings <strong>of</strong> all types. Among the<br />
most popular destinations in the Houston-<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> area, the complex includes a<br />
luxurious hotel and convention center, lush<br />
gardens, aquarium and rainforest pyramids,<br />
MG3D, 4D and Ridefilm theaters, exhibits<br />
and venues in which visitors can observe<br />
live animals—including penguins—in re-creations<br />
<strong>of</strong> their natural habitats, a fresh water<br />
“beach” and rides on a life-size steamboat.<br />
Another <strong>Galveston</strong> visionary whose early<br />
altruistic work continues to benefit <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
today was Harris Kempner. Originally from<br />
Poland, Kempner made his way from New<br />
York to <strong>Galveston</strong>, from where he expanded<br />
his business interests throughout Texas<br />
and established another <strong>of</strong> the state’s great<br />
nineteenth century fortunes. Today, descendants<br />
<strong>of</strong> the original Kempner family and<br />
others work through the Harris and Eliza<br />
Kempner Fund to improve the general<br />
welfare <strong>of</strong> the community, especially in<br />
those areas concerned with securing and<br />
maintaining equal rights and promoting<br />
programs <strong>of</strong> education and healthcare.<br />
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Proudly waving in the late afternoon light,<br />
a large American flag displays its colors in<br />
front <strong>of</strong> the Bolivar Lighthouse base.<br />
Visionaries in <strong>Galveston</strong> also include those<br />
who are dedicated to helping the county realize<br />
the future financial potential <strong>of</strong> rediscovering<br />
its past. Through special events and the rehabilitation<br />
<strong>of</strong> historic structures, local citizens<br />
throughout the county today are developing<br />
an emerging and pr<strong>of</strong>itable industry around<br />
the fast-growing business <strong>of</strong> historic tourism.<br />
Among those groups providing a major<br />
impetus for restoration efforts on <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
Island is Mitchell Historic Properties, whose<br />
guidance is provided by members <strong>of</strong> the family<br />
<strong>of</strong> George Mitchell, a leader in the development<br />
<strong>of</strong> Texas energy and one <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>’s<br />
most prominent visionaries <strong>of</strong> modern times.<br />
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Screams<br />
<strong>of</strong> delight and terror<br />
fill the air as the Silver Bullet<br />
wooden roller coaster careens down<br />
its track at the Kemah Boardwalk. One <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s most popular entertainment<br />
venues, the Kemah complex includes<br />
educational and entertainment<br />
options plus a variety <strong>of</strong><br />
dining and shopping<br />
choices.<br />
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This stunning lighthouse<br />
replica is a popular landmark<br />
in the Kemah Lighthouse<br />
District and signals that<br />
visitors are closing in on<br />
the area’s boardwalk,<br />
shops and restaurants.<br />
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A chain-saw pelican carved<br />
from yellow pine is among<br />
the items available at the<br />
Eagles’ Nest in Kemah<br />
As a <strong>Galveston</strong>ian himself, Mitchell was<br />
among the first to see the economic potential <strong>of</strong><br />
revitalizing his aging hometown and turning it<br />
into a unique destination for tourists and a<br />
viable commercial venture for the residents <strong>of</strong><br />
his home community. Instrumental in the rescue,<br />
rebuilding and revitalization <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>’s<br />
historic downtown, Mitchell also was a catalyst<br />
in the reactivation <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> Island’s Mardi<br />
Gras celebration. Now celebrated in several<br />
additional communities, the pre-Lenten event<br />
each year attracts thousands <strong>of</strong> tourists and<br />
local residents alike, who participate in<br />
parades, balls, parties and other festivities.<br />
One island-based group known as the<br />
“Funky Uptown Umbrella Brigade” took the<br />
concept <strong>of</strong> visionary to a new level during<br />
Mardi Gras 2012, when 1,503 costumed<br />
revelers—dancing the “Hokey-Pokey” in<br />
unison—secured the Guiness World Record<br />
title for the largest choreographed umbrella<br />
dance in the world to date.<br />
Other <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> residents have<br />
realized such visionary goals as establishing an<br />
80-acre wildlife park that serves as a refuge for<br />
fifty different species <strong>of</strong> animals, or turning the<br />
sleepy, bay-side fishing village <strong>of</strong> Kemah into<br />
a giant wonderland <strong>of</strong> carnival-style amusements<br />
with a scenic boardwalk, restaurants<br />
and shops. It also includes an educational area<br />
that features a historic School House Museum.<br />
For historian A. Pat Daniels, the vision was<br />
more personal—to ensure that the SS Selma, a<br />
concrete World War I oil tanker, was accorded<br />
her rightful place in <strong>Galveston</strong> history.<br />
After striking a jetty in Tampico, Florida, only<br />
a year after its initial launch in 1919, the<br />
Selma was towed back to <strong>Galveston</strong>. Without<br />
knowledge <strong>of</strong> how to repair her, the government<br />
decided to scrap the unusual vessel, and<br />
she was taken to her final resting place near<br />
Pelican Island’s eastern shore, where she<br />
remains today. In 1992, however, she was<br />
purchased by Daniels, a former reporter and<br />
editor for the Houston Chronicle, the Houston<br />
Post and <strong>Galveston</strong>’s The Daily News. Thanks<br />
to his efforts, the Selma is now listed in the<br />
National Register <strong>of</strong> Historic Places, has been<br />
designated a state archeological landmark by<br />
the Texas Antiquities Committee and is recognized<br />
with a Texas Historical Commission’s<br />
Official Texas Historical Marker.<br />
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Above: The School House Museum in the<br />
Kemah Lighthouse District occupies a<br />
vintage school building, originally located<br />
on Highway 146. Relocated to its present<br />
site, the structure has been restored as a<br />
museum and visitor center.<br />
Left: A whimsical painting <strong>of</strong> teacher and<br />
pupil adorn this plywood cutout in front <strong>of</strong><br />
The School House Museum in the Kemah<br />
Lighthouse District.<br />
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Among <strong>Galveston</strong>’s most visionary projects,<br />
the rescue and restoration <strong>of</strong> the 1877<br />
iron barque Elissa was one that focused<br />
international attention on the importance<br />
<strong>of</strong> maritime historic preservation. Here, the<br />
National Historic Landmark motors out to<br />
the Gulf <strong>of</strong> Mexico from the Bolivar Roads.<br />
The smoke through which she is moving is<br />
the result <strong>of</strong> a grass burn-<strong>of</strong>f on the nearby<br />
Bolivar Peninsula<br />
Today, <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s continuing<br />
progressive leadership, pr<strong>of</strong>essional opportunities<br />
and an enterprising yet relaxed way <strong>of</strong><br />
life are in the forefront as its citizens focus on<br />
a future <strong>of</strong> continuing progress and prosperity.<br />
Known for their commitment to the<br />
celebration <strong>of</strong> diversity and the ability to<br />
embrace challenges as well as opportunity,<br />
the people <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> maintain a<br />
“can-do” spirit that is constantly looking for<br />
paths to a better tomorrow.<br />
Hard-working, fun-loving, mindful <strong>of</strong> its<br />
past, supportive <strong>of</strong> its future—it is a county <strong>of</strong><br />
peoples whose history <strong>of</strong> success is based on<br />
centuries dedicated to new beginnings and<br />
dynamic, innovative leadership. Like the forces<br />
<strong>of</strong> nature that through the ages have carved its<br />
beaches and bays and molded its coastal plains,<br />
the vision <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s people is<br />
based on invention and re-invention—ebbing<br />
and flowing, reaching and growing—and the<br />
awareness that always, there is the sea.<br />
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Kissed by the incoming tide at sunset,<br />
a Lightning Whelk shell is a treasured find<br />
on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island.<br />
Above: The SS Selma, a concrete World<br />
War I oil tanker, rests <strong>of</strong> the sandy bottom<br />
along Pelican Island’s eastern shore. After<br />
striking a jetty in Tampico, Florida, only a<br />
year after its initial launch in 1919, the<br />
Selma was towed back to <strong>Galveston</strong>.<br />
Without knowledge <strong>of</strong> how to repair her, the<br />
government decided to scrap the vessel and<br />
she was taken to her final resting place<br />
where she remains today. In 1992, the SS<br />
Selma was purchased by historian A. Pat<br />
Daniels, a former reporter and editor for<br />
the Houston Chronicle, the Houston<br />
Post and <strong>Galveston</strong>’s The Daily News.<br />
Thanks to his efforts, the Selma now is<br />
listed in the National Register <strong>of</strong> Historic<br />
Places, has been designated a state<br />
archeological landmark by the Texas<br />
Antiquities Committee and is recognized<br />
with a Texas Historical Commission’s<br />
Official Texas Historical Marker. Despite<br />
her compelling history, she is best known<br />
today as marking the location <strong>of</strong> one <strong>of</strong> the<br />
area’s most popular fishing spots for<br />
flounder and trout.<br />
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This view <strong>of</strong> historic downtown <strong>Galveston</strong> from the<br />
harbor shows architecture that spans the centuries<br />
while embracing a vision for the future. The high-rise<br />
American National Insurance Building stands in stark<br />
contrast to the 1877 tall ship Elissa at dock.<br />
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<strong>Galveston</strong><br />
Partners<br />
Pr<strong>of</strong>iles <strong>of</strong> businesses,<br />
organizations, and families that have<br />
contributed to the development and<br />
economic base <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
Quality <strong>of</strong> Life ...........................116<br />
The Marketplace ........................136<br />
Building a Greater <strong>Galveston</strong> .....162<br />
GALVESTON PARTNERS<br />
115
Quality <strong>of</strong> Life<br />
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Healthcare providers, school districts,<br />
universities, and other institutions<br />
that contribute to the<br />
quality <strong>of</strong> life in <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
The Grand 1894 Opera House......................................................118<br />
Moody Gardens ® ........................................................................120<br />
Moody Gardens ® Golf Course<br />
Moody Gardens ® Hotel ..........................................................121<br />
Texas City Independent School District .........................................122<br />
Texas A&M University at <strong>Galveston</strong> .............................................124<br />
College <strong>of</strong> the Mainland..............................................................126<br />
City <strong>of</strong> La Marque .....................................................................128<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> College ......................................................................129<br />
City <strong>of</strong> League City....................................................................130<br />
Abundant Life Christian Center ...................................................131<br />
Beachtown ................................................................................132<br />
SCENIC GALVESTON, Inc...........................................................133<br />
City <strong>of</strong> Texas City......................................................................134<br />
Gulf Greyhound Park .................................................................135<br />
QUALITY OF LIFE<br />
117
THE<br />
GRAND 1894<br />
OPERA HOUSE<br />
Above: The exterior view <strong>of</strong> The Grand<br />
following Hurricane Ike renovations, 2009.<br />
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE OPERA HOUSE STAFF.<br />
Below: A view <strong>of</strong> the interior <strong>of</strong> The Grand<br />
1894 Opera House, orchestra level, 2010.<br />
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF MARK BRITAIN.<br />
Although William Shakespeare held forth<br />
that “All the world’s a stage,” <strong>Galveston</strong>’s Grand<br />
1894 Opera House holds forth a stage for all<br />
the world.<br />
Surviving fire, flood, hurricanes, changing<br />
public taste and neglect, the historic landmark<br />
theatre has, for more than a century,<br />
welcomed a cast <strong>of</strong> performers and productions<br />
ranging from internationally renowned<br />
warblers to local tots in tap shoes. Young and<br />
old, pr<strong>of</strong>essional and amateur, onstage and <strong>of</strong>f,<br />
thousands have played both major and<br />
supporting roles in its colorful history.<br />
Following its opening on January 3, 1895,<br />
Anna Pavlova, William Jennings Bryan,<br />
Ignace Paderewski and Sarah Bernhardt were<br />
among those who graced The Grand’s stage<br />
during its early years. More recently, Tommy<br />
Tune, Bernadette Peters, Hal Holbrook, Willie<br />
Nelson and Itzhak Perlman have filled the<br />
house. Despite such star power, however,<br />
The Grand’s mission also traditionally has<br />
included serving its community as a performance<br />
venue for local graduations, recitals and<br />
other events.<br />
Constructed in a mere seven months and<br />
built at the behest <strong>of</strong> the local business<br />
community, The Grand complex originally<br />
included shops and a hotel in addition to the<br />
luxurious theater that boasted box seats,<br />
state-<strong>of</strong>-the-art acoustics, and a thirty-eight<br />
by thirty-six foot proscenium stage.<br />
Such “thespian temples”<br />
were considered a must for<br />
any self-respecting nineteenth<br />
century city <strong>of</strong> note,<br />
and served as a center <strong>of</strong> culture<br />
and civic activity. As<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> in the late 1800s<br />
was the most prosperous<br />
and progressive city in the<br />
state, it had the ability—and<br />
some would say, the duty—<br />
to <strong>of</strong>fer the best in theater<br />
facilities and entertainment.<br />
According to one historian,<br />
there was a saying that if a<br />
traveling stage production<br />
had not “played The Grand,”<br />
it had not played Texas.<br />
Yet, as with many great<br />
dramas, The Grand’s life<br />
has included both triumph<br />
and tragedy. Although today<br />
it holds the title <strong>of</strong> “The<br />
Official Opera House <strong>of</strong> the State <strong>of</strong> Texas,” the<br />
elegant structure was just over five years old<br />
when <strong>Galveston</strong>’s “Great Storm” <strong>of</strong> 1900 left<br />
it partially destroyed. Despite major damage,<br />
however, the importance <strong>of</strong> having a theatre in<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>’s downtown area was such that<br />
crews went to work almost immediately, and<br />
The Grand reopened in slightly over a year.<br />
As the twentieth century progressed, a new<br />
threat emerged as motion pictures more and<br />
more supplanted traditional stage productions<br />
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in popularity. Although such greats as Tex<br />
Ritter (with his horse), George M. Cohan and<br />
the Ziegfeld Follies continued to play “live” at<br />
The Grand for a number <strong>of</strong> years, sequential<br />
efforts to remodel it into a “movie house”<br />
during the first half <strong>of</strong> the 1900s resulted<br />
in the obliteration <strong>of</strong> many <strong>of</strong> its original<br />
features. As its usage evolved, The Grand’s<br />
ownership and management changed also,<br />
and over the years, it was renamed first the<br />
Martini Theater and then the State Theater.<br />
Falling into disrepair during the 1960s,<br />
the theater was closed in 1974. Recognizing<br />
that demolition was a possibility, a group <strong>of</strong><br />
concerned citizens formed a grass-roots<br />
preservation effort, and purchased the property<br />
that same year.<br />
A first priority was to make the facility<br />
usable. After completing enough repair to<br />
prevent further deterioration and make it<br />
stageworthy—and despite dust, mold, limited<br />
seating and inadequate heating and air<br />
conditioning—the venue began <strong>of</strong>fering a<br />
limited bill <strong>of</strong> entertainment while supporters<br />
set about raising money for what became a<br />
twelve year, $7 million restoration project.<br />
The Grand’s next decade was filled with<br />
painstaking research and hard work as<br />
preservation architect Killis P. Almond, FAIA,<br />
spearheaded the restoration project. Photos<br />
were studied, and original features discovered<br />
under layers <strong>of</strong> sheetrock and paint. A<br />
remnant found on a balcony floor was used<br />
as a pattern to weave replacement carpeting,<br />
and lost and damaged woodwork was<br />
replaced with vintage lumber from Virginia.<br />
On January 18, 1986, The Grand raised<br />
its new scenic curtain on a gala re-opening<br />
performance by Steve Lawrence and Eydie<br />
Gormé. Enthusiasm was such that the theater’s<br />
attendance and <strong>of</strong>ferings quickly<br />
expanded. In 1989 a “Serious Fun” program<br />
was introduced for children, which grew to<br />
include The Grand Kids Festival.<br />
Marking its own centennial with a community-wide<br />
celebration on January 3, 1995, and<br />
the commemoration on September 9, 2000, <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>’s recovery after the 1900 storm, the<br />
dawn <strong>of</strong> The Grand’s second 100 years was<br />
bright with expanded programs and facilities.<br />
Annually, some 200 bookings attracted over<br />
100,000 patrons, <strong>of</strong> which it was estimated<br />
eighty percent came from “<strong>of</strong>f the island.”<br />
In October 2007 a major capital campaign<br />
was introduced, which included a Sidewalk<br />
<strong>of</strong> Stars initiative, to help provide ongoing<br />
support. The Grand’s future seemed secure.<br />
Less than twelve months later, however,<br />
Hurricane Ike roared ashore, and along with<br />
much <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> Island, The Grand suffered<br />
major damages. In an outpouring <strong>of</strong><br />
support, patrons and performers from near<br />
and far <strong>of</strong>fered assistance and rearranged<br />
show dates.<br />
With Jerry Jeff Walker<br />
scheduled to perform at The<br />
Grand on January 3, 2009—<br />
an exact 114 years after The<br />
Grand’s inaugural opening—<br />
that became the target date<br />
for The Grand’s post-Ike<br />
debut. Amid a flurry <strong>of</strong><br />
rebuilding that consumed<br />
the next ninety-two days,<br />
executive director Maureen<br />
Patton—in typical “the show<br />
must go on” style—told contractors,<br />
“We don’t have to be<br />
finished; we just have to be<br />
ready [to re-open].” Patton<br />
knew The Grand would serve<br />
a vital role in the healing <strong>of</strong><br />
the <strong>Galveston</strong> community,<br />
and the quick re-opening<br />
brought needed visitors back<br />
to the Island, contributing to<br />
economic recovery as well.<br />
Today, The Grand is once<br />
again at the state’s cultural<br />
forefront as it shares the<br />
magic <strong>of</strong> live theatre with ever wider audiences.<br />
Even its beloved nine foot Steinway<br />
concert piano, which during Hurricane Ike<br />
was submerged in ten feet <strong>of</strong> sewage-contaminated<br />
salt water, has been given a new role to<br />
play. After its rescue from the flooded orchestra<br />
pit, the instrument’s inner golden harp<br />
was refinished and, under the gifted touch <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> metal artist John Weber, transformed<br />
into a sculptural masterpiece that<br />
today holds its own center stage as The<br />
Grand’s elegant conference room table.<br />
Maureen M. Patton, executive director <strong>of</strong><br />
The Grand, seated at the Steinway piano<br />
conference table. The table was crafted from<br />
the remains <strong>of</strong> The Grand’s nine foot<br />
Steinway piano destroyed by Hurricane Ike.<br />
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF JOHN GLOWCZWSKI.<br />
QUALITY OF LIFE<br />
119
MOODY<br />
GARDENS ®<br />
Above: Moody Gardens property.<br />
Below: Cotton-top Tamarins in the Moody<br />
Gardens Rainforest Pyramid.<br />
Visit a tropical rainforest. Explore four<br />
different oceans <strong>of</strong> the world. Attend a<br />
function or simply relax at the onsite AAA<br />
four-diamond rated hotel, convention center<br />
and spa. Play a round <strong>of</strong> golf at one <strong>of</strong> the<br />
most scenic courses in Texas.<br />
Relax on white sandy beaches and dip a<br />
toe in the crystal blue waters <strong>of</strong> a beautiful<br />
lagoon. Enjoy a film at the 3D, Ridefilm or<br />
4D Special FX theaters or go cruising on the<br />
Colonel Paddlewheel Boat. Choose from a<br />
variety <strong>of</strong> casual or fine dining options at one<br />
<strong>of</strong> Moody Gardens’ restaurants.<br />
And do it all in one place—Moody<br />
Gardens ® , one <strong>of</strong> Texas’ most popular and<br />
unique tourist destinations with more<br />
than two million visitors every year.<br />
Located on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island and<br />
saturated in botanical beauty, Moody<br />
Gardens ® is a 242-acre educational and<br />
leisure resort that truly has something<br />
for everyone. The most unique options<br />
are located inside three magnificent pyramids<br />
that punctuate the resort’s skyline.<br />
The centerpiece is the Rainforest<br />
Pyramid ® , ten stories <strong>of</strong> clear glass reaching<br />
skyward and home to a living tropical rainforest<br />
complete with crashing waterfalls,<br />
trees, caverns, flora and fauna. An amazing<br />
variety <strong>of</strong> wildlife and a new, dramatic<br />
tree-top canopy entrance and trail <strong>of</strong>fers<br />
guests a “bird’s eye” view <strong>of</strong> this truly breathtaking<br />
experience. Free-roaming Cotton-top<br />
Tamarins, Saki Monkeys, Two-toed Sloths,<br />
exotic birds and butterflies are <strong>of</strong>ten just a few<br />
feet away. Other new exhibits get guests close<br />
to other endangered animals including an<br />
ocelot, frogs and many other reptiles and<br />
animals for a rainforest experience like no<br />
other. The new canopy entrance and tree-top<br />
trail is just one part <strong>of</strong> a massive $25<br />
million enhancement project, which<br />
was completed in the spring <strong>of</strong> 2011.<br />
Opened in 1999 with an original<br />
price tag <strong>of</strong> $50 million, the Moody<br />
Gardens Aquarium Pyramid ® is one<br />
<strong>of</strong> the largest and most fascinating<br />
aquariums in U.S. with 1.5 million<br />
gallons <strong>of</strong> water playing host to more<br />
than 10,000 marine animals ranging<br />
from penguins and seals to sharks and<br />
thousands <strong>of</strong> tropical fish. In addition<br />
to four exhibits representative <strong>of</strong> the<br />
four points on the compass—the<br />
North Pacific, South Pacific, South<br />
Atlantic and Caribbean—there are<br />
also tide pools, “touch tanks” and<br />
unique viewing opportunities as well as<br />
underwater classrooms and learning experiences<br />
for guests <strong>of</strong> all ages within the tenstory<br />
tall structure <strong>of</strong> blue glass.<br />
Other exciting attractions at Moody<br />
Gardens ® include the Discovery Pyramid ®<br />
where visitors can experience the mysteries<br />
<strong>of</strong> science through a myriad <strong>of</strong> interactive<br />
exhibits; an extraordinary 3D Theater with<br />
a giant six-story screen; a Ridefilm Theater;<br />
a man-made, but beautiful tropical beach<br />
surrounded by blue lagoons; the Colonel<br />
Paddlewheel Boat; a seasonal holiday ice<br />
skating rink; a seasonal Festival <strong>of</strong> Lights;<br />
and a full menu <strong>of</strong> unique dining and<br />
shopping opportunities.<br />
Moody Gardens ® began in the mid-1980s<br />
with a horse barn, a riding arena with a hippotherapy<br />
riding program for people with head<br />
injuries and an extraordinary vision to create<br />
an island tourist destination. Today Moody<br />
Gardens ® is one <strong>of</strong> the premier educational/<br />
leisure facilities in the Southwest. It also provides<br />
horticultural therapy as well as education<br />
and employment for persons with a wide range<br />
<strong>of</strong> physical and emotional disabilities.<br />
For more information, call 800-582-4673<br />
or visit online at www.moodygardens.com.<br />
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MOODY<br />
GARDENS ®<br />
GOLF COURSE<br />
Moody Gardens ® Golf Course is an above<br />
par golf course named by Golf Digest as one<br />
<strong>of</strong> America’s Top Ten Newly Renovated<br />
Courses and one <strong>of</strong> the Most Scenic and<br />
Best Outlying courses in the Houston area<br />
by Houstonchron.com Golf Guide.<br />
Formerly known as the <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
Municipal Golf Course, the 2008 redesigned<br />
course is the inspired product <strong>of</strong> the<br />
renowned architects <strong>of</strong> Jacobsen Hardy<br />
Golf Course Design. The facelift represents<br />
a $16-million contribution to the city<br />
by Moody Gardens ® and the culmination<br />
<strong>of</strong> a vision to provide a first-class public<br />
golf course for residents and visitors. It is<br />
owned by the City and managed by<br />
Moody Gardens ® .<br />
Fully clad in Paspalum turf—a playing<br />
surface especially designed for seaside<br />
courses—Moody Gardens ® creates a tropical<br />
air with eighteen holes meandering through<br />
upland and lowland native areas as well<br />
as the natural wetlands habitat <strong>of</strong> beautiful<br />
Sydnor Bayou and perfectly accented with<br />
more than 500 palm trees.<br />
For more information or to schedule<br />
a tee time, call 409-683-GOLF or visit<br />
www.moodygardensgolf.com.<br />
Moody Gardens golf course.<br />
Moody Gardens ® Hotel, Spa and Convention<br />
Center does not just sit amidst the magic <strong>of</strong><br />
Moody Gardens ® , it is an integral part <strong>of</strong> it.<br />
This AAA Four-Diamond hotel features<br />
428 spectacular guestrooms, two restaurants,<br />
bars, a spacious convention center, tropical<br />
pool, full service spa and many other<br />
amenities. The hotel is designed to perfectly<br />
mirror the botanical beauty <strong>of</strong><br />
Moody Gardens ® .<br />
Among the finest accommodations<br />
on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island, each guestroom<br />
features stunning panoramic<br />
views and indulgent amenities.<br />
For those planning a meeting, convention,<br />
memorable wedding or<br />
other special event, the Hotel<br />
Convention Center includes more<br />
than 100,000 square feet <strong>of</strong> state-<strong>of</strong>the-art,<br />
custom-designed function<br />
space with a pr<strong>of</strong>essional sales and<br />
catering staff to handle every detail.<br />
Speaking <strong>of</strong> catering, the hotel<br />
employs one <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>’s finest<br />
executive chefs and culinary teams<br />
serving event attendees, hotel guests and<br />
patrons <strong>of</strong> both Shearn’s Restaurant; an<br />
upscale AAA Four-Diamond dining experience,<br />
and The Terrace Restaurant, which<br />
<strong>of</strong>fers delicious fare in a tropical setting is<br />
designed to bring the outside indoors.<br />
For more information, call 409-741-8484 or<br />
visit online at www.moodygardenshotel.com.<br />
MOODY<br />
GARDENS ®<br />
HOTEL<br />
Moody Gardens Hotel lobby.<br />
QUALITY OF LIFE<br />
121
TEXAS CITY<br />
INDEPENDENT<br />
SCHOOL<br />
DISTRICT<br />
It may take a village to raise a child, but it<br />
also takes the whole community to educate one.<br />
Fortunately, the Texas City Independent<br />
School District (ISD) and its loyal community<br />
figured that out years ago. As a result, the<br />
school district made up <strong>of</strong> 30,000 residents<br />
and 5,500-plus students is not only fully<br />
accredited by the Texas Education Agency, but<br />
has also carried the Accountability Rating <strong>of</strong><br />
“Texas Education Agency Recognized School<br />
District” and has consistently met Adequate<br />
Yearly Progress or AYP-requirements as<br />
defined by the United States’ federal No Child<br />
Left Behind Act.<br />
“Much <strong>of</strong> our school district’s success is<br />
due to the recognition that it takes a cooperative<br />
effort among educators, students, parents<br />
and the entire community to create a school<br />
system that works,” former Superintendent <strong>of</strong><br />
Schools Bob Brundrett, Ph.D., said during a<br />
2011 interview. “And, time and time again,<br />
such a shared commitment has made a huge<br />
difference in the lives <strong>of</strong> our students.”<br />
A good example <strong>of</strong> this shared commitment<br />
came in November <strong>of</strong> 2007 when a<br />
committee <strong>of</strong> 125 community members diligently<br />
studied facilities, made suggestions and<br />
informed residents about the needs <strong>of</strong> the<br />
local school system. As a result, the people <strong>of</strong><br />
Texas City overwhelmingly passed a school<br />
bond election for more than $122 million,<br />
which has paved the way for multiple<br />
improvements and additions to the school<br />
system from a brand new intermediate school<br />
and elementary school, both <strong>of</strong> which opened<br />
in August <strong>of</strong> 2009, to the Simpson Education<br />
Support Center and a new high school, which<br />
opened doors in 2011.<br />
In addition to the newly opened or planned<br />
schools, Texas City ISD includes a Pre-K Head<br />
Start Program and four elementary schools for<br />
students kindergarten through fourth grade—<br />
Heights Elementary, Kohfeldt Elementary,<br />
Northside Elementary and Roosevelt-Wilson<br />
Elementary. There is also Levi Fry Intermediate<br />
for students in grades five and six, Blocker<br />
Middle School for students in grades seven and<br />
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eight, and Texas City High School for those in<br />
ninth through twelfth grade. Improvements<br />
have been plentiful for these existing system<br />
schools as well as the system’s technology<br />
infrastructure and athletics facilities all seeing<br />
complete renovations and major upgrades<br />
from the 2007 school bond.<br />
The school system has an assessed value <strong>of</strong><br />
more than $3.5 billion and a trophy case<br />
teeming with local, state and national awards<br />
that have been bestowed upon its schools,<br />
students and staff throughout the years.<br />
Many <strong>of</strong> its graduates have gone on to write<br />
and direct world-renowned movies, play pr<strong>of</strong>essional<br />
sports, lead military units and preside<br />
as judges in courts. They have become<br />
doctors, lawyers, business owners, mayors<br />
and teachers; and many have returned to<br />
Texas City to raise their own children who<br />
are now on their path to success.<br />
And, yet, those responsible for the Texas<br />
City ISD refuse to allow the system to rest on<br />
its laurels.<br />
“We are devoted to continuous improvement<br />
in every area <strong>of</strong> our school system and<br />
to our guiding principle, ‘Every Child Will<br />
Learn’,” Dr. Brundrett said. “It is in pursuit <strong>of</strong><br />
this fundamental belief that we focus all <strong>of</strong><br />
our efforts in preparing our individual students<br />
for their future by building relationships,<br />
making learning relevant and rigorous<br />
and developing each student’s unique talents<br />
and skills.”<br />
In addition to its regular curriculum-driven<br />
academic programs, Texas City ISD has a<br />
special Gifted and Talented Program available<br />
to develop the intellectual and creative<br />
potential in K-12 students who indicate a<br />
need to go beyond the regular curriculum.<br />
There are also programs and support for<br />
second-language learners, those who need<br />
extra academic assistance in order to succeed.<br />
Complementing these top-notch academic<br />
programs, the Texas City ISD additionally<br />
<strong>of</strong>fers many extracurricular and co-curricular<br />
activities from clubs, job partnerships,<br />
fine arts, athletics, vocational skills programs,<br />
dance team or cheerleading to<br />
help motivate students to reach their<br />
potential. Additional opportunities are<br />
provided through The Foundation for<br />
the Future—a nonpr<strong>of</strong>it, tax-exempt<br />
and independently registered community-based<br />
organization which promotes<br />
enrichment, innovation and excellence<br />
in education throughout the school system.<br />
With the steadfast belief that there<br />
is a strong correlation between the quality<br />
<strong>of</strong> life in a community and the quality <strong>of</strong> an<br />
educational system, the Foundation’s goal is to<br />
make up the difference in funds needed to provide<br />
an even higher quality <strong>of</strong> education to<br />
Texas City students and, in fact, to date has<br />
awarded more than $1 million in grants to<br />
teachers for innovative programs that enhance<br />
the educational environment.<br />
“Public schools have helped to create our<br />
community and will continue to be the<br />
backbone <strong>of</strong> the future work force as long as<br />
we ensure that they remain among the best in<br />
the nation,” said Foundation Executive<br />
Director Deborah Laine. “Come see what<br />
can happen when a community and school<br />
district work together.”<br />
For more information on the Texas City<br />
ISD, visit online at www.tcisd.org.<br />
QUALITY OF LIFE<br />
123
TEXAS A&M<br />
UNIVERSITY AT<br />
GALVESTON<br />
Above: The 135-acre George Mitchell<br />
campus <strong>of</strong> Texas A&M University at<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> on Pelican Island.<br />
Opposite, top: Marine Biology doctoral<br />
students Sarah Piwetz and Sylvia Bonizzoni<br />
survey the <strong>Galveston</strong> Ship Channel for<br />
dolphin activity.<br />
Opposite, bottom: Kathryn Perry, Texas<br />
A&M University at <strong>Galveston</strong> class <strong>of</strong><br />
2011, serves at sea today as a Merchant<br />
Marine Officer.<br />
On the Gulf <strong>of</strong> Mexico coast near the<br />
Houston, Texas, ship channel, generations<br />
<strong>of</strong> a special campus community have<br />
gathered to teach and learn about the sea.<br />
This community, Texas A&M University at<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>, has populated research laboratories<br />
and expeditions, marine and military<br />
vessels, boardrooms and classrooms <strong>of</strong><br />
the world.<br />
With nearly 2,000 students, TAMUG is<br />
an integral branch <strong>of</strong> the internationallyacclaimed<br />
Texas A&M University. Celebrating<br />
its fiftieth anniversary, TAMUG proves its<br />
worth as a premier university for ocean and<br />
coastal studies. Its impact upon the State <strong>of</strong><br />
Texas, coastal communities <strong>of</strong> Texas, the<br />
business, industries and enterprises <strong>of</strong> the<br />
entire U.S. Gulf <strong>of</strong> Mexico is far reaching.<br />
At its 130 acre campus on Pelican Island—<br />
adjacent to the <strong>Galveston</strong> ship channel<br />
near the mouth <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> Bay—TAMUG<br />
creates a small college atmosphere <strong>of</strong>fering<br />
remarkable marine and maritime academic<br />
and research experiences. In addition to<br />
academic degrees, TAMUG <strong>of</strong>fers outreach<br />
programs ranging from Sea Camp for<br />
school-aged students to Roads Scholars<br />
for seniors.<br />
This by-the-sea campus environment<br />
complements unique curricular <strong>of</strong>ferings<br />
with nationally recognized and accredited<br />
programs. TAMUG provides ocean-oriented,<br />
four-year courses and graduate programs<br />
preparing students for excellence in business,<br />
oceanographic and physical sciences, biological<br />
sciences, engineering and transportation,<br />
administration and liberal arts.<br />
In recent years, TAMUG consistently<br />
ranked among the top ten public universities<br />
in Texas (in research grant dollars generated<br />
per full-time faculty researcher).<br />
Additionally, TAMUG is home to the Texas<br />
Maritime Academy, one <strong>of</strong> six state maritime<br />
academies in the United States and the<br />
only mariner-licensing program on the Gulf<br />
<strong>of</strong> Mexico.<br />
In fact the branch campus owes its existence<br />
to <strong>Galveston</strong> community’s desire to establish a<br />
U.S. maritime academy in <strong>Galveston</strong>.<br />
The academy provides students all the<br />
training required by federal law to obtain a<br />
U.S. Coast Guard unlimited tonnage license<br />
(deck/engine) in the Merchant Marine along<br />
with a bachelor’s and master’s degree from<br />
a tier one university. Other opportunities<br />
include the Strategic Sealift Officer Program<br />
(SSOP), in which qualified cadets attend<br />
Naval Reserve Officers Training Corp courses<br />
(NROTC), which lead to a commission in<br />
the Naval Reserves. These cadets are also<br />
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124
eligible to receive $8,000 per year in student<br />
incentive program (SIP) funds. Inter-service<br />
transfers to other branches <strong>of</strong> the military are<br />
also possible. The Texas Maritime Academy<br />
Corps <strong>of</strong> Cadets also <strong>of</strong>fers the naval Reserve<br />
Officers Training Corps (NROTC) for students<br />
who desire to receive an active duty<br />
commission in the Navy.<br />
At the heart <strong>of</strong> the academy and the entire<br />
learning community <strong>of</strong> TAMUG is respect<br />
for traditions, the sea and each other. In his<br />
book, Aggies by the Sea, Regents Pr<strong>of</strong>essor<br />
Stephen Curley describes the spirit and<br />
traditions <strong>of</strong> TAMUG.<br />
“Texas A&M University at <strong>Galveston</strong> is <strong>of</strong>,<br />
for, and by the sea. It combines its love for all<br />
aspects <strong>of</strong> the ocean with the traditions <strong>of</strong><br />
Texas A&M University to bind and define its<br />
extraordinary community <strong>of</strong> ‘Sea Aggies.’”<br />
QUALITY OF LIFE<br />
125
COLLEGE OF<br />
THE MAINLAND<br />
Above: COM students walking on Eckert<br />
Lake trail.<br />
Below: Faculty and staff members.<br />
College <strong>of</strong> the Mainland has a firm grasp<br />
on the ABCs <strong>of</strong> higher education in <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>. At COM, one <strong>of</strong> the area’s fastest<br />
growing local colleges, A is for affordable,<br />
accessible and applicable programs; B is for<br />
a better and brighter futures; C is for<br />
community interaction and inspiration; D is<br />
for diverse campus and curriculum; and E is<br />
for “Education for Everyone.”<br />
From opening day on September 14, 1967,<br />
with 414 students meeting in a renovated high<br />
school, COM has grown to an annual enrollment<br />
<strong>of</strong> more than 4,000 credit and 10,000<br />
continuing education students who enjoy a<br />
modern, centrally-located main campus <strong>of</strong><br />
approximately 120 acres in Texas City, plus a<br />
second smaller campus known as Learning<br />
Center-North <strong>County</strong> in League City.<br />
Students are the focus at COM, and the<br />
college is known for its progressive, proactive<br />
approach to higher education. Offering one <strong>of</strong><br />
the state’s most affordable tuition structures,<br />
COM also provides financial assistance to<br />
qualified students through scholarships,<br />
grants and work-study programs. To ease<br />
scheduling difficulties, weekend and online<br />
courses are available in some areas <strong>of</strong> study.<br />
Even the enrollment center is designed for<br />
student convenience, and <strong>of</strong>fers a “one-stopshopping”<br />
point <strong>of</strong> entry, with comfortable<br />
seating, a small play area for children, registration<br />
and cashier stations, and a dozen<br />
semi-private computer carrels for use by<br />
students during the enrollment process.<br />
Offering courses that range from fine arts<br />
and nursing to industrial arts and law enforcement,<br />
COM’s programs have garnered local,<br />
regional and international recognition.<br />
Accredited by the Southern Association <strong>of</strong><br />
Colleges and Schools, COM is widely recognized<br />
for academic excellence. Its Process<br />
Technology Program is the first in the nation to<br />
<strong>of</strong>fer an associate degree in PTEC and has been<br />
recognized by the state as setting the standard<br />
for all similar programs. The school’s Nursing<br />
and Allied Health Program graduates frequently<br />
score a 100 percent pass rate on national<br />
exams, and the Pharmacy Technician Program<br />
has recently received national accreditation.<br />
Programs holding state accreditation include<br />
Police and Fire Technology, Real Estate,<br />
Cosmetology, Nursing and Allied Health<br />
Education. COM’s Child Development Lab<br />
School was the first in <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> to<br />
receive national accreditation, and its Partners<br />
in Alternative Certification for Teachers<br />
Program provides a short-track option for<br />
those holding non-education degrees who<br />
want to become accredited educators.<br />
Additionally, qualified local high school students<br />
can “get a jump” on a career or further<br />
education through COM’s Dual Credit Program.<br />
Operating in cooperation with area school systems,<br />
this program allows teens to take courses<br />
for credit at COM during their high school<br />
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126
years. As a result, a number <strong>of</strong> area young people<br />
have received their associate degrees or<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essional certifications from COM prior to<br />
their high school graduations. Those going on<br />
to four year colleges and universities have <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
found that the course work they completed at<br />
COM allows them to obtain advanced placement<br />
or enter at a second-year level.<br />
Older students <strong>of</strong>ten enroll at COM to<br />
complete requirements for deferred or second<br />
careers, or to help themselves move up in<br />
their current pr<strong>of</strong>essions. Others just want to<br />
learn for learning’s sake by enhancing their<br />
knowledge in fields that have long interested<br />
them. One recent student had not been in a<br />
classroom for forty-two years before enrolling<br />
in COM’s Process Technology program, but<br />
two days after turning seventy-two—and with<br />
a grade point average <strong>of</strong> 3.7—he received his<br />
Associate <strong>of</strong> Applied Science degree. One <strong>of</strong><br />
the nation’s oldest community college honors<br />
graduates, he was inducted into Phi Theta<br />
Kappa, the international honors society.<br />
COM also serves low-income, first-generation<br />
college-bound students through its TRiO<br />
Upward Bound Program. With funding provided<br />
by the U.S. Department <strong>of</strong> Education,<br />
TRiO combines a rigorous program <strong>of</strong> course<br />
work with special academic support and<br />
culturally enriching activities. This program’s<br />
success is affirmed by the number <strong>of</strong><br />
participants who have gone on to<br />
enroll at community colleges and<br />
four-year universities.<br />
Just as COM attracts a diverse mix<br />
<strong>of</strong> students, it <strong>of</strong>fers a diverse selection<br />
<strong>of</strong> courses, and also works with<br />
local business and industry to ensure<br />
that its programs are attuned to<br />
current employment opportunities.<br />
Nursing and healthcare programs are<br />
the most popular, but there are also<br />
courses for graphic arts and design,<br />
drafting, civilian firearms, security<br />
and loss prevention. For the business-minded,<br />
there are accounting,<br />
bookkeeping, and computer technology<br />
courses; languages <strong>of</strong>fered<br />
include Spanish, Chinese, Arabic<br />
and even sign language. The industrial<br />
technology program features<br />
welding, machinist/millwright, electrical,<br />
air conditioning and heating.<br />
COM’s Risk Management Institute’s<br />
safety classes are available free <strong>of</strong><br />
charge to employers, employees and<br />
the general public. For those who<br />
wish to study abroad, faculty-led<br />
tours are also open to the public,<br />
with participation on a credit or<br />
non-credit basis.<br />
COM’s bond with the central<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> area extends far<br />
beyond traditional education, however.<br />
Individually and collectively,<br />
its students, faculty and staff participate<br />
in a number <strong>of</strong> civic projects<br />
and charities. The pleasant, parklike<br />
campus serves as a recreational<br />
area for local citizens, and the<br />
school also provides a cultural center<br />
for the community with activities<br />
that include lectures, art exhibits,<br />
concerts and theatrical productions. In addition<br />
to continuing education courses, COM’s<br />
Senior Adult Program for those older than<br />
fifty-five <strong>of</strong>fers field trips to local and out-<strong>of</strong>town<br />
destinations, in addition to courses in<br />
computer skills, bridge, Spanish, art, line<br />
dancing, yoga, Pilates and tai-chi and water<br />
exercise classes at COM’s indoor, heated pool.<br />
Above: COM <strong>of</strong>fers workforce training.<br />
Below: COM students in the<br />
Enrollment Center.<br />
QUALITY OF LIFE<br />
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CITY OF<br />
LA MARQUE<br />
Above: Highland Bayou Park.<br />
PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVEN RAMIREZ.<br />
Below: Gulf Greyhound Park, La Marque.<br />
Located at the geographic center <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>, the City <strong>of</strong> La Marque is<br />
“right on the mark” when it comes to<br />
blending small city charm with modern<br />
convenience and life-style.<br />
La Marque’s favorable location has been<br />
apparent since its earliest days, when it was<br />
known as Buttermilk Station, a name taken<br />
from the Civil War practice <strong>of</strong> soldiers’<br />
stopping <strong>of</strong>f to purchase buttermilk on their<br />
marches between <strong>Galveston</strong> and Houston.<br />
With only six families in 1867 and an economy<br />
based on dairy products and agriculture,<br />
the town grew from 100 to 175 people during<br />
the 1890s and included several fruit farms, a<br />
Baptist church and a small school with fourteen<br />
students. It was during this time that the<br />
community, which also had become known as<br />
the Highlands for its location near Highland<br />
Bayou, was renamed La Marque by postmistress<br />
Madame St. Ambrose. By 1914, four<br />
railroads served the community, and the population<br />
had grown to 500. In the ensuing years<br />
<strong>of</strong> the twentieth century, business and commerce<br />
expanded to include over 300 businesses<br />
and a population <strong>of</strong> more than 14,000.<br />
Today, La Marque’s proximity to Houston’s<br />
Clear Lake region and the coastal cities <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> and Texas City provides a rare<br />
opportunity for its residents to enjoy the best<br />
<strong>of</strong> two worlds—a community where family<br />
life is prized and neighbors know one another’s<br />
names combined with easy access to<br />
employment and business opportunities.<br />
Known for its low cost <strong>of</strong> living, La<br />
Marque is ideal for business and residential<br />
investment. Much open acreage has modern<br />
infrastructure already in place for future<br />
development, and it is proximally located<br />
to major land, air, rail and sea routes that<br />
connect it to the world. A twenty-four acre<br />
retail plaza and the revitalized downtown<br />
area <strong>of</strong>fer diverse shopping experiences<br />
and housing choices range from historic<br />
homes to new construction. Residents<br />
include young families with modest bungalows,<br />
couples with growing families and<br />
needing larger homes close to good schools<br />
and recreational facilities, and retirees who<br />
want a peaceful community with easily<br />
accessed medical care.<br />
Recognized also for educational excellence,<br />
La Marque students are served by<br />
several public school districts, private<br />
schools and academies. Higher education<br />
is provided by College <strong>of</strong> the Mainland,<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> College and Texas A&M-<strong>Galveston</strong>.<br />
La Marque is not limited to all work and<br />
no play, however. Tourism in La Marque<br />
took a major leap in the 1990s with the<br />
construction <strong>of</strong> Gulf Greyhound Park, the<br />
world’s largest dog racing track. Additionally,<br />
Highland Bayou Park <strong>of</strong>fers 230 acres<br />
dedicated to baseball, basketball, tennis,<br />
playground and pavilion facilities, a fishing<br />
pier, wetlands for bird watching and hiking,<br />
Other local favorites include horseback<br />
riding, camping and water sports.<br />
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GALVESTON<br />
COLLEGE<br />
Many institutions <strong>of</strong> higher learning talk<br />
about being an educational beacon, but<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> College has the lighthouse to prove it.<br />
From its earliest days in 1967, when it<br />
began classes with a single building—the<br />
refurbished St. Mary’s Orphanage—and a<br />
modest curriculum, the school has endeavored<br />
to be “a beacon <strong>of</strong> light, guiding lifelong<br />
learning” for local residents. Today, occupying<br />
a twelve acre complex and <strong>of</strong>fering programs<br />
in many <strong>of</strong> the nation’s fastest growing<br />
academic disciplines, <strong>Galveston</strong> College also<br />
displays the historic cupola from <strong>Galveston</strong>’s<br />
South Jetty Lighthouse, on loan “for use in<br />
perpetuity” from the U.S. Coast Guard.<br />
Such affirmation has been a constant<br />
throughout <strong>Galveston</strong> College history. The<br />
announcement <strong>of</strong> its founding garnered<br />
front-page headlines in the December 1, 1966,<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Daily News, and many <strong>of</strong> the<br />
school’s educational and athletic programs, as<br />
well as additions to the campus itself, reflect<br />
the mutually supportive relationship between<br />
the school and its home community.<br />
With a central focus on training for careers,<br />
not just jobs, and in keeping with its informal<br />
motto <strong>of</strong> “Go for it,” <strong>Galveston</strong> College <strong>of</strong>fers<br />
numerous two-year degree programs and a<br />
variety <strong>of</strong> one-year programs and short-term<br />
certifications that can lead to career opportunities<br />
both on and <strong>of</strong>f the island.<br />
Concentrating on such diverse areas as<br />
healthcare, information technology, business,<br />
culinary arts and technical training, the institution<br />
is dedicated to “building <strong>Galveston</strong>, one<br />
mind at a time,” and aggressively creates accessible<br />
learning opportunities to fulfill individual<br />
and community needs by providing highquality<br />
educational programs and services. In<br />
a departure from traditional curricula, an<br />
innovative two-year welding degree program is<br />
geared to local employment, and an associate’s<br />
degree program in industrial systems is helping<br />
resupply the local workforce in these areas.<br />
Aware <strong>of</strong> the importance <strong>of</strong> addressing the<br />
shifting economies <strong>of</strong> its home community,<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> College also is a leader in distance<br />
education. It is one <strong>of</strong> the few colleges in the<br />
United States <strong>of</strong>fering online courses in cutting-edge<br />
disciplines such as computerized<br />
tomography and magnetic resonance imaging.<br />
Members <strong>of</strong> the community join in college<br />
activities through public lectures and continuing<br />
education and leisure learning courses.<br />
School athletic teams, known as the<br />
“Whitecaps,” participate in numerous intercollegiate<br />
sports under the National Junior<br />
College Athletic Association and the Region<br />
XIV Athletic Conference.<br />
Supported by state funding, local taxes<br />
and tuition, <strong>Galveston</strong> College is one <strong>of</strong> the<br />
most affordable higher education opportunities<br />
in Texas. Additionally, the <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
College Foundation has for more than a<br />
decade <strong>of</strong>fered Universal Access, a “free<br />
tuition program” for local high school, homeschooled<br />
and GED graduates. For additional<br />
information visit www.gc.edu.<br />
QUALITY OF LIFE<br />
129
CITY OF<br />
LEAGUE CITY<br />
Clockwise, starting from the top:<br />
A creekside view.<br />
Heads up.<br />
Helen’s Garden in League City’s<br />
Historic District.<br />
Boutique shopping in League City.<br />
The citizens and leadership <strong>of</strong> League City<br />
have every right to be proud. After all, the<br />
community they call home has been designated<br />
one <strong>of</strong> the 100 Best Small Cities in America<br />
and its burgeoning population is pro<strong>of</strong> that it<br />
is deserving <strong>of</strong> this title.<br />
Encompassing fifty-five square miles in<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>, League City’s population<br />
growth over the past two decades has been<br />
nothing short <strong>of</strong> phenomenal. The population<br />
has risen four to six percent every year while<br />
growth for the rest <strong>of</strong> the state has averaged<br />
less than two percent annually. With a current<br />
population estimated at 83,500, the city is the<br />
largest in the county.<br />
Though it lies within the Houston metropolitan<br />
area, League City has much to <strong>of</strong>fer in<br />
its own right. Aerospace, petrochemicals,<br />
healthcare, upscale commercial, boating and<br />
visitor attractions make up the majority <strong>of</strong> its<br />
economic base and household income levels<br />
and educational pr<strong>of</strong>iles are well above the<br />
Houston-area average.<br />
And, simply put, it is beautiful. League<br />
City is home to the luxurious South Shore<br />
Harbor Resort area with its yacht-filled marina.<br />
Its Main Street area is more like a city in a<br />
park—with majestic oaks lining both sides <strong>of</strong><br />
the street and with gardens, ponds, bandstands<br />
and enchanting landscapes serving as a<br />
backdrop for the many historic homes which<br />
have been transformed into charming shops<br />
and eateries. The city’s northern border is<br />
accented by beautiful Clear Lake, which is not<br />
only the home <strong>of</strong> the nation’s third largest<br />
pleasure boat anchorage, but also provides<br />
access to <strong>Galveston</strong> Bay and the Gulf <strong>of</strong><br />
Mexico. Moreover, the city is home to three<br />
beautiful golf courses and is in the midst <strong>of</strong><br />
implementing a master plan that calls for 212<br />
miles <strong>of</strong> trails and pathways, which will not<br />
only improve mobility throughout the city,<br />
but will increase recreational opportunities<br />
for pedestrians and bicyclists alike.<br />
First settled nearly 200 years ago by<br />
Stephen F. Austin, League City actually gets its<br />
name from J. C. League who began acquiring<br />
land in the county in the late 1800s. He<br />
renamed his holdings League City in 1896, a<br />
name that stuck when the city was finally<br />
incorporated in 1962.<br />
Today’s League City is governed by a mayor<br />
and seven council members who join the city’s<br />
paid personnel in striving to provide the best<br />
services possible.<br />
“We are extremely proud <strong>of</strong> our city and<br />
look forward to continued growth as more and<br />
more people learn about our upscale neighborhoods,<br />
top-quality schools and recreational<br />
lifestyle,” said Mayor Tim Paulissen. “Home to<br />
rocket scientists and entrepreneurs, you could<br />
say we are where business meets pleasure.”<br />
For more about League City, please visit<br />
www.leaguecity.com.<br />
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ABUNDANT LIFE<br />
CHRISTIAN<br />
CENTER<br />
More than a church, more than a school,<br />
more than a congregation, Abundant Life<br />
Christian Center embraces a Bible-based<br />
global mission. With one <strong>of</strong> the largest<br />
church memberships in <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>,<br />
ALCC’s focus is on “ministries that reach<br />
neighborhoods and nations.”<br />
ALCC’s rapid growth has taken it from a<br />
ten person meeting in Pastors Walter and<br />
Cindy Hallam’s home in 1985 to a current<br />
congregation <strong>of</strong> approximately 4,000 worshippers.<br />
Racing to stay ahead <strong>of</strong> its quickly<br />
increasing numbers, ALCC locations through<br />
the past twenty-five years have included a<br />
local motel, a funeral home, a refurbished<br />
grocery store and its first sanctuary, dedicated<br />
in 1987, that was capable <strong>of</strong> seating 500.<br />
Today, ALCC members enjoy a multi-acre<br />
complex in La Marque that <strong>of</strong>fers an accredited<br />
kindergarten through grade twelve charter<br />
school, recreational areas that include a skate<br />
park and other activities, an Internet and c<strong>of</strong>fee<br />
cafe, a book store and gift shop, numerous<br />
<strong>of</strong>fices and meeting rooms, a children’s<br />
education area and a spacious, state-<strong>of</strong>-theart<br />
75,398 square-foot sanctuary, dedicated<br />
in 1994 and capable <strong>of</strong> seating 4,000.<br />
“People are the purpose” is a popular<br />
phrase at ALCC, and in addition to regular<br />
morning and evening services on Sunday<br />
(complete with valet parking) and one on<br />
Wednesday evening, there are in-house and<br />
outreach ministries operating throughout<br />
each and every day. Supporting its mission to<br />
serve as a “place <strong>of</strong> love and healing,” the<br />
congregation is active in providing food to<br />
the needy, transportation for those without<br />
rides to medical and other critical appointments,<br />
and ministerial support for all.<br />
In addition to men’s, women’s and the innovative<br />
“Joyzone” children’s ministry, ALCC<br />
provides music and audio/visual ministries,<br />
plus the Chosen Youth Ministry for young<br />
people and the Abundant Life Ministries <strong>of</strong><br />
National Destiny Program (ALMOND).<br />
Of special importance to the congregation<br />
is Casa Angelina, an ALCC orphanage in<br />
Guatemala, named after Pastor Walter and<br />
Cindy Hallam’s middle daughter, Angela, who<br />
died in a plane crash in 2002. Dedicated to<br />
the Lord’s service, Angela was a gifted writer<br />
and musician, and today the orphanage carries<br />
on her work with dedication to serving<br />
young people through the provision <strong>of</strong> food,<br />
clothing, housing and education for approximately<br />
seventy impoverished street orphans.<br />
Reaching out at every opportunity, ALCC’s<br />
main campus hosts a number <strong>of</strong> live productions<br />
and dramatic presentations, including<br />
“Road to Emmaus,” an Easter drama based<br />
on scripture and initially conceptualized by<br />
Angela. Other annual events include the<br />
“Heartbreak Hotel-Hotel Hallelujah” and “Tour<br />
<strong>of</strong> Hell” multimedia presentations, and the<br />
Hallelujah Harvest event, held on October 31<br />
<strong>of</strong> each year. In addition to the onsite public<br />
charter school, Bible clubs and reading and<br />
recreational programs, ALCC’s youth activities<br />
include Vacation Bible School and an overnight<br />
camp in Columbus, Texas. With these events<br />
and ministries, Abundant Life Christian Center<br />
reaches thousands every week.<br />
Abundant Life Christian Church is located<br />
at 601 Delaney Road in La Marque and on the<br />
Internet at www.alcc.org.<br />
QUALITY OF LIFE<br />
131
BEACHTOWN<br />
With a visionary’s gift for<br />
successfully bridging the gap<br />
between dream and reality, T<strong>of</strong>igh<br />
Shirazi has created in <strong>Galveston</strong>’s<br />
Beachtown an oasis <strong>of</strong> common<br />
sense and uncommon beauty.<br />
Today, the “new urbanist” community<br />
on the island’s eastern<br />
shore is setting new standards<br />
for construction, aesthetics and<br />
sustainability in coastal living.<br />
Set adjacent to a 700 acre nature<br />
preserve and bounded on its<br />
southern shore by the Gulf <strong>of</strong><br />
Mexico, the development has been<br />
described as a “distinctive, appealing…architectural<br />
gem” unlike<br />
any other on the Texas coast.<br />
Framed with graceful arches<br />
and double galleried porches,<br />
Beachtown homes overlook sun-kissed<br />
dunes, palm trees and pristine lagoons.<br />
Arranged in traditional-style “villages,” they<br />
are centered about a town square <strong>of</strong>fering<br />
shops, recreational opportunities and other<br />
amenities. By incorporating architectural elements<br />
popular during <strong>Galveston</strong>’s Victoriaera<br />
“golden age,” the entire development has<br />
been meticulously designed to pay tribute to<br />
the island’s heritage, while also addressing<br />
environmental concerns, supporting modern<br />
lifestyle preferences and incorporating state<strong>of</strong>-the-art<br />
building practices and materials.<br />
Planned by Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co.,<br />
the firm that created Florida’s Seaside and<br />
Rosemary Beach, the community was<br />
designed with tree-lined passage ways that<br />
connect the lagoons to the beach. Featuring<br />
the architecture <strong>of</strong> numerous New Urban<br />
Guild Architects, including Michael G. Imber,<br />
Steve Mouzon, Eric Brown and Eric Moser,<br />
Beachtown <strong>of</strong>fers single family residences,<br />
townhomes and spacious l<strong>of</strong>ts.<br />
In addition to being recognized with the<br />
Palladio Award for architectural excellence,<br />
Beachtown has been featured in the New York<br />
Times and Wall Street Journal. It also was<br />
selected to showcase a <strong>Coastal</strong> Living magazine<br />
“Idea House,” and featured in Texas Architect<br />
Magazine where it was noted for its “casual<br />
seaside luxury.” In the aftermath <strong>of</strong> Hurricane<br />
Ike in 2008, Beachtown was singled out by<br />
ABC news for its ability to ride out the storm<br />
with only minor damages.<br />
This level <strong>of</strong> storm resistance is <strong>of</strong> utmost<br />
importance to Shirazi. Set directly on the<br />
beach front, all Beachtown homes are built<br />
to meet or exceed the “Fortified…for Safer<br />
Living” standards as established by the<br />
Institute for Business and Home Safety and<br />
the most rigorous construction standards<br />
established for coastal communities.<br />
Incorporating impact-resistant glass, steel<br />
portals, and concrete pilings and beams such as<br />
those used in highway construction, the living<br />
areas <strong>of</strong> Beachtown’s homes rise some twenty<br />
plus feet above sea level and provide improved<br />
levels <strong>of</strong> safety, security and durability,<br />
As the “beloved place” Shirazi first visualized,<br />
Beachtown today truly is his dream<br />
come true—“a total environment, a place to<br />
enjoy a sustainable, simple life by the sea.”<br />
As a plus, nature herself seems to concur;<br />
Beachtown boasts the island’s only sandaccreting<br />
shoreline, with its beaches building<br />
at a rate <strong>of</strong> about three feet a year.<br />
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SCENIC<br />
GALVESTON,<br />
INC.<br />
How many cities in America can boast a<br />
spectacular transportation approach traveling<br />
through natural and restored gateway wetlands?<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Island can!<br />
Mile after mile to and from <strong>Galveston</strong>,<br />
travelers on Interstate 45 pass 1,058 acres <strong>of</strong><br />
picturesque and pristine marsh—a stunning<br />
estuarial corridor accented by 1.9 miles <strong>of</strong><br />
shoreline and teeming with nature.<br />
But, this gateway has not always been<br />
quite so scenic. In fact, less than two decades<br />
ago, it was a proliferation <strong>of</strong> billboards, bait<br />
camps, levy walls, landfills and fireworks<br />
merchant stands, not to mention the soon-tobe<br />
home <strong>of</strong> an unsightly cabaret compound.<br />
“When we organized in 1992-93, our<br />
intertidal nursery wetlands were being<br />
environmentally and visually destroyed,” said<br />
Chairwoman Evangeline Whorton, referring<br />
to the all-volunteer nonpr<strong>of</strong>it habitat<br />
conservation service organization—SCENIC<br />
GALVESTON, Inc.—which she founded<br />
along with vice chairman Richard Kirkpatrick<br />
shortly after attending an eye-opening<br />
Livable Communities Conference in Austin.<br />
From the start, the goal <strong>of</strong> SCENIC<br />
GALVESTON (SG) was to acquire, restore<br />
and perpetually protect this natural corridor.<br />
And, even though the group did not have<br />
money, it did have friends—friends like<br />
John M. O’Quinn whose $500,000 contribution<br />
matched a North America Wetlands<br />
Conservation Act grant and jumpstarted<br />
SG’s efforts.<br />
Over the years, SG acquired and restored<br />
thirteen owners’ parcels on both sides <strong>of</strong> I-45<br />
between Bayou Vista and the southern end <strong>of</strong><br />
the Santé Fe Overpass and, in 2010, <strong>of</strong>ficially<br />
dedicated it the John M. O’Quinn Interstate<br />
45 Scenic Estuarial Corridor. Today, this<br />
corridor is not only a unique nursery ground<br />
preserve for wildlife, birds, aquatic species<br />
and disappearing coastal plant communities,<br />
it is also permanently deeded as a publicenjoyed<br />
conservation habitat appreciated by<br />
kayakers, canoers, photographers, fishermen,<br />
bird watchers, hikers, students and the like.<br />
It is also a catalyst for industry such as<br />
ecotourism, commercial and recreational<br />
fishing, shrimping, oystering, and vacation<br />
destination, just to name a few.<br />
But that is just part <strong>of</strong> the story.<br />
Today, with more than 900 volunteers,<br />
SG has raised 11 million dollars and acquired<br />
almost 3,000 acres. In 2001 it received Texas’<br />
first <strong>Coastal</strong> Impact Assistance Program grant,<br />
allowing for the acquisition <strong>of</strong> 1,500 acres<br />
in the contiguous Virginia Point Peninsula<br />
Preserve (VPPP) to protect premiere wetlands,<br />
native prairies, and almost five miles <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Bay shoreline. Another 350 acres is<br />
being added, which will permanently safeguard<br />
2,000 acres on VPPP that would have otherwise<br />
been lost to petrochemical development.<br />
As for the future, SG has its sights set on<br />
continuing to recover, restore, and protect the<br />
last remaining one percent <strong>of</strong> coastal Texas.<br />
Why? Because SG knows—as the group’s<br />
catchphrase coined years ago by a renowned<br />
environmentalist states—“Acre for acre, wetlands<br />
constitute the most ecological productive<br />
community our planet has to <strong>of</strong>fer.”<br />
Above: The enchanting West Marsh <strong>of</strong> the<br />
John M. O’Quinn I-45 Scenic Estuarial<br />
Corridor invites millions <strong>of</strong> visitors to enjoy<br />
and work in the marshes at Mile Markers<br />
6-7 <strong>of</strong>f Interstate 45 in <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
Below: The O’Quinn Pavilion, a Carl<br />
Brunsting AIA design, is the focal meeting<br />
place at Reitan Point for hundreds <strong>of</strong><br />
volunteers who participate regularly in<br />
cleaning and maintaining public<br />
non-intrusively used habitat conservation<br />
preserves owned by SCENIC GALVESTON.<br />
QUALITY OF LIFE<br />
133
CITY OF<br />
TEXAS CITY<br />
City <strong>of</strong> major industry and an international<br />
shipping port—city <strong>of</strong> lush green parks, friendly<br />
neighborhoods and vibrant lifestyle—the<br />
City <strong>of</strong> Texas City embraces many identities.<br />
Officially incorporated in 1911, the City <strong>of</strong><br />
Texas City traces its origins back to the<br />
1890s, when a group <strong>of</strong> investors saw the<br />
potential for a port on the north shore <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Bay. Under the name <strong>of</strong> the Texas<br />
City Improvement Company, the group purchased<br />
10,000 acres <strong>of</strong> land and over the next<br />
two decades, the fledgling port community<br />
rapidly expanded. A railroad line was laid,<br />
and the port’s ship channel was deepened.<br />
Schools, churches and businesses soon<br />
opened, cotton and grain shipping gave rise<br />
to affiliated industries, and 1908 saw the<br />
start-up <strong>of</strong> the city’s first oil refinery.<br />
Trees and open spaces abound while<br />
numerous fountains and outdoor sculptures<br />
adorn many public venues. From its advantageous<br />
location on the northern edge <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Bay, Texas City also enjoys a<br />
diversified economy that includes residential,<br />
commercial, environmental, retail, marine,<br />
healthcare, entertainment and tourism<br />
related businesses.<br />
With forty-four parks occupying 800<br />
acres, recreation facilities range from the<br />
world’s longest manmade fishing pier and<br />
a world-class natatorium to neighborhood<br />
tennis courts and splash parks. Other attractions<br />
include golf, boating and exploring<br />
wildlife sanctuaries. Heritage Square <strong>of</strong>fers a<br />
glimpse into the area’s historic past, and at<br />
Bay Street Park, a F-100 Super Saber Jet sits<br />
alongside a vintage biplane replica in<br />
tribute to the area’s having served as the<br />
birthplace <strong>of</strong> U.S. military aviation.<br />
The park also contains a ship’s anchor,<br />
one <strong>of</strong> several exhibits commemorating a<br />
massive dock-side explosion that in 1947<br />
killed hundreds and leveled a major portion<br />
<strong>of</strong> the city. In tribute to the community’s<br />
resilience and ability to recover from<br />
that and other disasters, a statue <strong>of</strong> the<br />
mythological Phoenix—also known for its<br />
ability to “rise from the ashes”—dominates<br />
the convention center plaza.<br />
Left: Texas City Dike is a levee that extends<br />
five miles southeast into the mouth <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Bay.<br />
Right: Phoenix Foundation located at Doyle<br />
Center Century Plaza.<br />
Since that time, Texas City has grown to<br />
become a center for many <strong>of</strong> the nation’s<br />
largest and most progressive petrochemical<br />
operations, but it is not a typical industrial<br />
community. Environmentally savvy, business<br />
friendly and extremely community-minded,<br />
it received the 1997 All-America City Award<br />
and also has been recognized by Money<br />
Magazine, Reader’s Digest, Food & Wine<br />
Magazine and the U.S. Conference <strong>of</strong> Mayors<br />
for its livability.<br />
Creating a better tomorrow has been a<br />
Texas City goal for more than a century, and<br />
today it is taking a leadership role in meeting<br />
the challenges <strong>of</strong> a changing world as it<br />
balances safety and environmental issues<br />
with commerce and community well-being.<br />
Inspired leadership and dedicated citizens<br />
have always made the difference in Texas<br />
City, and today this city by the bay is making<br />
a difference across the nation.<br />
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GULF<br />
GREYHOUND<br />
PARK<br />
When a slim and sleek greyhound sprints<br />
across the finish line at Gulf Greyhound Park,<br />
he is not just crossing any finish line—he is<br />
crossing the finish line <strong>of</strong> the world’s largest<br />
greyhound racing operation.<br />
Indeed, since the sounds <strong>of</strong> the bugle<br />
summoned the first set <strong>of</strong> canine racers for<br />
the track’s debut race on November 10, 1992,<br />
more than ten million fans have enjoyed live<br />
greyhound races and pari-mutuel wagering<br />
opportunities at Gulf Greyhound Park and,<br />
in the first decade, have taken home more<br />
than $1.4 billion in prize money.<br />
Year round—rain or shine—they come to<br />
the $55 million complex, which is located on<br />
100 acres in La Marque, Texas, and features<br />
a four-level, 315,000 square foot, climatecontrolled<br />
facility as well as an expansive<br />
parking lot with 8,000-plus parking spaces.<br />
The track seats 6,600 with a total facility<br />
spectator capacity <strong>of</strong> 14,000 and there are<br />
318 teller windows as well as 1,100 closedcircuit<br />
televisions throughout the complex so<br />
that fans can monitor races, learning how to<br />
bet or watch a favorite sporting event.<br />
Dining options are also plentiful with a<br />
variety <strong>of</strong> food and beverages to meet every<br />
patron’s taste and budget. On the second level<br />
<strong>of</strong> the facility is a complete food court with<br />
a variety <strong>of</strong> menus as well as the Terrace<br />
Clubhouse that seats approximately 900 people<br />
for full-service dining before and during<br />
performances. The Clubhouse tables overlook<br />
the track, providing patrons with an excellent<br />
view <strong>of</strong> the races. Also, inside the Clubhouse<br />
is the Terrace Bar featuring all the amenities <strong>of</strong><br />
a hometown bar with a big screen television<br />
and many other smaller televisions throughout<br />
as well as friendly tellers for placing bets<br />
or punching winning tickets. Reservations<br />
to the Terrace Clubhouse and Bar are recommended.<br />
In addition to the second-level <strong>of</strong>ferings,<br />
there are numerous other concession<br />
and beverage areas throughout the facility.<br />
The track itself is a quarter mile made up<br />
<strong>of</strong> a sand composition surface with courses<br />
<strong>of</strong> 5/16ths, 3/8ths and 7/16ths <strong>of</strong> a mile.<br />
Fourteen kennels are located on the grounds<br />
with each capable <strong>of</strong> housing up to sixty-two<br />
greyhounds and equipped with hot water<br />
supplies, whirlpool, central heat, heat alarm<br />
and fire alarm systems, plus twenty-four hour<br />
security. The park is owned and managed<br />
by Gulf Greyhound Partners, Ltd., a Texas<br />
controlled partnership.<br />
Gulf Greyhound Park is open seven days a<br />
week with simulcast races on Mondays and<br />
Tuesdays and live racing Wednesday through<br />
Sunday. The park is located once block west<br />
<strong>of</strong> 1-45 South at Exit 15, 30 miles south <strong>of</strong><br />
Houston and just 15 miles north <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>.<br />
For more information, call 1-800-ASK-2WIN<br />
or visit online at www.gulfgreyhound.com.<br />
Above: And they’re <strong>of</strong>f!<br />
Below: Down the stretch to the finish line!<br />
QUALITY OF LIFE<br />
135
The Marketplace<br />
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136
<strong>Galveston</strong>’s retail and commercial<br />
establishments <strong>of</strong>fer an<br />
impressive variety <strong>of</strong> choices<br />
ERF Wireless, Inc. .....................................................................138<br />
Kleen Supply Company ...............................................................140<br />
Hygeia Enviro-Clean, Inc............................................................142<br />
AMOCO Federal Credit Union .....................................................144<br />
Matthews, Inc. ..........................................................................146<br />
The Law Firm <strong>of</strong> Alton C. Todd....................................................148<br />
J&J Telecommunications..............................................................150<br />
Texas City-La Marque Chamber <strong>of</strong> Commerce .................................152<br />
HomeTown Bank, N.A. ................................................................154<br />
A-1 Fire Equipment Co. ..............................................................155<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Chamber <strong>of</strong> Commerce..................................................156<br />
Texas First Bank .......................................................................157<br />
Better Business Bureau ...............................................................158<br />
ROBCO Facility Services.............................................................159<br />
GIA Insurance...........................................................................160<br />
Leslie Watts..............................................................................161<br />
Mihovil Photography ..................................................................162<br />
THE MARKETPLACE<br />
137
ERF WIRELESS,<br />
INC.<br />
Right: ERF Wireless coverage—Texas region.<br />
Whether a banker, teacher or business owner<br />
behind a desk somewhere in rural Kansas, a<br />
rancher living in the vast plains <strong>of</strong> Oklahoma or<br />
a worker moving to yet another oil drilling site<br />
in the most remote location <strong>of</strong> Texas, everyone<br />
needs to stay connected these days.<br />
But for many living and working in the<br />
more rural and sparsely populated areas <strong>of</strong><br />
America, staying connected has not always<br />
been easy. ERF Wireless, Inc., <strong>of</strong> League City,<br />
Texas, in <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> is quietly going<br />
about a business model that is changing that<br />
situation for many Americans.<br />
ERF Wireless, Inc., is a public company, founded<br />
by ex-NASA manager Dr. H. Dean Cubley<br />
in 2004. ERF Wireless provides<br />
wireless broadband communications<br />
products and services on a<br />
nationwide basis to enterprise,<br />
commercial and retail users and<br />
focuses on vertical markets such<br />
as regional banks, the oil and gas<br />
industry, education, healthcare,<br />
enterprise, and residential customers<br />
located in areas that have<br />
limited services.<br />
“Cable or telephone-line DSL,<br />
it is not a viable option for those<br />
who work and live in the most<br />
rural un-served areas <strong>of</strong> our country<br />
or for those whose business<br />
requires them to frequently move about,” said<br />
ERF Wireless founder and chief executive <strong>of</strong>ficer<br />
Dr. H. Dean Cubley. “We fully understand<br />
the need in rural America for quality broadband<br />
communications and at ERF Wireless<br />
we are confident that wireless broadband<br />
technology is not only viable, but is the most<br />
logical solution in these situations.”<br />
Indeed, ERF Wireless firmly believes<br />
that for rural America wireless broadband<br />
has already become the “third pipe” as<br />
both an alternative and extension to DSL<br />
and cable modem. In many cases,<br />
this is a superior alternative<br />
because it is not only versatile,<br />
it is also less expensive than a<br />
wired solution, faster to implement<br />
and fully configurable for<br />
one or more applications.<br />
This is where ERF Wireless—one<br />
<strong>of</strong> America’s largest wireless Internet<br />
service providers (WISPs)—enters.<br />
“Our company has already<br />
developed an extensive wide-area<br />
wireless broadband network in<br />
North America and Canada by a<br />
combination <strong>of</strong> acquiring, constructing and<br />
contracting for our wireless broadband<br />
network coverage,” said Cubley, adding that<br />
his company as <strong>of</strong> 2011 is already actively<br />
working in five states including Texas,<br />
Oklahoma, Kansas, Louisiana, and New<br />
Mexico, and already has wireless network<br />
coverage available in Colorado, Wyoming,<br />
Arkansas, and Alberta, Canada.<br />
While ERF Wireless has many thousands<br />
<strong>of</strong> residential and commercial customers<br />
within the rural wireless broadband network<br />
coverage, the heart <strong>of</strong> their business strategy<br />
is to utilize these networks, in addition, to<br />
service the more pr<strong>of</strong>itable vertical markets.<br />
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In some vertical markets, such as the company’s<br />
largest—the rural needs <strong>of</strong> the oil and<br />
gas industry—Cubley says that wireless<br />
broadband is really the only logical solution<br />
for meeting modern digital communications<br />
needs. Previously VSAT satellite terminals had<br />
been the norm for this market but modern<br />
drilling and exploration s<strong>of</strong>tware utilized by<br />
the oil and gas companies has made the VSAT<br />
solution unacceptable due to the inherent<br />
time delay (“latency”) <strong>of</strong> the VSAT.<br />
“The drilling would be over by the time a<br />
copper or fiber connection was laid,” he said.<br />
“These “nomadic” operations simply cannot<br />
go to the local telephone company and get<br />
service that supports the way they operate.<br />
We can literally follow them wherever they go<br />
and can be at a new site in a matter <strong>of</strong> hours.”<br />
To provide the wireless broadband service to<br />
these rural oil and gas locations ERF Wireless<br />
has formed a wholly owned<br />
Energy Broadband (“EBI”)<br />
subsidiary company. EBI utilizes<br />
a large fleet <strong>of</strong> mobile<br />
broadband trailers (“MBT”)<br />
that contain erectable fiftyfoot<br />
towers that are utilized<br />
to connect back to ERF<br />
Wireless’ extensive broadband<br />
network coverage to<br />
complete the connection.<br />
When the oil and gas customer<br />
needs the circuit established, EBI can<br />
respond within a matter <strong>of</strong> hours. When it<br />
comes time to move to the next drill location,<br />
EBI folds the tower down and moves right<br />
along with the drilling crew.<br />
Another example <strong>of</strong> a vertical market in<br />
which ERF Wireless has found great success<br />
is the regional banking industry. Employing<br />
leading-edge wireless broadband technology<br />
and its proprietary CryptoVue ® Network<br />
Security Appliance, ERF Wireless has established<br />
in these very rural locations an extremely<br />
competitive advantage and is the nation’s<br />
leading provider for secure wireless networks<br />
in the regional banking industry. To date, our<br />
regional bank customers have replaced expensive<br />
T1 telephone networks by<br />
utilizing our CryptoVue security<br />
appliance together with wireless<br />
networks that we designed and<br />
built. These banks are now connected<br />
across three states at more than<br />
one hundred banking locations.<br />
Another vertical market, initiated<br />
in 2011, in which ERF Wireless<br />
is very active is the rural education<br />
sector, which is in areas within or<br />
near locations where ERF Wireless<br />
already has network coverage.<br />
These educational applications have<br />
many things in common with the regional<br />
banking application because they are in<br />
extremely rural settings, but need the advantages<br />
<strong>of</strong> broadband connectivity just as their<br />
more urban counterparts. ERF Wireless can<br />
effectively provide a quality wireless broadband<br />
solution in many <strong>of</strong> these school districts<br />
and has already implemented many <strong>of</strong><br />
these educational networks to date.<br />
In addition to the company’s headquarters<br />
there are regional <strong>of</strong>fices in Pampa, Lubbock,<br />
Odessa, Justin, and Plains, Texas.<br />
For more information on ERF Wireless, visit<br />
www.erfwireless.com or www.erfwireless.net.<br />
Above: Energy Broadband provides wireless<br />
broadband directly to the remote<br />
customer locations.<br />
Below: ERF Wireless BranchNet wireless<br />
network for regional banks.<br />
THE MARKETPLACE<br />
139
KLEEN SUPPLY<br />
COMPANY<br />
Below: Carlos Peña and his father, Mario<br />
Peña, founder <strong>of</strong> Kleen Supply Company,<br />
August 1988.<br />
Bottom: Loyal staff works on orders and<br />
keeping up with customers’ needs. Left to<br />
right: Russ O’Connor, Frank Macaluso,<br />
Johnny de los Santos, Rafael Galindo,<br />
Berta Peña, Diane Peña and Carlos Peña.<br />
The happy, cartoon-like octopus over the<br />
front entry has his tentacles full. Sporting<br />
mops, brushes, sponges, a bucket and broom,<br />
he is a one busy guy, but not nearly as busy as<br />
the real-life owner inside.<br />
Carlos Peña, <strong>of</strong> Kleen Supply Company in<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>, is a man <strong>of</strong> many missions, a fact<br />
quickly apparent with a brief look around his<br />
large store. In addition to row after row <strong>of</strong><br />
industrial cleaning equipment, supplies and<br />
related items, and a special shop featuring<br />
pool and patio products, Peña’s <strong>of</strong>fice area is<br />
that <strong>of</strong> a hands-on executive, but one with<br />
strong family and some unusual community<br />
and international ties.<br />
Evidence <strong>of</strong> his many projects are, as anticipated,<br />
arranged across his desk, and a shelf<br />
displays photos <strong>of</strong> his wife, children, grandson<br />
and other family members and friends. Then<br />
there are photos <strong>of</strong> Peña participating in<br />
various community events, and a photo from<br />
London when he visited<br />
with the Archbishop <strong>of</strong><br />
Canterbury and a photo <strong>of</strong><br />
Peña meeting with Pope<br />
Benedict XVI at the Vatican<br />
in Rome.<br />
Now the Pope and the<br />
Archbishop have very little<br />
to do with Kleen Supply,<br />
but Peña’s life has much<br />
to do with all three, as well<br />
as the presiding Bishop <strong>of</strong><br />
the Evangelical Lutheran<br />
Church in America. As one<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>’s most civic-minded business<br />
leaders, he has also become one <strong>of</strong> its most<br />
altruistic, and today not only manages the<br />
largest cleaning supply business in <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>, but also is in his second term as vice<br />
president <strong>of</strong> the ELCA and is on the board <strong>of</strong><br />
the World Council <strong>of</strong> Churches, a position that<br />
takes him literally all over the world.<br />
Kleen Supply’s mission statement—“To<br />
provide the best service and care possible”—<br />
could also be a defining statement for Peña’s<br />
mission in life, both personal and public.<br />
Described as a person who has an “eye for<br />
possibility,” he is deeply committed to his<br />
company, his community and his church, and<br />
whether he is trying to find the best product<br />
for a challenging cleaning project, presiding<br />
over a local civic group, or meeting with<br />
world religious leaders in Geneva, his focus is<br />
on “service” and “care.”<br />
That “eye for possibility” trait could also be<br />
said <strong>of</strong> Peña’s father, Mario, who founded<br />
Kleen Supply in the family’s <strong>Galveston</strong> garage<br />
in August <strong>of</strong> 1971, the same year the younger<br />
Peña was graduating from <strong>Galveston</strong>’s Ball<br />
High School. Since that time, the business has<br />
grown from several pallets <strong>of</strong> merchandise on<br />
a garage floor to the current cleaning-supply<br />
emporium <strong>of</strong> 26,000 square feet.<br />
Although his father <strong>of</strong>ten said, “Once you<br />
work for yourself, you’ll never work for anyone<br />
else,” Peña did not immediately join the<br />
family business. In love with the trombone<br />
and equipped with a degree in music education<br />
from the University <strong>of</strong> Houston, he spent<br />
three years as a band director in <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
schools before joining Kleen Supply in 1979.<br />
During that same time frame, a romance<br />
also emerged between Peña and an attractive<br />
U <strong>of</strong> H coed named Diane, also from<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>. They both laugh as they recount<br />
how the relationship began. It was during the<br />
Lenten season and she needed a ride to her<br />
Lutheran church for Wednesday vespers. She<br />
asked him—as a casual acquaintance with a<br />
car—to drive her. He agreed, though he still<br />
jests about whether it was divine intervention<br />
or because he knew that the event would be<br />
followed by a covered dish supper. Whatever<br />
the cause, he soon joined her church and her,<br />
and they were married in 1978.<br />
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Today, the Peñas jointly run the multimillion<br />
dollar Kleen Supply business, with the<br />
help <strong>of</strong> a small but long-term staff. “We have<br />
loyal employees and loyal customers,” says<br />
Diane, adding that the fact that many <strong>of</strong> their<br />
employees have been with them for more<br />
than fifteen years—and include his mother<br />
and her father, who still work on a part<br />
time basis—is illustrative <strong>of</strong> the stability and<br />
family spirit <strong>of</strong> Kleen Supply.<br />
Herself a teacher and then a school administrator<br />
for many years, Diane retired from<br />
her career at about the same time that Peña<br />
was first elected to the ELCA vice presidential<br />
post during the group’s 2003 Churchwide<br />
Assembly in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.<br />
Assuming heavy responsibility was not<br />
new to Peña. A director <strong>of</strong> Texas First Bank<br />
and a member <strong>of</strong> numerous University <strong>of</strong><br />
Texas Medical Branch and civic boards, he has<br />
served as president <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> Historical<br />
Foundation and on the Gulf Coast Regional<br />
Governing Board <strong>of</strong> Christus Health. He also<br />
has received the Young Lawyers Association <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Liberty Bell Award and been named<br />
a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow.<br />
Recognizing, however, that this new “job,”<br />
the ELCA’s highest ranking lay position,<br />
would require an enhanced level <strong>of</strong> commitment<br />
and extensive travel, the couple decided<br />
that she would stay in <strong>Galveston</strong> and tend to<br />
the daily needs <strong>of</strong> the business while he took<br />
on what they both saw as a larger calling.<br />
“This is the way God has chosen to use me<br />
at this point in my life,” says Peña, citing the<br />
fact that owning his own business is a major<br />
factor in allowing him the freedom to accept<br />
such a demanding position. He quotes his<br />
father again, saying, “Put the time into your<br />
own business, and you’ll do well and have the<br />
ability to do other things.”<br />
In addition to specific duties such as<br />
chairing the ECLA executive committee and<br />
board <strong>of</strong> directors, Peña also has ad hoc<br />
responsibilities assigned by the church’s<br />
bishop. “When the bishop calls and says,<br />
‘I need for you to go to Jerusalem, or Indonesia<br />
or Ramala or Istanbul,’ I go,” he says.<br />
Meanwhile, back at the store, there are<br />
orders to be placed and deliveries to be made.<br />
Although the emphasis is on cleaning and<br />
paper products—toilet tissue being the most<br />
popular item—Kleen Supply’s inventory is<br />
diverse and includes pesticides, safety and<br />
emergency equipment, c<strong>of</strong>fee, condiments<br />
and wholesale concession and food items—<br />
even candy and snow-cone syrup. “If there’s<br />
a demand, we carry it,” laughs Diane.<br />
Above: Kleen Supply Company, May 2011.<br />
Below: Experienced warehouse crew gathers<br />
orders for prompt delivery. Left to right:<br />
Jessie Hernandez, Richard Hernandez,<br />
Rafael Galindo, and Eddie Perez.<br />
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141
HYGEIA<br />
ENVIRO-CLEAN,<br />
INC.<br />
Left to right: Dolores Cuchia with founder<br />
and father Anthony J. Cuchia, Sr.<br />
Cleanliness can mean the difference<br />
between a productive and apathetic workplace;<br />
between a fruitful and listless learning<br />
environment or, for that matter, any other<br />
place that people choose to live their lives<br />
each and every day. It can mean the difference<br />
between sickness and health, even the difference<br />
between life and death and is the very<br />
reason the people <strong>of</strong> Hygeia Enviro-Clean,<br />
Inc. take their jobs so seriously.<br />
On any given day, anyone who lives or<br />
works within the 100 mile or so radius<br />
encircling Hygeia’s home-base will very likely<br />
come into contact with the services and<br />
products it provides. The company’s figurative<br />
fingerprints are everywhere—from inside<br />
the janitor’s mop bucket, public restrooms,<br />
restaurants, shopping malls, retail stores,<br />
schools, churches and industrial plants to<br />
inside a myriad <strong>of</strong> medical facilities.<br />
A six-plus decade family business now<br />
headquartered in neighboring Houston, it is<br />
a major distributor <strong>of</strong> commercial and industrial<br />
cleaning supplies and equipment. It<br />
employs approximately thirty people, each<br />
one fully dedicated to exceeding customers’<br />
expectations by delivering excellent customer<br />
service and quality products which help<br />
clients not only create a healthier and safer<br />
environment for today, but one which is<br />
sustainable well into the future.<br />
“We strive to contribute to the success<br />
<strong>of</strong> our customers and to always provide not<br />
only the top <strong>of</strong> the line maintenance supplies<br />
and equipment, but to also support those<br />
customers with on-going knowledge <strong>of</strong> new<br />
and improved products, equipment and<br />
methods,” Vincent Leone, Sr., owner, president<br />
and CEO, said in a recent interview.<br />
An example <strong>of</strong> Hygeia Enviro-Clean’s<br />
constant quest for the latest products and<br />
innovations to benefit its clients came about<br />
recently when many institutional clients were<br />
faced with new environmental standards and<br />
certifications, which forced them to search<br />
for more maintainable alternatives to the<br />
harsh, synthetic hand soaps and sanitizers<br />
they were using. Hygeia provided these<br />
clients with a worthy alternative when it<br />
teamed up with a flourishing skin care<br />
company that had developed high-quality<br />
hand hygiene products that blend environmentalism<br />
with infection prevention.<br />
Located at 11314 Windfern Road in<br />
Houston, Hygeia Enviro-Clean’s headquarters<br />
includes a large warehouse distribution center,<br />
a retail showroom, a training center as<br />
well as management and sales <strong>of</strong>fices, all<br />
housed in a modern 12,500 square foot<br />
facility built in 2005. This facility’s warehouse<br />
is stocked with the most requested products<br />
so that customers may purchase onsite or<br />
order for delivery by either phone or the<br />
company’s website at www.hygeiaec.com.<br />
Perhaps, however, the most unique aspect<br />
<strong>of</strong> the facility is the Hygeia Training Academy,<br />
a specially designed and equipped training<br />
center where clients can learn the latest in<br />
products and techniques. The training center<br />
has fully functional demonstration fixtures<br />
and six different types <strong>of</strong> flooring, all ideal for<br />
practicing the correct application <strong>of</strong> the latest<br />
commercial cleaning and floor care products.<br />
In addition to the Houston headquarters,<br />
the company also has a division with <strong>of</strong>fices<br />
in Beaumont. This division continues to promote<br />
public awareness <strong>of</strong> maintaining the<br />
environment utilizing the present and ongoing<br />
development <strong>of</strong> cleaning supplies and<br />
equipment. The Beaumont <strong>of</strong>fices and warehouse<br />
distribution center are located at 7550<br />
College Street in Beaumont and serves the<br />
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142
“Golden Triangle”—Beaumont, Orange and<br />
Port Arthur—with deliveries as far as Lufkin,<br />
a radius <strong>of</strong> more than one hundred miles.<br />
Enviro-Clean was founded as Hygeia<br />
Chemical Company in <strong>Galveston</strong> in 1944 by<br />
Anthony J. Cuchia, Sr. Cuchia ran the company,<br />
growing it from little more than a dream<br />
into a thriving company with <strong>of</strong>fices in two<br />
cities—<strong>Galveston</strong> and Beaumont. It was a<br />
family business from the start with all <strong>of</strong><br />
Cuchia’s children affiliated with the company<br />
at one time or another. In fact, eldest daughter<br />
Dolores worked for years as her father’s<br />
secretary and <strong>of</strong>fice manager. A second<br />
daughter, Toni, took charge <strong>of</strong> the Beaumont<br />
branch after it was opened in 1961 and, in<br />
later years, yet another daughter, Patti, also<br />
managed the Beaumont operation.<br />
Even after the senior Cuchia died unexpectedly<br />
in 1965 and the business was<br />
divided into two separate corporations—<br />
Hygeia Chemical Company, Inc. <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
and Hygeia Chemical Company Inc. <strong>of</strong><br />
Beaumont—both remained in the family. The<br />
founder’s son, A. J. Cuchia, Jr., took over the<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> operation following his graduation<br />
from Texas A&M University and still operates<br />
it under the name <strong>of</strong> Hygeia Chemical<br />
Company today. Dolores and husband,<br />
Vincent Leone, Sr., purchased the Beaumont<br />
division, eventually changing the name to<br />
Hygeia Enviro-Clean, Inc. Leone remains at<br />
Enviro-Clean’s helm.<br />
“It is our commitment and goal to continue<br />
what Mr. Cuchia, Sr., started in 1944,”<br />
Leone said. “A company dedicated to providing<br />
outstanding products and service and to<br />
remain committed to environmental sustainability—past,<br />
present and future.”<br />
For more information on Hygeia Enviro-<br />
Clean, Inc., visit online at .www.hygeiaec.com.<br />
President and CEO Vincent Leone, Sr.<br />
THE MARKETPLACE<br />
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AMOCO<br />
FEDERAL<br />
CREDIT UNION<br />
Whether borrowing or saving, playing or<br />
graying, AMOCO Federal Credit Union<br />
stands ready to help its members reach their<br />
financial goals with personally attuned programs<br />
to address modern-day lifestyles.<br />
Whatever the need—a new or better car, a<br />
starter or larger home, an improved education,<br />
a long-awaited vacation or secure retirement—AMOCO<br />
FCU’s mission is “to serve<br />
and satisfy” its members.<br />
Throughout its more than seventy year history,<br />
the organization has built a reputation<br />
for providing strong, long-term monetary<br />
guidance and vigilant management <strong>of</strong> its<br />
members’ resources. Begun in 1937 as the<br />
Pan-Am Employees Federal Credit Union, its<br />
certificate <strong>of</strong> organization was signed by<br />
William J. Myers, then governor <strong>of</strong> the Farm<br />
Credit Administration that played a major<br />
role in President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s<br />
New Deal to help the struggling<br />
nation recover from the 1929 stock<br />
market crash and the subsequent Great<br />
Depression and Dust Bowl disasters.<br />
Inaugurated with 169 members and<br />
$28,000 in assets, the Pan-Am Employees<br />
FCU was dedicated initially to serving<br />
the financial needs <strong>of</strong> employees <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Pan American Refining Corporation <strong>of</strong><br />
Texas City and even had its <strong>of</strong>fices located<br />
within the refinery complex. A 1947<br />
expansion, however, opened the credit<br />
union to include employees <strong>of</strong> Amoco<br />
Chemicals in Texas City and Amoco (Pan<br />
American) subsidiary. Changing its name<br />
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in 1955 to Amoco Federal Credit Union to<br />
correspond with the new name <strong>of</strong> its sponsor<br />
company, Amoco Oil Refinery, the credit<br />
union grew during the post WWII years to<br />
include 3,100 members and $2.6 million in<br />
assets in 1957.<br />
With the merger <strong>of</strong> British Petroleum and<br />
Amoco Oil in 1998 to form BP Amoco and a<br />
subsequent decision in 2004 to call the company<br />
BP, the credit union made the choice to<br />
maintain the Amoco name because it represented<br />
stability and familiarity in the community.<br />
The one change that was made was to<br />
redesign the name so that it became the<br />
acronym AMOCO FCU, standing for A<br />
Member Owned Cooperative Organization<br />
Federal Credit Union.<br />
Although financial challenges—and the<br />
credit union’s name—may have changed over<br />
time, AMOCO FCU today remains steadfast<br />
in its ability and dedication to helping members<br />
manage their financial lives and build for<br />
the future while providing for the present.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the largest and most progressive credit<br />
unions in the Houston/<strong>Galveston</strong> area,<br />
it today lists assets <strong>of</strong> more than $540 million<br />
and includes a diversified membership<br />
consisting <strong>of</strong> more than 300 local sponsor<br />
companies and 62,000 members.<br />
Offering a full range <strong>of</strong> financial products<br />
including checking and savings accounts,<br />
loans, credit cards, investments, insurance<br />
and financial planning, AMOCO FCU<br />
additionally seeks to educate its members <strong>of</strong><br />
all ages about sensible money management<br />
and to help improve individual financial<br />
conditions and foster financial literacy in<br />
the community-at-large. Dedicating financial<br />
resources as well as the time and talents <strong>of</strong> its<br />
staff, AMOCO FCU sponsors programs such<br />
as A-Zone Accounts for members under twenty-two<br />
years <strong>of</strong> age, and BALANCE, a program<br />
designed to help members acquire financial<br />
control <strong>of</strong> their daily lives. For members fiftyfive<br />
and over, it <strong>of</strong>fers the Platinum Club that<br />
meets quarterly and <strong>of</strong>fers group travel events.<br />
In one <strong>of</strong> its most innovative programs and<br />
the first such event in the Houston area,<br />
AMOCO FCU in 2009 initiated an “Earn or<br />
Burn Challenge” with a grand prize <strong>of</strong> $20,000.<br />
Selecting four families out <strong>of</strong> 200 applicants<br />
from its membership, the credit union set up a<br />
reality-show format to follow the “contestants”<br />
as they worked toward specific financial goals<br />
over a ten month period. Each family was<br />
assigned a “coach” and charged with the challenge<br />
<strong>of</strong> improving its financial health and creating<br />
new spending and saving habits. Progress<br />
was monitored on a monthly basis, and a blog<br />
set up to allow others to observe how each<br />
family was addressing its challenges over the<br />
contest period.<br />
At the end <strong>of</strong> the contest, although there<br />
was only one grand prize winner, all the families<br />
felt they had “won” in that they all had<br />
achieved significant financial improvement<br />
and had developed important skills for better<br />
life-long understanding and control <strong>of</strong> the<br />
financial aspects <strong>of</strong> their lives.<br />
Such support on a one-to-one basis is a<br />
major key to AMOCO FCU’s growth. The<br />
satisfaction and loyalty <strong>of</strong> members and the<br />
commitment <strong>of</strong> its employees and volunteers<br />
have been apparent throughout its history.<br />
Functioning as a financially healthy institution<br />
during even unstable economic times, it<br />
was a one-branch credit union until 2005,<br />
when the decision was made to open a second<br />
branch in Bay Colony. Within the first six<br />
months <strong>of</strong> that branch opening, 1,000 new<br />
members joined AMOCO FCU and the tellers<br />
performed approximately 250,000 transactions.<br />
Four more new branches opened in the<br />
next four years, and, going back to the original<br />
idea <strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong>fering onsite services for refinery<br />
workers, a one employee “microbranch” was<br />
opened in 2007 at the BP refinery.<br />
Through donations, sponsorships and volunteerism,<br />
AMOCO FCU and its representatives<br />
and employees actively participate in a<br />
diverse array <strong>of</strong> civic and charitable organizations.<br />
Active with all nine local chambers <strong>of</strong><br />
commerce, it has formed additional partnerships<br />
with nonpr<strong>of</strong>it groups and participates<br />
in numerous programs and events each year<br />
that focus on community, health and wellness,<br />
youth, education, and other select groups.<br />
It also partners with other area credit unions<br />
through the Gulf Coast and Houston Chapter<br />
<strong>of</strong> Credit Unions, and is recognized as a leader<br />
in the credit union community for its support<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Children’s Miracle Network.<br />
THE MARKETPLACE<br />
145
MATTHEWS, INC.<br />
Above: James A. “Jimmy” Matthews, Sr.<br />
The story <strong>of</strong> Matthews, Inc., is more than<br />
just a story about a fuel and tire service. It is<br />
the story <strong>of</strong> a true family business—a story <strong>of</strong><br />
a son and a grandson who continue to build<br />
on the legacy started by family patriarch,<br />
James A. “Jimmy” Matthews, Sr., nearly seven<br />
decades ago.<br />
An extremely hard working man, the senior<br />
Matthews started Matthews, Inc., in 1942<br />
as a full-service fuel and tire station selling<br />
Republic Oil. From the start, the foundation<br />
he laid for his business was the same foundation<br />
<strong>of</strong> honesty and integrity that he lived by.<br />
He was also careful to follow the guidelines<br />
established by the industry organizations<br />
which he so proudly served—organizations<br />
such as the Texas Service Stations Association<br />
and Texas Association <strong>of</strong> Petroleum Retailers<br />
for which he served as regional vice president<br />
and president, respectively.<br />
The industry’s code <strong>of</strong> ethics was his code<br />
<strong>of</strong> ethics as he committed himself to creating<br />
a service station where integrity meant more<br />
than pr<strong>of</strong>it; where honesty meant more than<br />
volume; and where honor was the watchword<br />
in sales and service. What is more, he<br />
instilled each <strong>of</strong> these beliefs and principals<br />
in every one <strong>of</strong> his employees as well as in<br />
the two generations <strong>of</strong> Matthews’ men—<br />
James A. “Ossie” Matthews, Jr., and James A.<br />
“Trey” Matthews III—who would eventually<br />
take over the business.<br />
Ossie grew up working with his father<br />
down at the shop. Back in the 1940s and<br />
1950s, the company was not only a service<br />
station, but was also a paint and body shop.<br />
Ossie learned all facets <strong>of</strong> the business from<br />
his dad and was thrilled when his own son,<br />
Trey, showed an interest in the business as<br />
well. Trey started working down at the shop<br />
after school and on weekends when he was<br />
just fifteen years old and had the wonderful<br />
opportunity to work with<br />
both his father and his<br />
grandfather for many years.<br />
He is next in line to take<br />
over the business once Ossie<br />
retires, just as Ossie did<br />
when his father retired.<br />
Indeed, today, Ossie and<br />
Trey proudly continue to<br />
carry the torch passed to<br />
them by the senior Matthews<br />
and can be found daily at the<br />
facilities <strong>of</strong> Matthews, Inc.,<br />
located at 531 Texas Avenue,<br />
where the company has been<br />
located since 1945. It is here<br />
that they succeed in keeping<br />
up the family tradition <strong>of</strong><br />
honest, reliable tire sales and<br />
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146
services to a host <strong>of</strong> customers<br />
every day, some <strong>of</strong> them being<br />
third generation themselves.<br />
In addition to commercial and<br />
retail tire sales and service,<br />
Matthews, Inc., also <strong>of</strong>fers a variety<br />
<strong>of</strong> other services to include<br />
countywide road service calls,<br />
wholesale fuel sales and deliveries,<br />
a gas station and more. To<br />
provide these services, the company<br />
employs seven <strong>of</strong> the most<br />
dedicated, loyal, hardworking<br />
and skilled employees as well as a<br />
fleet <strong>of</strong> four vehicles—two tire service repair<br />
trucks and two fuel delivery trucks. The trucks<br />
and teams are steadily on the go repairing and<br />
replacing tires all around Texas City and the<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> area, including inside many<br />
<strong>of</strong> the area’s oil refinery plants, some days all<br />
day long. The company specializes in Cooper<br />
Tires and Hankook Tires.<br />
The Matthews, Inc., station is also constantly<br />
busy during operation hours with cars<br />
and trucks needing fuel or tires; with one <strong>of</strong><br />
the most unique features being the station’s<br />
full-service gas pumps. While most stations<br />
have long given way to the self-service pump,<br />
Matthews, Inc., has <strong>of</strong>fered full service since<br />
the day it went into business in 1942.<br />
“Many <strong>of</strong> our customers are companies that<br />
come to us to fill up their company vehicles,<br />
but we also still have a lot <strong>of</strong> personal<br />
accounts that still come in as well. Some are<br />
the elderly or disabled or just customers<br />
who have been using our full-service pumps<br />
forever,” said Ossie. “And as long as<br />
there is a need for full-service at the gas<br />
pump, we will be providing it.”<br />
In addition to caring about its customers,<br />
the owners and employees <strong>of</strong><br />
Matthews, Inc. also truly care about the<br />
community in which they live and work,<br />
actively giving back by sponsoring<br />
various organization and events including<br />
sports teams, cook-<strong>of</strong>f teams, Texas<br />
City Independent School District events<br />
and Texas City-La Marque Chamber <strong>of</strong><br />
Commerce events, just to name a few.<br />
“If anyone ever wonders what it takes<br />
to withstand the test <strong>of</strong> time, we think<br />
that we have found the answer. At least<br />
at Matthews, Inc., we feel the secret to<br />
our success is simple—knowing our<br />
customers on a first name basis and<br />
always putting them first,” Ossie said.<br />
“That’s the way dad started the business<br />
almost seventy years ago and that’s the<br />
way it will always be done as long as we<br />
are around.”<br />
For more information on Matthews,<br />
Inc., call (409) 945-0277.<br />
Left to right, James A. “Ossie” Matthews, Jr.,<br />
and James A. “Trey” Matthews III.<br />
THE MARKETPLACE<br />
147
THE LAW FIRM OF<br />
ALTON C. TODD<br />
Above: Alton C. Todd.<br />
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF IMAGING STUDIOS.<br />
Below: The Todd children, left to right,<br />
Jeff Todd, Kamilah Todd, Seth Park,<br />
Kari Todd, Mike Todd, Jennifer Evans<br />
and Matt Todd.<br />
Cows, pizza parlors, railroads and<br />
refineries—whatever a client’s concern, The<br />
Law Firm <strong>of</strong> Alton C. Todd, located in<br />
Friendswood, upholds the philosophy <strong>of</strong><br />
“Your Case is Our Cause.”<br />
Named one <strong>of</strong> the Top Ten Texas Super<br />
Lawyers by Texas Monthly, Alton C. Todd, the<br />
son <strong>of</strong> a farmer and mail carrier, is known for<br />
his tenacity and success in the courtroom and<br />
also his willingness to take on cases that<br />
other attorneys might reject.<br />
“An attorney too big to try a small case<br />
is too small to try a big case,” says Todd,<br />
who was included in the 2008 Bar Register<br />
<strong>of</strong> Preeminent Lawyers, elected a fellow<br />
<strong>of</strong> the International Academy <strong>of</strong> Trial<br />
Lawyers in 2009, and included on the<br />
Best Lawyers in America’s list <strong>of</strong> the Top 100<br />
Lawyers <strong>of</strong> Texas.<br />
“Whatever a potential client’s situation is,<br />
I take his or her issues seriously because<br />
those issues are serious to that client,” adds<br />
Todd, who also was recognized by Texas<br />
Lawyer Magazine as the state’s Best Civil Trial<br />
Lawyer and The Personal Injury Lawyer for<br />
Serious Suits.<br />
The magazine also reported that <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
lawyers overwhelmingly pick Todd as the<br />
“go-to” personal injury lawyer for really big<br />
suits, and a fellow attorney was quoted as<br />
saying “He’s a very, very good trial lawyer. His<br />
word is his bond.”<br />
Such accolades are matched only by Todd’s<br />
own enthusiasm for the practice <strong>of</strong> law.<br />
“I love going to work everyday,” he says.<br />
“This is a wonderful pr<strong>of</strong>ession—it gives me<br />
the opportunity to help others and make a<br />
positive difference. It is my responsibility to<br />
present evidence in the best light possible for<br />
my clients, and I enjoy that challenge.”<br />
Additionally appreciative <strong>of</strong> the advantages<br />
<strong>of</strong>fered to him by <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>, Todd<br />
says, “The practice <strong>of</strong> law here has given me<br />
a phenomenal opportunity that I could never<br />
have experienced elsewhere. In particular,<br />
I feel very strong and positive about the<br />
county as a whole, and especially about<br />
where we are in Friendswood today.”<br />
Todd’s climb to the top <strong>of</strong> the state’s legal<br />
roster was not an easy one. With a wife<br />
and young twin sons, Todd put himself<br />
through law school by working five nights<br />
a week and Saturdays on a freight shipping<br />
dock. He additionally served on the board<br />
<strong>of</strong> editors for the school’s law review<br />
journal, and during the summers, installed<br />
swimming pools.<br />
Although Todd initially intended to stay<br />
in the Dallas area, upon receipt <strong>of</strong> his doctor<br />
<strong>of</strong> jurisprudence degree from Southern<br />
Methodist University, he was intrigued by a<br />
job <strong>of</strong>fer from an insurance defense firm on<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Island, and the young family—now<br />
with a fourth child on the way—relocated to<br />
the Gulf Coast in 1971, the same year he<br />
passed the Texas Bar. Remembering those<br />
early times, Todd jokes that his life then<br />
centered on “babies, state bar and boarding<br />
up.” Four years later, however, opportunity<br />
beckoned again, and Todd—now with five<br />
children—moved to Alvin, where he joined<br />
the practice <strong>of</strong> Wellborn, Britt and Brown.<br />
Later, drawing on his twenty-five years <strong>of</strong><br />
experience in personal injury cases, Todd<br />
formed his own eponymous firm that was<br />
relocated to Friendswood in 2000.<br />
Today, The Law Firm <strong>of</strong> Alton C. Todd<br />
occupies the historic 1938 residence<br />
constructed for Friendswood founder Cecil<br />
Brown, and its <strong>of</strong>fices provide both a tribute<br />
to the history <strong>of</strong> the area and a testimony<br />
to Todd’s ongoing commitment to the<br />
community. In addition to recognitions <strong>of</strong><br />
Todd’s pr<strong>of</strong>essional honors and the firm’s<br />
numerous civic activities, a museum-like<br />
gallery <strong>of</strong> historic photos shows the town<br />
during its formative years, including an early<br />
1900s post <strong>of</strong>fice, grocery store and other<br />
street scenes. Todd, himself, shares many<br />
values with the Brown family, especially those<br />
supporting hard work and education.<br />
From the Midwest, the Browns arrived in<br />
the area during the winter <strong>of</strong> 1895 and had<br />
the unusual experience <strong>of</strong> disembarking from<br />
their train just after the Texas Gulf Coast had<br />
experienced a rare and record-setting snow<br />
fall. The family soon identified suitable land<br />
and, despite having no actual money, was<br />
able to arrange satisfactory terms for the<br />
desired acreage with owner J. C. League, a<br />
founder <strong>of</strong> nearby League City. As members<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Religious Society <strong>of</strong> Friends—<strong>of</strong>ten<br />
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eferred to as Quakers—the Browns named<br />
their new community Friendswood.<br />
Drained by four creeks, the area was<br />
favorable for farming, and Friendswood was<br />
soon known for its production <strong>of</strong> figs,<br />
Satsuma oranges and strawberries. The everindustrious<br />
Quakers also began preserving<br />
some <strong>of</strong> their figs, and thus became one <strong>of</strong><br />
the first “factories” in the area. In addition,<br />
Brown set up a sawmill, and used timber<br />
felled during the 1900 hurricane to build<br />
Friendswood Academy, which graduated its<br />
first class in 1907.<br />
Today, Todd is likewise working to ensure<br />
that Friendswood’s twenty-first century<br />
young people also receive an exemplary<br />
education. Dedicated to the success <strong>of</strong> his<br />
community’s future citizens, he says,<br />
“Education is a big deal here—our students<br />
even compete nationally in academic<br />
decathlons. We realize that education is a<br />
vital investment in their—and our—futures,<br />
and the more knowledge they have, the more<br />
opportunities they will access.”<br />
Todd’s own children, too, are following<br />
their father’s example, accessing their own<br />
individual and sometimes unconventional<br />
roads to success. Currently, their choices<br />
range from one son’s joining his father’s firm<br />
in the practice <strong>of</strong> law to the youngest<br />
daughter’s combining university studies with<br />
serving as a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader.<br />
Left to right, Clint McGuire, Alton C. Todd,<br />
and Jeff Todd in front <strong>of</strong> The Brown House.<br />
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J&J TELECOMMUNICATIONS<br />
When are good connections no longer<br />
“good” enough? When <strong>Galveston</strong>ian Eddie<br />
Janek and his J&J Telecommunications Inc.<br />
are poised to point the way to “great.”<br />
As founding owner <strong>of</strong> the island-based<br />
business communications leader, Janek is well<br />
acquainted with the importance <strong>of</strong> great connections.<br />
Widely recognized for its innovative<br />
high-tech and service-oriented operations, J&J<br />
is dedicated to ensuring that its customers<br />
experience only the best in equipment, the latest<br />
in cutting-edge s<strong>of</strong>tware, and unparalleled<br />
personalized service and technical support.<br />
“Customer satisfaction is a major commitment<br />
at J&J,” says Janek. “In addition to<br />
<strong>of</strong>fering optimal technology and service, we<br />
take a personal interest in our customers’<br />
individual needs. We also believe that if a<br />
situation is ‘mission-critical,’ downtime is not<br />
an option, so we provide twenty-four hour<br />
emergency call-out services, seven days a<br />
week, and free loaner equipment.”<br />
Eric Froeschner, J&J’s global sales and<br />
marketing director, agrees saying, “Customers<br />
who outsource their IT service and support<br />
with J&J are assured <strong>of</strong> 100 percent quality<br />
and reliability. We are not satisfied until our<br />
customers are satisfied. Whether we’re building,<br />
supporting or administering a system—<br />
or developing a custom IT solution—J&J will<br />
find a way to do it better, faster and more<br />
cost-effectively.”<br />
J&J’s reputation as a leader in business<br />
communications was further reinforced in<br />
the aftermath <strong>of</strong> Hurricane Ike in 2008. Word<br />
quickly spread <strong>of</strong> how customers using J&J’s<br />
innovative connections were able to maintain<br />
communications before, during and after the<br />
storm made landfall.<br />
Crediting the power <strong>of</strong> a cutting-edge<br />
“hosted voice solution” with J&J’s ability to<br />
provide its customers with uninterrupted<br />
communication during Ike, J&J CEO Scott<br />
Kellogg points out that most local businesses<br />
using more traditional systems lost service<br />
during the storm.<br />
“By use <strong>of</strong> this system, J&J enabled its<br />
customers—one <strong>of</strong> which was <strong>Galveston</strong>’s<br />
largest insurance company—to maintain<br />
contact with their customers and employees<br />
throughout this major disaster,” says Kellogg.<br />
“It was a situation that brought numerous<br />
other businesses here to an abrupt halt for an<br />
extended period <strong>of</strong> time.”<br />
Aware that small to mid-sized companies<br />
have specific needs, Janek additionally notes<br />
that J&J Telecommunications is especially<br />
equipped to serve them. “Our engineers are<br />
the brightest and best in all areas <strong>of</strong> computer<br />
networks and IT solutions, from basic cabling<br />
and messaging to network security and<br />
collaborative workgroup solutions,” he says.<br />
“We also <strong>of</strong>fer one <strong>of</strong> the most comprehensive<br />
and affordable support and maintenance<br />
packages in the industry and by choosing J&J,<br />
a business is getting customer service that<br />
caters to its specific requirements.”<br />
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Janek points out that J&J technicians can<br />
be used to supplement a company’s existing<br />
support staff or, alternatively, J&J can take full<br />
responsibility for administering and managing<br />
a communications network. “It’s like having a<br />
complete support staff at a fraction <strong>of</strong> the cost<br />
<strong>of</strong> hiring full-time personnel,” he says.<br />
In the more than twenty-five years since Janek<br />
founded the company with his son Craig in<br />
1984, few areas <strong>of</strong> modern life have changed so<br />
dramatically as business communications. J&J’s<br />
own growth reflects this trend, and the company<br />
that initially served only <strong>Galveston</strong> provides<br />
services today throughout the United States.<br />
To maintain its edge on industry progress,<br />
J&J requires intensive initial training and ongoing<br />
continuing education for its design, installation<br />
and service staff. Janek, however, makes no<br />
apologies for the fact that today he leaves the<br />
high-tech and specialized areas to the young<br />
“whiz-kids” such as Scott and Bill Fennelly,<br />
J&J’s CFO, who have joined J&J in recent years.<br />
“The telecommunications industry is one<br />
that is constantly ‘pushing the envelope,’”<br />
Janek says. “It’s just good business on my<br />
part that I step back and let these young<br />
techno-gurus take the lead when it comes<br />
to mastering the ever more sophisticated<br />
demands <strong>of</strong> today’s cutting-edge technology.”<br />
What has not changed, however, is J&J’s<br />
philosophy on service.<br />
“New communications technology is only<br />
as good as the people who design the systems<br />
to meet an individual business’ specific<br />
needs, then install and maintain it,” Janek<br />
says. “It’s J&J’s time-honored commitment to<br />
service that more than anything else sets us<br />
apart from the others.”<br />
The importance Janek places on service<br />
has been reflected throughout his life, both<br />
personally and pr<strong>of</strong>essionally. A teenager<br />
during the early 1940s, he attempted to enlist<br />
in the military at age fifteen, but his ruse was<br />
ultimately discovered and he was sent home.<br />
A year later, however, he succeeded in joining<br />
the Navy, and served in the South Pacific<br />
during World War II and later in Korea.<br />
In July 1946, Janek had the opportunity to<br />
twice witness the making <strong>of</strong> history with the<br />
testing <strong>of</strong> the atomic bomb in the Bikini Atoll<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Marshall Islands. He chuckles when he<br />
notes that in addition to being warned to close<br />
their eyes lest their eyesight be damaged, he<br />
and his fellow crew members had been cautioned<br />
that witnessing the blasts might make<br />
them sterile. Today, Janek—who earned some<br />
twenty military medals—notes that he is not<br />
blind and is also the father <strong>of</strong> three children.<br />
As a major civic leader, Janek’s role in the<br />
greater <strong>Galveston</strong> community also has been<br />
filled with history-making activities. A past<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> commissioner and former<br />
board member <strong>of</strong> several groups including the<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Airport Commission, Port <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Wharves Board and <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
Navigation District, Janek was appointed by<br />
Texas Governor Rick Perry in 2011 to the<br />
Board <strong>of</strong> Pilot Commissioners for <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> Ports. Janek additionally has been<br />
recognized with a special resolution for his<br />
numerous contributions to the <strong>County</strong> Judges<br />
and Commissioners Association <strong>of</strong> Texas.<br />
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151
TEXAS CITY-<br />
LA MARQUE<br />
CHAMBER OF<br />
COMMERCE<br />
Above: Local legislators at a business<br />
luncheon, including Representative<br />
Craig Eiland, Senator Mike Jackson,<br />
and Representative Larry Taylor.<br />
Below: The Texas City-La Marque Chamber<br />
<strong>of</strong> Commerce building.<br />
Bottom: Safety Council ribbon-cutting<br />
ceremony with local plant managers<br />
and businessmen.<br />
Imagine a complex <strong>of</strong> multiuse rooms—<br />
meeting rooms, conference rooms, sitting<br />
rooms, rooms with copying and communications<br />
equipment—each one proudly bearing<br />
the name <strong>of</strong> a vital area business. Imagine<br />
these rooms radiating like the spokes <strong>of</strong> a<br />
wheel <strong>of</strong>f a central receiving area “hub”<br />
that buzzes with activity and friendly voices<br />
as area business leaders drop by regularly<br />
on <strong>of</strong>ficial and non<strong>of</strong>ficial business. Imagine<br />
wall-to-wall display cases loaded with maps,<br />
brochures, driving guides, reference materials<br />
and background information on local life<br />
and leisure. Imagine clean rest rooms and<br />
hot c<strong>of</strong>fee.<br />
If you can wrap your mind around all<br />
this, you are close to experiencing the reality<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Texas City-La Marque Chamber <strong>of</strong><br />
Commerce, around which all things related<br />
to the well-being <strong>of</strong> these two coastal communities<br />
seem to revolve.<br />
Founded in 1969, the Texas City-La Marque<br />
Chamber <strong>of</strong> Commerce has much to show for<br />
its years <strong>of</strong> service. With a focus on improving<br />
its community’s economic development<br />
and quality <strong>of</strong> life, it has served as a defining<br />
and unifying force throughout the area’s<br />
development as a major economic and industrial<br />
player on the Texas Gulf Coast. Also<br />
drawing strength from its diversity, the<br />
organization’s membership reflects the area’s<br />
global interests and includes members from<br />
as far away as China.<br />
The group’s all-inclusive role is summed<br />
up in its mission statement: “The Texas City-<br />
La Marque Chamber <strong>of</strong> Commerce is an<br />
organization <strong>of</strong> businesses and individuals<br />
whose purpose it is to create a positive<br />
business environment, assist in economic<br />
development, support public and private<br />
institutions, promote tourism and community<br />
involvement and, in general, enhance the<br />
quality <strong>of</strong> life in our communities.”<br />
Acting as a catalyst for a number <strong>of</strong> organizations<br />
within the community, the chamber<br />
and/or its committees touch virtually every<br />
aspect <strong>of</strong> life in Texas City and La Marque.<br />
Whatever the concern—education, industry,<br />
business or the environment—it is almost<br />
guaranteed that there is a chamber group that<br />
is deeply and personally involved.<br />
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The education committee works through<br />
local schools to provide scholarship opportunities<br />
and each year hosts a new teachers’<br />
breakfast. Other area concerns and commitments<br />
are served through activities such as<br />
a speaker’s bureau, the annual “Trash Bash,”<br />
a Hurricane Forecast Luncheon and an<br />
industrial trade show. Other regular events<br />
include a golf tournament, shrimp boil,<br />
community picnic and “FunFest.”<br />
Reflecting its “Partners in Progress” motto,<br />
the organization has received unparalleled<br />
support from its community.<br />
Naming rights on rooms,<br />
and even chairs, and the<br />
donation <strong>of</strong> supplies and<br />
services have resulted in a<br />
building that is completely<br />
paid for today, leaving this<br />
chamber looking forward<br />
to a future <strong>of</strong> new growth,<br />
partnerships and collaboration<br />
in its continuing work<br />
to create a even better place<br />
to live, work and play.<br />
Clockwise, starting from top left:<br />
Texas City Dike.<br />
The Texas City vs. La Marque football<br />
game, “Battle By the Bay.”<br />
The Spirit <strong>of</strong> Texas City biplane at Bay<br />
Street Park.<br />
Halfmoon Shoal Lighthouse on Texas<br />
City Levee.<br />
The Delaney Cove subdivision in<br />
La Marque.<br />
The Davison Home, a historical home in<br />
Texas City.<br />
Children fishing on Texas City Dike.<br />
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153
HOMETOWN<br />
BANK, N.A.<br />
Above: Friendswood downtown,<br />
601 South Friendswood Drive.<br />
Below: <strong>Galveston</strong> Main Bank,<br />
1801 Forty-fifth Street.<br />
Whether it is the home team, home cooking,<br />
or home, sweet home—there is no doubt<br />
that there is no place like home. For many<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> area residents, there is also<br />
no place like HomeTown Bank for handling<br />
their business and personal financial needs<br />
and services.<br />
Commencing operations on <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
Island on June 12, 1966, under the name<br />
<strong>of</strong> Bank <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>, National Association,<br />
the bank was founded by a group <strong>of</strong> local<br />
business leaders who believed <strong>Galveston</strong>ians<br />
<strong>of</strong> the 1960s needed a bank more centrally<br />
located to residents living on the western part<br />
<strong>of</strong> the island.<br />
Changing its name to HomeTown Bank,<br />
National Association, in 1999 to better support<br />
the expansion <strong>of</strong> its services to mainland<br />
areas, HomeTown Bank has since opened a<br />
number <strong>of</strong> new <strong>of</strong>fices<br />
and currently has 2<br />
banking locations on<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Island, 1 in<br />
League City, 1 in Alvin,<br />
and 2 in Friendswood.<br />
HomeTown Bank has<br />
enjoyed a long history<br />
<strong>of</strong> consistent leadership<br />
and pr<strong>of</strong>itable operations.<br />
Throughout its<br />
first half century <strong>of</strong> serving<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>,<br />
it has had only four<br />
chairmen and three<br />
presidents. A founding<br />
Director and long-time<br />
Chairman <strong>of</strong> the Board<br />
was Michael J. Gaido, Sr.,<br />
a member <strong>of</strong> the restaurant<br />
and hotel family <strong>of</strong><br />
the same name. Upon Gaido’s death in 1993,<br />
Jack Miller, <strong>of</strong> the Schreiber and Miller<br />
Furniture in <strong>Galveston</strong> and La Marque,<br />
served as chairman for many years before<br />
being succeeded by Michael J. Gaido, Jr.<br />
Other bank leadership has been provided by<br />
President Douglas Lee, who served more than<br />
twenty years before Jimmy Rasmussen was<br />
named to that position in 1989.<br />
Taking its name seriously is a full-time mission<br />
at HomeTown Bank. With a philosophy<br />
<strong>of</strong> hiring local people, serving local people<br />
and sharing its ownership among some 500<br />
shareholders, HomeTown Bank strives to<br />
welcome each customer like a member <strong>of</strong> the<br />
family, including hosting outreach social and<br />
community events several times a year.<br />
Through the provision <strong>of</strong> personalized,<br />
boots-on-the-ground service by real people, a<br />
neighbor-to-neighbor working environment<br />
has been created by HomeTown Bank, even<br />
during times <strong>of</strong> disaster. In the aftermath <strong>of</strong><br />
Hurricane Ike and at a time <strong>of</strong> international<br />
financial crisis when larger, national banks<br />
were failing, HomeTown Bank was recognized<br />
in the Congressional Record <strong>of</strong> the<br />
111th Congress <strong>of</strong> the United States for the<br />
bank’s ability to provide immediate attention<br />
and emergency service to its home community<br />
through more than $6 million in bridge<br />
loans to local area business.<br />
Services provided by HomeTown Bank<br />
range from traditional checking and saving<br />
accounts to consumer and commercial lending;<br />
certificates <strong>of</strong> deposit, online banking<br />
and bill pay, Cash Management, Commercial<br />
Remote Deposit Capture, Debit MasterCard,<br />
and worldwide ATM access services. For<br />
additional information on HomeTown Bank,<br />
visit www.htbna.com on the Internet.<br />
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When Hurricane Ike blew through<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Island in September 2008 bringing<br />
110-mph sustained winds and towering<br />
twenty-two foot waves, A-1 Fire Equipment<br />
Co., like the majority on the island, lost<br />
everything—everything, that is, but its will to<br />
survive and rebuild the very island on which<br />
the company was founded in 1967.<br />
“We lost both <strong>of</strong> our shops and our <strong>of</strong>fice,”<br />
said owner and operator Mark Priddy, who<br />
purchased the established fire equipment<br />
company in 2002 and merged it with his<br />
existing company, <strong>Galveston</strong> Fire and Safety.<br />
“But because our clients and neighbors come<br />
first, we chose to focus on helping them get<br />
back up and running.”<br />
Because they needed some place to work<br />
from immediately, Priddy purchased a facility<br />
in nearby La Marque and his team set out to<br />
help rebuild the island. They worked nonstop,<br />
seven days a week for more than a year<br />
making sure each <strong>of</strong> their clients had what<br />
they needed in the way <strong>of</strong> fire protection.<br />
Then, like today, they performed thousands<br />
<strong>of</strong> inspections and provided, serviced and<br />
installed everything from fire extinguishers,<br />
fire alarm systems, restaurant systems,<br />
marine fire systems and flame and gas detection<br />
systems to carbonic and hydrostatic<br />
testing systems as well as access control and<br />
closed circuit television. They worked on,<br />
restored and rebuilt structures to include<br />
businesses, government and school facilities,<br />
colleges and residential facilities and also<br />
installed systems on and inspected the boats<br />
<strong>of</strong> the U.S. Coast Guard as well as those that<br />
service the oil rigs <strong>of</strong>f the coast.<br />
Today, A-1 Fire still operates from its <strong>of</strong>fice<br />
in La Marque and has earned its rightful designation<br />
as a household name on <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
Island and all along the Texas coastline. It<br />
services 3,000-plus customers, many who<br />
have themselves or, who by carrying the<br />
torch <strong>of</strong> their forefathers, have laid the<br />
very foundation <strong>of</strong> the area, clients such as<br />
George Mitchell Properties, Landry’s Seafood,<br />
Port <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>, Moody Gardens, College<br />
<strong>of</strong> Mainland and <strong>Galveston</strong> Community<br />
College, just to name a few.<br />
In addition to its traditional services, the<br />
company has recently added a second division,<br />
A-1 Restaurant Services, which focuses<br />
on kitchen hood cleaning. The company<br />
employs a dozen skilled and dedicated associates<br />
and has annual revenues which consistently<br />
top $2 million. It is fully-licensed and<br />
certified with the State <strong>of</strong> Texas; an accredited<br />
member <strong>of</strong> the National Fire Protection<br />
Association; and a proud sponsor <strong>of</strong> the youth<br />
program at the annual <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Fair.<br />
For more information, stop by the company’s<br />
<strong>of</strong>fice at 3202 Main Street in La Marque, call<br />
409-744-4438, or visit the company website at<br />
www.a-1fire.com.<br />
A-1 FIRE<br />
EQUIPMENT CO.<br />
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155
GALVESTON<br />
CHAMBER OF<br />
COMMERCE<br />
It is not just about ribbon cuttings with<br />
giant wooden scissors, nor the plaques,<br />
awards and framed news clippings that cover<br />
the walls at the <strong>Galveston</strong> Chamber <strong>of</strong><br />
Commerce. The most distinguishing feature<br />
<strong>of</strong> Texas’ first—and oldest—chamber <strong>of</strong><br />
commerce is its total understanding <strong>of</strong> the<br />
word “business.”<br />
Founded in 1845 the <strong>Galveston</strong> Chamber<br />
<strong>of</strong> Commerce was made <strong>of</strong>ficial “by law” by<br />
the Eighth Congress <strong>of</strong> the Republic <strong>of</strong><br />
Texas. Local business leaders whose names<br />
are attached to the <strong>of</strong>ficial documents <strong>of</strong><br />
that event include such historic notables as<br />
S. M. Williams, founder <strong>of</strong> the Texas Navy,<br />
and M. B. Menard, who later became a<br />
founder <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> itself.<br />
A similar pioneering<br />
spirit has since energized<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>’s chamber for<br />
more than 160 years.<br />
Through natural disasters<br />
such as storms, fires and<br />
fever epidemics, through<br />
economic prosperity and<br />
down-turns, the <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
Chamber <strong>of</strong> Commerce has<br />
played a vital and pivotal<br />
role in the unfolding commercial<br />
development <strong>of</strong> not<br />
only its home community,<br />
but the entire Gulf Coast<br />
region <strong>of</strong> the United States.<br />
From the beginning,<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>’s leaders knew the importance <strong>of</strong><br />
working together. With one <strong>of</strong> the best natural<br />
deepwater ports in the world, the island<br />
early on attracted shipping and maritime<br />
interests, and with shipping came businessmen,<br />
entrepreneurs, adventurers and workers<br />
<strong>of</strong> every description.<br />
With such diversity, however, there had to<br />
be consensus and a common ground for the<br />
men and women who were going to shape<br />
Texas history and commerce as it branched<br />
out over the remainder <strong>of</strong> the nineteenth century<br />
into banking, railroads, cattle and cotton.<br />
The <strong>Galveston</strong> Chamber <strong>of</strong> Commerce was<br />
specifically designed to provide this broad<br />
base for businesses <strong>of</strong> all types. With its<br />
guidance, the island city <strong>of</strong> the 1800s soon<br />
became known as “The Queen <strong>of</strong> the Gulf,”<br />
and for many decades was the most prosperous<br />
and progressive city in the state. Today,<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>’s chamber—with its to-the-point<br />
mission “To Promote and Advocate for<br />
Business”—is still the unifying organization<br />
for local growth and development.<br />
Combining creative foresight with an ability<br />
to tap into innovative business ventures<br />
attuned to the world’s changing needs,<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>’s twenty-first century chamber continues<br />
its dedication to building a strong local<br />
economy through more businesses, better<br />
businesses, and jobs with competitive salaries<br />
and fringe benefits. Additionally, its programs<br />
foster better schools, enhanced educational<br />
opportunities and a decrease in crime.<br />
Through commercial stimulation, the<br />
chamber is also paving the way for public<br />
programs and community amenities that<br />
enhance <strong>Galveston</strong>’s overall quality <strong>of</strong> life,<br />
contributing to not only increased resident<br />
satisfaction but the building <strong>of</strong> the tourism<br />
industry through growing numbers <strong>of</strong> conventions,<br />
meetings and vacationing visitors.<br />
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Teaming up Lone Star State values with<br />
all-star employees and family-friendly service<br />
is a winning strategy at Texas First Bank.<br />
With a motto <strong>of</strong> “Helping Texans Build Texas”<br />
and headquartered in Texas City, Texas First<br />
Bank is <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s largest, locallyowned<br />
family <strong>of</strong> community banks.<br />
Initially founded in Hitchcock in 1962 as<br />
First State Bank, the organization was purchased<br />
in 1973 by an investor group headed by<br />
current Board Chairman Charles T. “Chuck”<br />
Doyle. Renamed Texas First Bank, the<br />
organization grew steadily under Doyle’s<br />
leadership and, by the end <strong>of</strong> the<br />
twentieth century, had established banking<br />
centers in all thirteen <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>’s incorporated areas. Today, it<br />
includes twenty banking centers and<br />
has expanded into Brazoria, Chambers,<br />
Harris and Jefferson Counties, as well<br />
as <strong>of</strong>fering additional services through<br />
Texas First Mortgage, Texas First SBA<br />
Lending, Texas First Investment Center,<br />
and the Rust-Ewing and Sullivan<br />
Insurance agencies.<br />
Steadfastly maintaining its conservative<br />
roots, Texas First Bank has solidly<br />
and pr<strong>of</strong>itably withstood world market<br />
fluctuations without losing its family<br />
focus. Deeply committed to customer<br />
service and satisfaction, it combines<br />
responsible management with innovative<br />
programs, such as online account<br />
opening, and was the first bank in Texas<br />
and the second bank in the nation to<br />
<strong>of</strong>fer the VISA Extras program. Texas First Bank<br />
was voted Best <strong>of</strong> the Bay’s “Best Bank” and<br />
named among the area’s “Top Work Places” by<br />
the Houston Chronicle, and received Golden<br />
Eagle and Silver Eagle marketing awards from<br />
the Independent Bankers Association <strong>of</strong> Texas.<br />
In 2009 the Independent Community Bankers<br />
<strong>of</strong> America Magazine Independent Banker<br />
named Texas First Bank one <strong>of</strong> the topperforming<br />
banks in the country.<br />
A five-term mayor <strong>of</strong> Texas City and the<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Daily News’ “Citizen <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Century,” in 2000, Doyle has been a major<br />
player in the development <strong>of</strong> the bank and <strong>of</strong><br />
Texas City. The recipient <strong>of</strong> numerous honors,<br />
including IBAT’s “Chairman’s Award” and<br />
being named “Texas Banker <strong>of</strong> the Year,” he<br />
served as the first community banker on<br />
the Federal Advisory Council to the Board<br />
<strong>of</strong> Governors <strong>of</strong> the Federal Reserve in<br />
Washington, D.C., and was a director <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Federal Reserve Bank <strong>of</strong> Dallas. He also is<br />
known for his work with area youth, including<br />
playing a prominent role with the Boy<br />
Scouts and helping found the “LEADS” leadership<br />
program for area high schools with the<br />
Texas City ISD Foundation for the Future.<br />
Deeply committed to maintaining the<br />
altruistic and family nature <strong>of</strong> Texas First,<br />
Doyle today has three <strong>of</strong> his sons working<br />
with him, and, following their father’s lead,<br />
each is also heavily involved in civic affairs.<br />
Matthew is vice chairman <strong>of</strong> the bank’s<br />
board and currently Mayor <strong>of</strong> Texas City;<br />
Christopher is bank president/CEO and<br />
heads the Salvation Army advisory board;<br />
and Patrick is currently <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
Commissioner, serves as the bank’s legal<br />
counsel, and is active in Scouting. The threesome<br />
and their father also have given the<br />
Doyles the distinction <strong>of</strong> being the only family<br />
to have four members named among the<br />
Texas Jaycees’ “Outstanding Young Texans.”<br />
TEXAS FIRST<br />
BANK<br />
Left to right holding their Outstanding<br />
Young Texans awards are: Legal Counsel<br />
<strong>of</strong> Texas First Bank, Patrick Doyle;<br />
Chairman <strong>of</strong> the Board, Charles T. Doyle;<br />
Vice Chairman, Matthew T. Doyle;<br />
and President/CEO Christopher Doyle.<br />
THE MARKETPLACE<br />
157
BETTER<br />
BUSINESS<br />
BUREAU<br />
For going on nine decades, consumers and<br />
businesses in <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> have enjoyed<br />
the protection and assistance provided by the<br />
Better Business Bureau <strong>of</strong> Greater Houston<br />
and South Texas.<br />
Perhaps better known as simply the<br />
BBB, this bureau is one<br />
<strong>of</strong> a network <strong>of</strong> 110 private<br />
business organizations<br />
located throughout<br />
the United States and<br />
Canada. Like its sister<br />
organizations across the<br />
continent, it was born out<br />
<strong>of</strong> concern for the deceptive<br />
advertising practices<br />
prevalent during the early<br />
twentieth century and<br />
actually morphed from<br />
the existing Associated<br />
Advertising Clubs <strong>of</strong><br />
America. History tells us,<br />
in fact, that it was during<br />
a meeting <strong>of</strong> this group,<br />
which was presided over<br />
by the club president and<br />
held at the Rice Hotel in downtown Houston,<br />
that the area BBB was <strong>of</strong>ficially founded on<br />
February 28, 1922.<br />
Today, this BBB serves a metropolitan area<br />
that encompasses <strong>Galveston</strong> and seventeen<br />
other Texas counties. It promotes mutual<br />
trust between more than 8,000 accredited<br />
businesses and a population that has grown<br />
from less than 300,000 when the BBB was<br />
first founded to more than six million today.<br />
The organization employs sixty people and<br />
has four <strong>of</strong>fices in the region.<br />
According to the organization’s board <strong>of</strong><br />
directors, which is made up <strong>of</strong> fifty members<br />
representing the counties it services, the<br />
BBB is in the business <strong>of</strong> creating and<br />
maintaining better business throughout its<br />
service area. It works diligently to create a<br />
trustworthy business community, which<br />
breeds success for both consumer and<br />
accredited businesses alike.<br />
Indeed, it is a simple, but successful<br />
premise. Because companies that are invited<br />
to join the BBB as Accredited Businesses<br />
must meet the BBB Standards for Trust and<br />
maintain all requirements <strong>of</strong> Accreditation,<br />
consumers can feel confident in patronizing<br />
BBB-accredited businesses. Likewise, when<br />
consumers feel more confident about a<br />
business, accredited businesses usually enjoy<br />
a growing customer base.<br />
Specifically, the BBB gathers and archives<br />
information about businesses and their<br />
reliability, whether accredited or not; alerts<br />
the public to fraud against consumers and<br />
businesses; provides information on ethical<br />
business practices, and acts as mutually<br />
trusted intermediaries between consumers<br />
and businesses to resolved disputes. Core<br />
services include business review reports,<br />
fraud prevention, charity accountability and<br />
effectiveness education, complaints and<br />
dispute resolution, consumer and business<br />
education, truth in advertising and wise<br />
giving charity reports.<br />
Additionally dues-paying Accredited<br />
Businesses can utilize a number <strong>of</strong> services<br />
to help improve their business from dispute<br />
handling and resolution, training, various<br />
advertising and marketing tools and a<br />
speakers bureau, just to name a few, as<br />
well as complete access to a host <strong>of</strong> valuable<br />
business information resources available only<br />
through the BBB.<br />
For more information, please visit online at<br />
www.bbbgalveston.org.<br />
COASTAL VISIONS - <strong>Images</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
158
When R. C. Williams founded ROBCO<br />
Facility Services in 1977, his <strong>of</strong>fice was the<br />
trunk <strong>of</strong> his car.<br />
Today, however, ROBCO has a headquarters<br />
<strong>of</strong>fice in Texas City and two satellite <strong>of</strong>fices<br />
and is one <strong>of</strong> the premier facility management<br />
companies in Texas. ROBCO provides a wide<br />
range <strong>of</strong> services in six main areas—janitorial,<br />
lawn care, pest control, greenbelt mowing, box<br />
moves and ancillary service. The employee roster<br />
has grown from one to approximately 100.<br />
When asked what makes the company<br />
successful, the now retired founder who has<br />
since turned over the company to his son,<br />
Emery Williams II, is quick to tip his hat<br />
to the employees. “We feel that our greatest<br />
assets are our employees. Through hard<br />
work, good management and a working<br />
relationship based on commitment, we are<br />
able to maintain a consistent and highly<br />
trained workforce with high quality work<br />
performance,” the elder Williams said.<br />
The company is particularly proud <strong>of</strong> its<br />
stellar safety record. It has had no recordable<br />
incidents with the Occupational Safety and<br />
Hazard Association (OSHA) in almost a decade<br />
and has been recognized time and again by the<br />
committee that presents the Houston Business<br />
Round Table Safety Excellence Awards.<br />
“With quality and safety procedures<br />
second to none in the industry, our clients<br />
can trust us to work in their highest security<br />
and most restricted areas,” says Emery, who<br />
now serves as company president.<br />
ROBCO provides superior services both<br />
inside and out for facilities <strong>of</strong> all sizes and<br />
types—from commercial <strong>of</strong>fice buildings,<br />
industrial facilities, chemical plants and<br />
refineries to undeveloped and newly developed<br />
properties as well as recreational and<br />
school properties. Its client list includes<br />
well-known corporate citizens such as BP<br />
Refinery, Praxair Incorporated, First Choice,<br />
BP Amoco Chemical Company, Ineos Nova,<br />
LLC, Oxbrow Carbon and Minerals and<br />
BP Chemical, Inc., just to name a few.<br />
Indoors, the company’s janitorial service<br />
record is spotless and staff and management<br />
are constantly researching to identify the most<br />
efficient, cost-saving and green methods to<br />
perform cleaning services.<br />
Outdoors, ROBCO provides top-notch<br />
landscaping services to include design and<br />
complete lawn care and pest control treatments<br />
and maintenance to protect and bring<br />
out the aesthetics <strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong>fices and facilities alike.<br />
ROBCO’s Greenbelt Mowing division provides<br />
services such as tractor mowing, tree<br />
removal, weed and tree trimming, grading<br />
services, seasonal clean-up and maintenance.<br />
The Moving Division provides pr<strong>of</strong>essional<br />
moving services for commercial clients.<br />
Additionally, the company is also equipped<br />
to provide an array <strong>of</strong> ad hoc services on<br />
demand such as pressure and steam washing<br />
and herbicide spraying.<br />
ROBCO Facility Services is located at<br />
428 Texas Avenue, Texas City, 77590. For<br />
more information, call 409-945-5539 or visit<br />
www.robcoservices.com.<br />
ROBCO FACILITY SERVICES<br />
R. C. Williams.<br />
THE MARKETPLACE<br />
159
GIA INSURANCE<br />
Above: Southeast corner <strong>of</strong> Market and<br />
Twenty-first Streets, 1893.<br />
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE ROSENBERG LIBRARY.<br />
A small collection <strong>of</strong> broken red bricks<br />
and mortar bears silent witness to the real<br />
business at <strong>Galveston</strong> Insurance Associates.<br />
Sharing display-case space with gleaming<br />
civic awards and vintage photos, the<br />
crumbled masonry from a long ago storm<br />
ravaged building is a somber reminder that<br />
human life, health and property must never<br />
be taken for granted.<br />
The oldest independent<br />
insurance agency in <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> and the largest on<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Island, GIA has<br />
shared more than 120 years <strong>of</strong><br />
history with its home community.<br />
During that time, the<br />
company has dealt with fire,<br />
flood and storm. It has seen its<br />
clients through sickness and<br />
health and been there to provide<br />
security and support<br />
through many <strong>of</strong> life’s most<br />
major moments.<br />
As an Independent Insurance Agency, GIA<br />
is not limited to selecting policies from only<br />
one insurance provider, but has the ability to<br />
‘shop’ for competitive rates and provide<br />
individualized coverage through a variety <strong>of</strong><br />
personal and business insurance products.<br />
Additionally, GIA’s long tenure in the insurance<br />
business provides extra assurance <strong>of</strong> dependable<br />
representation in that it has over the years<br />
cultivated favorable and stable relationships<br />
with a number <strong>of</strong> carefully chosen, reputable<br />
and financially sound insurance companies.<br />
From its <strong>of</strong>fices today on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island<br />
and in Friendswood, Texas, GIA can help<br />
clients select insurance for nearly all personal<br />
and business interests, including farm and<br />
ranch coverage. In addition to life and health<br />
insurance for individuals, families, groups<br />
and employees, GIA <strong>of</strong>fers homeowners,<br />
windstorm, flood, automobile, boat, yacht,<br />
motorcycle and other “valuable property”<br />
policies. Commercial coverage includes business<br />
and commercial property protection,<br />
plus liability, windstorm, flood, workers’<br />
compensation, business vehicle and bonding<br />
policies. GIA can also assist with financial,<br />
business, retirement and estate planning.<br />
GIA’s history includes helping <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
recover from numerous weather disasters.<br />
Founded in 1892 by Charles Rhodes Brown,<br />
one <strong>of</strong> the first presidents <strong>of</strong> the Independent<br />
Insurance Agents <strong>of</strong> Texas, the company had<br />
been in business only eight years when<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> experienced the Great Storm <strong>of</strong><br />
1900. Slightly over a century later, GIA once<br />
again played a leadership role in disaster recovery<br />
when Hurricane Ike struck in 2008. GIA’s<br />
president, Garry P. Kaufman, was president <strong>of</strong><br />
the Independent Insurance Agents <strong>of</strong> Texas<br />
(IIAT) when Hurricane Ike made landfall.<br />
As the state’s largest writer <strong>of</strong> flood insurance<br />
and among the first agencies in Texas<br />
to have a website, www.gia-tx.com, GIA is<br />
committed to providing ongoing<br />
service in advance <strong>of</strong>, throughout<br />
and immediately after catastrophic<br />
events. In advance <strong>of</strong> Ike,<br />
it relocated computer servers,<br />
workstations and a management<br />
team inland to College Station,<br />
allowing GIA to be “online” and<br />
fielding calls from customers even<br />
as Ike was making landfall. The<br />
day following the storm, the company<br />
president was back on<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Island personally helping<br />
process client claims, and<br />
three days later, GIA’s mainland<br />
<strong>of</strong>fice reopened to provide assistance<br />
twelve hours a day to the<br />
neighboring community.<br />
COASTAL VISIONS - <strong>Images</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
160
A <strong>Galveston</strong> resident since the late<br />
1980s, journalist Leslie Watts currently<br />
pursues a freelance career in writing<br />
and editing—and sometimes helping<br />
others write and edit—books, articles,<br />
institutional publications, press releases,<br />
speeches, scripts, advertising and<br />
other materials. In addition to a<br />
journalism career that has included<br />
both print and broadcast communications,<br />
Watts has taught high school<br />
algebra and middle school English.<br />
Graduated with honors from<br />
Louisiana State University in Baton<br />
Rouge, Watts earned her bachelor’s<br />
degree in journalism, specializing in<br />
radio and television broadcast. She<br />
also has studied computer science at<br />
the University <strong>of</strong> Houston and worked<br />
on a Master <strong>of</strong> Science degree in<br />
mathematics at the University <strong>of</strong><br />
New Orleans.<br />
Her career has included serving as<br />
director <strong>of</strong> continuity for WAFB-TV in<br />
Baton Rouge, where she helped organize<br />
programming and also wrote and produced<br />
news and feature stories, commercials and<br />
public service messages.<br />
She joined the Houston Chronicle as a food<br />
and wine writer and assistant to the food<br />
editor, and was later named senior fashion<br />
writer. During her almost ten years at the<br />
Chronicle, she produced several weekly<br />
columns, contributed general features to the<br />
newspaper’s lifestyle section, and assisted in<br />
the sports department during football season.<br />
She also provided coverage <strong>of</strong> figure skating<br />
events and personalities during Houston’s<br />
Olympics Festival.<br />
In anticipation <strong>of</strong> the 100th anniversary<br />
<strong>of</strong> the founding <strong>of</strong> the medical school at<br />
the University <strong>of</strong> Texas Medical Branch at<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>, Watts was hired as the event’s<br />
Centennial Writer to oversee the writing and<br />
publication <strong>of</strong> materials related to the centennial<br />
celebration. In this role, she produced the<br />
centennial’s quarterly newsletter and authored<br />
numerous publications including two commemorative<br />
books, Century <strong>of</strong> Service and<br />
Centennial Reflections. Upon completion <strong>of</strong><br />
the medical school’s anniversary celebration,<br />
she continued to write for the university<br />
and assisted with special projects for the<br />
UTMB president’s <strong>of</strong>fice and other upper-level<br />
administrative areas.<br />
Her freelance career has included serving<br />
as a contributing editor for Continental, the<br />
in-flight magazine for Continental Airlines,<br />
during which she for several years authored<br />
the airline’s monthly Cityside column on<br />
Houston, and also served as the Houston<br />
restaurant reviewer and features writer. Other<br />
publications in which her work has appeared<br />
range from the Journal <strong>of</strong> the American Medical<br />
Association and Texas Medicine to the Handbook<br />
<strong>of</strong> Texas and Liquor Store Magazine.<br />
Watts enjoys spending time with her four<br />
children and seven grandchildren, and is<br />
also an active volunteer. She has served on<br />
a number <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> boards related to<br />
church and civic activities, including the<br />
Grace Episcopal Church Foundation Board.<br />
She also has chaired <strong>Galveston</strong> Historical<br />
Foundation’s homes tour committee and<br />
preservation and conservation services<br />
committee, and continues to work with that<br />
organization’s Dickens on the Strand festival<br />
and other local and Houston-area projects.<br />
LESLIE WATTS<br />
Leslie Watts.<br />
THE MARKETPLACE<br />
161
MIHOVIL<br />
PHOTOGRAPHY<br />
Freelance photographer Robert Mihovil.<br />
Photographer Robert Mihovil is a man<br />
<strong>of</strong> passion—passion for his family, passion<br />
for historic <strong>Galveston</strong> Island and passion<br />
for photography.<br />
Although his work has appeared in<br />
numerous local, national and international<br />
publications, his loyalty to his home<br />
community—and his affection for it as a<br />
favorite subject—has been paramount in<br />
his career.<br />
“I have always been proud to be a B.O.I.,”<br />
says Mihovil, referring to the “born on<br />
the island” acronym used by many native<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>ians to ensure that everyone is<br />
aware <strong>of</strong> their island heritage. A fourth<br />
generation <strong>Galveston</strong>ian, Mihovil adds that<br />
he even has had the same phone number<br />
for fifty-three years and except for the time<br />
he spent earning a bachelor’s degree in<br />
journalism at the University <strong>of</strong> Texas main<br />
campus in Austin, he has been an island<br />
resident throughout his life.<br />
Many <strong>of</strong> his fellow citizens and pr<strong>of</strong>essional<br />
acquaintances recognize that he could<br />
have set his sights on far-reaching fame,<br />
but Mihovil is adamant about his home<br />
community’s place at the center <strong>of</strong> his life.<br />
“I never aspired to be a world famous<br />
photographer,” he says. “I am perfectly<br />
satisfied and completely content being the<br />
big fish in our little island pond. I have a<br />
wife, family and friends who love me. I have<br />
an adult daughter who speaks to me and a<br />
photography career that I’m still passionate<br />
about after thirty-two years. Although I have<br />
opportunities to travel on many exciting<br />
assignments, I am very active in my neighborhood<br />
and community and I especially<br />
enjoy sharing with others my love and<br />
appreciation <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>.”<br />
Mihovil also admits to being a perfectionist,<br />
not only with regard to the technical<br />
aspects <strong>of</strong> his photography but with the<br />
selection <strong>of</strong> subjects and the locations in<br />
which he photographs them.<br />
In his preparation for gathering the images<br />
featured in <strong>Coastal</strong> <strong>Visions</strong>: <strong>Images</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>, Mihovil contacted representatives <strong>of</strong><br />
all the county’s chambers <strong>of</strong> commerce as<br />
well as local historians and civic leaders from<br />
throughout the area’s various communities.<br />
“It was important to me that <strong>Coastal</strong> <strong>Visions</strong><br />
be truly representative <strong>of</strong> the county as<br />
a whole,” he says. “I wanted every area<br />
in the county to have input into the<br />
selection process <strong>of</strong> what really constitutes<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s vision and which<br />
subjects were truly representative <strong>of</strong> our<br />
coastal lifestyle.”<br />
Mihovil is happily married and has<br />
one daughter.<br />
He is a regular contributor for Coast<br />
Magazine, Guidry News and Texas Journey. His<br />
work also has appeared in <strong>Coastal</strong> Living,<br />
National Geographic, Newsweek, Offshore,<br />
People, Smithsonian, Texas Highways and<br />
Texas Monthly. The Austin-American Statesman,<br />
Boston Globe, Houston Chronicle, New York<br />
Times and USA Today have also published<br />
his work.<br />
His photographs have additionally<br />
been chosen for the covers <strong>of</strong> such<br />
publications as the <strong>Galveston</strong> Park Board<br />
<strong>of</strong> Trustees Visitor’s Guide, the <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
Chamber <strong>of</strong> Commerce Directory and AT&T<br />
telephone directories distributed throughout<br />
the county.<br />
In addition to his own freelance career,<br />
Mihovil and his friend/photo assistant Carl<br />
Schutz host photography excursions for the<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Island Arts Academy. During these<br />
hands-on programs, they help participants<br />
set up their own digital cameras, provide<br />
instruction in basic photography skills,<br />
share photography tips and finish up with a<br />
photography “field trip.”<br />
Mihovil also teaches photography each<br />
summer at Sea Camp, an outreach program<br />
for students thirteen to eighteen years <strong>of</strong><br />
age at Texas A&M <strong>Galveston</strong>. Remembering<br />
that his own interest in photography<br />
began at a similarly early age, he says “The<br />
first camera I ever owned, I won selling<br />
Worlds Finest Chocolate when I was twelve.<br />
I sold twenty-four cases to win the<br />
first prize, which was a stereo. I selected<br />
the second prize instead, however—a<br />
Kodak camera.”<br />
Mihovil Photography is located at 2402<br />
Church Street, <strong>Galveston</strong> Island, Texas 77550.<br />
For additional information please go to his<br />
online web gallery at www.mihovil.com.<br />
COASTAL VISIONS - <strong>Images</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
162
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF MIHOVIL PHOTOGRAPHY.<br />
THE MARKETPLACE<br />
163
Building a<br />
Greater <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
COASTAL VISIONS - <strong>Images</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
164
<strong>Galveston</strong>’s real estate developers,<br />
construction companies,<br />
heavy industries, and manufacturers<br />
provide the economic foundation<br />
<strong>of</strong> the region<br />
Mitchell Historic Properties ........................................................166<br />
BP Texas City Refinery ...............................................................170<br />
BP Texas City Chemicals.............................................................171<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Economic Alliance.............................................172<br />
United Way <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Mainland........................................173<br />
Ocean Star Museum ..................................................................174<br />
Gulf Copper..............................................................................176<br />
CenterPoint Energy....................................................................178<br />
First Choice Power ....................................................................180<br />
HDR, Inc..................................................................................182<br />
Port <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> ......................................................................184<br />
Hitchcock Industrial Development Corporation ...............................186<br />
Blimp Base Interests, Inc. ...........................................................187<br />
Prudential Premier Properties–Beach or Bay ..................................188<br />
Marathon Petroleum Corporation .................................................189<br />
Valero Refinery .........................................................................190<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>-Texas City Pilots.........................................................191<br />
Dow Texas City Operations .........................................................192<br />
BUILDING A GREATER GALVESTON<br />
165
MITCHELL<br />
HISTORIC<br />
PROPERTIES<br />
Above: Young George Mitchell in knickers.<br />
Below: George and Cynthia Mitchell pictured<br />
at the former Wentletrap Restaurant.<br />
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF THE ROSENBERG LIBRARY,<br />
GALVESTON, TEXAS.<br />
Probably few people enjoying the late<br />
1920s <strong>Galveston</strong> beachfront paid much attention<br />
to a small boy gathering shells—shells he<br />
later would sell to a local merchant but this<br />
appreciation <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>’s natural beauty<br />
combined with a talent for entrepreneurship<br />
came early for George Mitchell.<br />
Most likely, not many more noticed the<br />
same boy at age twelve as he spent his<br />
summer biking through <strong>Galveston</strong>’s neighborhoods,<br />
identifying the many different<br />
varieties <strong>of</strong> Oleanders, the island’s <strong>of</strong>ficial<br />
flower, to be found across the city. This<br />
youthful desire to honor his island heritage<br />
blended with a commitment to its preservation<br />
also forecast George Mitchell’s most<br />
daring adult mission.<br />
Today, as founder <strong>of</strong> Mitchell Historic<br />
Properties, George is recognized as having<br />
taken on an unparalleled adult role as a leader<br />
in the rescue <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>’s historic architecture,<br />
the preservation <strong>of</strong> the island’s heritage,<br />
and the rebirth <strong>of</strong> his home community as a<br />
center <strong>of</strong> business and tourism.<br />
The internationally recognized geologist,<br />
engineer, oilman, businessman, developer,<br />
philanthropist and preservationist has been<br />
not only a catalyst but a major player in the<br />
rehabilitation <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>’s nineteenth and<br />
early twentieth century downtown and its<br />
resultant elevation to the status <strong>of</strong> The Strand<br />
National Historic Landmark District, as<br />
designated by the National Park Service.<br />
With investment in the <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
community totaling more than $175<br />
million, MHP administers the operations<br />
and preservation <strong>of</strong> more than<br />
one-fourth <strong>of</strong> the buildings on The<br />
Strand and the adjacent Pier 21 area,<br />
and oversees some twenty historic<br />
buildings and three hotels.<br />
Where fifty years ago there stood<br />
entire city blocks <strong>of</strong> dilapidated and<br />
sometimes abandoned Victorian- and<br />
Edwardian-era buildings, there is today<br />
a bustling downtown with sparkling<br />
retail emporiums, art galleries, <strong>of</strong>fices,<br />
residences and restaurants. Because <strong>of</strong><br />
George and other similar visionaries,<br />
today’s tourists and locals alike can<br />
leisurely stroll <strong>Galveston</strong>’s charming<br />
historic downtown as they shop, work, dine<br />
and play. Some are even fortunate enough to<br />
now call it home.<br />
The man behind much <strong>of</strong> this <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
renaissance—George Phydias Mitchell—was<br />
born in 1919 to Savvas Paraskevopoulos and<br />
Katina Eleftherion. Savvas had emigrated<br />
from Greece in 1901, and while working on a<br />
railroad crew was faced with a company paymaster<br />
who complained <strong>of</strong> his employee’s<br />
multi-syllabic Greek last name. Savvas solved<br />
the problem by adopting the Irish paymaster’s<br />
own name—Mike Mitchell—and then passed<br />
the last part on to his own progeny.<br />
After moving to <strong>Galveston</strong>, where George<br />
was born, the family lived above their small<br />
dry cleaning shop in a <strong>Galveston</strong> neighborhood<br />
referred to as the “League <strong>of</strong> Nations”<br />
because <strong>of</strong> its diverse racial and ethnic<br />
composition. Hardworking but unschooled,<br />
George’s parents stressed the importance<br />
<strong>of</strong> education to all four <strong>of</strong> their children,<br />
and, following his graduation in 1935 from<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>’s Ball High School, George had<br />
planned to enter Rice University in preparation<br />
for medical school. At age sixteen, however,<br />
he was declared too young for admission<br />
to Rice, so he decided to mark time by<br />
working with his brother Johnny in the oil<br />
fields that were sprouting up all over Texas.<br />
In the heady atmosphere <strong>of</strong> the burgeoning<br />
petrochemical industry, a career in medicine<br />
was soon set aside, and George headed <strong>of</strong>f to<br />
Texas A&M to study geology and petroleum<br />
engineering. Working his way through college<br />
by operating a laundry concession, waiting<br />
tables, and selling candy, stationery and book<br />
cases that he made himself—and also finding<br />
time to captain the university’s tennis team—he<br />
graduated in 1940 at the top <strong>of</strong> his class.<br />
The next decade was filled with momentous<br />
events for the aspiring young entrepreneur.<br />
On Thanksgiving Day 1941, during a train ride<br />
returning to Houston after a football game,<br />
George met Cynthia Woods, who became<br />
the love <strong>of</strong> his life. The couple married on<br />
Halloween 1943 and began a life-long partnership<br />
in which they not only raised ten children<br />
but also became one <strong>of</strong> the region’s most<br />
significant couples, widely recognized for their<br />
civic leadership.<br />
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Following service during World War II as a<br />
captain with the U.S. Army Corps <strong>of</strong> Engineers,<br />
George began his petroleum engineering career<br />
in earnest. He led a gas exploration “wildcatting”<br />
operation that in 1952 hit one <strong>of</strong> the largest<br />
strikes in history, laying the foundation for what<br />
would eventually become Mitchell Energy and<br />
Development Corporation, one <strong>of</strong> the nation’s<br />
premier independent energy companies.<br />
Above: Hotel Galvez & Spa is the only<br />
historic beachfront hotel on the Texas Gulf<br />
Coast. In preparation for the hotel’s 100th<br />
anniversary, all Gulf facing windows will be<br />
replaced with operable, divided light<br />
windows reminiscent <strong>of</strong> the hotels<br />
original design.<br />
Left: The Tremont House is located in<br />
historic downtown <strong>Galveston</strong> and is a<br />
wonderful example <strong>of</strong> adaptive use <strong>of</strong> a<br />
historic building.<br />
Despite the demands <strong>of</strong> a busy pr<strong>of</strong>essional<br />
life, which came to include the development<br />
<strong>of</strong> The Woodlands, a planned community<br />
north <strong>of</strong> Houston, George made sure his growing<br />
family made time and space for regular<br />
visits to <strong>Galveston</strong> south <strong>of</strong> Houston. It was a<br />
favorite place to come and relax, a place where<br />
George could indulge in his passion for fishing<br />
and where the children learned to share their<br />
parents’ appreciation <strong>of</strong> and commitment to<br />
the island.<br />
The Mitchells also began to direct their<br />
attention toward providing a solid foundation<br />
for <strong>Galveston</strong>’s future economic growth<br />
through the development <strong>of</strong> the western part<br />
<strong>of</strong> the island, but were additionally concerned<br />
about the continuing deterioration <strong>of</strong> numerous<br />
architectural treasures on the east end.<br />
In particular, they saw the widespread blight<br />
that threatened the historic downtown.<br />
In 1972, on a visit to Charleston, South<br />
Carolina. George learned <strong>of</strong> an innovative<br />
program that included a buying-and-selling<br />
“revolving fund” program that was being used<br />
to help temporarily rescue historic structures<br />
from the wrecking ball and stabilize them until<br />
a suitable permanent owner could be found to<br />
continue the structure’s restoration.<br />
Below: The Hutchings-Sealy Building is<br />
situated on the corner <strong>of</strong> Strand and<br />
Twenty-fourth Street in the heart <strong>of</strong> historic<br />
downtown <strong>Galveston</strong>. The building <strong>of</strong>fers<br />
retail space on the first floor as well as <strong>of</strong>fice<br />
space on the second and third floors.<br />
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167
Left: Old <strong>Galveston</strong> Square is a high-traffic<br />
retail location in the center <strong>of</strong> historic<br />
downtown <strong>Galveston</strong>. The building <strong>of</strong>fers<br />
highly visible retail space on the first floor<br />
as well as retail/<strong>of</strong>fice space on the second<br />
and third floors.<br />
Right: The Thomas Jefferson League<br />
Building on The Strand.<br />
A group from <strong>Galveston</strong> Historical<br />
Foundation was dispatched to study the<br />
Charleston program and, with the support <strong>of</strong><br />
several local foundations and others, a<br />
similar fund was established for the island.<br />
The Mitchells purchased the 1871 Thomas<br />
Jefferson League Building on The Strand in<br />
1976, and with its renovation, opened the<br />
upscale Wentletrap Restaurant.<br />
In 1982, George shared in a speech to the<br />
island’s Rotary Club a major plan for his home<br />
town that included increasing year-round<br />
tourism, developing additional residential areas<br />
on the island’s west end and revitalizing the<br />
entire downtown area. His personal goals<br />
included the opening <strong>of</strong> two hotels, a marina<br />
and upscale condominiums, and establishing a<br />
trolley line to run from downtown to the beach.<br />
The first hotel, the San Luis Resort and<br />
Condos, was new construction, but was built<br />
on historic property that had served as Fort<br />
Crockett during World War II. The land came<br />
with elevated military bunkers and vintage<br />
gun emplacements, which were left intact and<br />
can be seen today still strategically overlooking<br />
the Gulf with the magnificent San Luis<br />
complex sitting high on the hill above them.<br />
The second hotel was The Tremont House,<br />
which occupies the 1879 Leon and H. Blum<br />
Building in the historic downtown area.<br />
Constructed more than a century earlier, the<br />
building like much <strong>of</strong> downtown <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
had fallen into severe disrepair at the time <strong>of</strong><br />
the Mitchells’ purchase.<br />
With his typical visionary approach and<br />
perseverance, however, George personally<br />
oversaw its transformation from a massive<br />
but shabby commercial warehouse into the<br />
119-room Tremont House, one <strong>of</strong> the Texas<br />
Gulf Coast’s most charming and luxurious<br />
historic hotels and the first <strong>of</strong> any significance<br />
in <strong>Galveston</strong>’s downtown area in six decades.<br />
With fanfare such as the city had not seen in<br />
years, the hotel’s opening in February 1985<br />
was accompanied by the Mitchells’ revival <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>’s traditional Mardi Gras celebration,<br />
complete with a gala parade, costumed revelers<br />
and a formal ball.<br />
Another rescue effort took on mythological<br />
aspects. As Hurricane Alicia left <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
in its wake in 1983, it also left the<br />
Washington Building—constructed in 1873<br />
as the Washington Hotel—almost totally in<br />
ashes, the result <strong>of</strong> an electrical fire sparked<br />
by the storm. The Mitchells had already<br />
purchased the building and plans had been<br />
drawn up for its rehabilitation, but all that<br />
was left were portions <strong>of</strong> two walls, one <strong>of</strong><br />
which had to be supported by a lumber brace<br />
to keep it from falling.<br />
In typical Mitchell fashion, the rehabilitation<br />
program, which now included rebuilding<br />
as well, went forward, and what emerged was<br />
a charming reinforced concrete-framed replication<br />
<strong>of</strong> the original building to house retail<br />
areas, <strong>of</strong>fices and the city’s oldest law firm.<br />
The space in back <strong>of</strong> the Washington was<br />
reconfigured to include a park-like courtyard<br />
that fronted a bakery and c<strong>of</strong>fee shop aptly<br />
named The Phoenix, and which for many<br />
years after was a favorite early morning stop<br />
for George, who would quietly drop in,<br />
inconspicuously take a table in the corner and<br />
visit with a close friend or two over c<strong>of</strong>fee.<br />
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The Mitchells have not limited<br />
themselves to saving only <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
buildings. The badly deteriorated 1877<br />
“Tall Ship” Elissa had initially been slated<br />
for the City <strong>of</strong> San Francisco, but<br />
George and other community leaders<br />
were able to negotiate a deal to bring<br />
her to <strong>Galveston</strong> instead, where today,<br />
gloriously restored, she serves as the<br />
main attraction at the Texas Seaport<br />
Museum and is one <strong>of</strong> three National<br />
Historic Landmarks in <strong>Galveston</strong>.<br />
George also followed through on his<br />
1982 vision to create a trolley line,<br />
whose vintage-like vehicles <strong>of</strong>fered<br />
regular passenger service across the island<br />
from Pier 21 on the bay to the beachfront on<br />
the gulf until they were severely damaged<br />
by Hurricane Ike in 2008. Also a part <strong>of</strong> the<br />
George’s plan to strengthen the link between<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>’s harbor and The Strand, the Pier 21<br />
complex includes the Harbor House Hotel &<br />
Marina, constructed in 1993, in addition to a<br />
theater, shops and restaurants.<br />
Although they cannot claim the BOI<br />
(“Born on the Island”) status <strong>of</strong> their father,<br />
the children <strong>of</strong> George and Cynthia Mitchell<br />
seem to share much <strong>of</strong> their parents’ commitment<br />
to the island. Son Grant Mitchell has<br />
turned his cinematic talents to the production<br />
<strong>of</strong> several multimedia presentations on the<br />
island’s history, including The Great Storm and<br />
The Pirate Island <strong>of</strong> Jean Lafitte, both <strong>of</strong> which<br />
are shown at Pier 21’s Great Storm Theater.<br />
Daughter Sheridan Mitchell Lorenz has joined<br />
her parents in civic projects such as the<br />
development <strong>of</strong> a local affordable housing<br />
initiative known as The Oaks, and applied<br />
her expertise in architectural preservation and<br />
interior decoration to the accurate restoration<br />
and refurbishment <strong>of</strong> the 1911 Hotel Galvez.<br />
Additionally, the Mitchells’ granddaughter<br />
Lori Mitchell currently oversees design choices<br />
for all the family’s <strong>Galveston</strong> properties<br />
with the same care and attention to detail<br />
shown by her grandmother and aunt.<br />
It was at Cynthia’s encouragement—she is<br />
reported to have said to her husband, “If you<br />
really care about <strong>Galveston</strong>, you will buy that<br />
hotel”—that George in 1992 purchased the<br />
Galvez for $3 million. The initial rehabilitation<br />
that followed totaled around another $20<br />
million, but few grand hotels <strong>of</strong> the past have<br />
been so painstakingly researched and meticulously<br />
rebuilt to their earlier splendor. Photos<br />
from its premiere years, when the Galvez was<br />
known as the “Queen <strong>of</strong> the Gulf,” were carefully<br />
examined by Sheridan and her mother,<br />
and later modifications removed and earlier<br />
design elements restored. Even the paint colors<br />
<strong>of</strong> the original lobby were replicated to create<br />
an oasis <strong>of</strong> spacious, palm-shaded vistas connected<br />
by “tea and cream” columns and arches.<br />
There was yet another great challenge coming,<br />
however. When Hurricane Ike struck in<br />
September 2008, destroying much <strong>of</strong> the<br />
rehabilitation efforts <strong>of</strong> the past half century,<br />
MHP was again a leader in the recovery and<br />
rebuilding <strong>of</strong> the historic district. Launching a<br />
massive clean-up and restoration program,<br />
the organization commandeered an army <strong>of</strong><br />
workers to address the damages, and following<br />
the example <strong>of</strong> George and other stalwart<br />
islanders, much <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> quickly and<br />
heroically rebounded.<br />
The following year, when the “Spirit <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>” award was presented to George by<br />
the <strong>Galveston</strong> Chamber <strong>of</strong> Commerce, many<br />
felt he should receive a “Heart <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>”<br />
tribute as well, for that is what he had truly<br />
given. And indeed, as the evening unfolded<br />
and his many contributions throughout the<br />
years were being extolled, one could catch a<br />
glimpse every now and then <strong>of</strong> the young<br />
George with his shy, boyish smile, and totally,<br />
unabashedly still head-over-heels in love with<br />
his island home.<br />
Due to high demand for waterfront property<br />
for dining, retail and entertainment, the<br />
Pier 21 complex provides a destination<br />
along the pier. Pier 21 <strong>of</strong>fers retail space.<br />
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169
BP TEXAS CITY<br />
REFINERY<br />
Above: West Plant.<br />
Below: Board operator, Cynthia Cappa.<br />
Workers at the BP Texas City Refinery<br />
have been producing vital transportation<br />
fuels for the American marketplace since<br />
1934. Originally the site was owned by<br />
Pan Am, and later Amoco before that<br />
company merged with BP in 1998.<br />
As the third largest refinery in the United<br />
States and BP’s largest refinery worldwide,<br />
the Texas City plant has a crude capacity <strong>of</strong><br />
475,000 barrels per day. The refinery can produce<br />
up to 3 percent <strong>of</strong> the U.S. gas supply.<br />
During 12 hours <strong>of</strong> normal production,<br />
the Refinery’s workers<br />
can produce 21 million gallons<br />
<strong>of</strong> gasoline, enough to fill up 80<br />
miles <strong>of</strong> a 36-inch pipeline.<br />
Locally, the refinery is the<br />
largest private sector employer<br />
and taxpayer in <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>. The site’s 2,000 plus<br />
workers are proud to provide<br />
a variety <strong>of</strong> fuels, chemical<br />
feedstock and other refined<br />
petroleum products for customers<br />
across the country.<br />
Less than ten years after<br />
its construction, the refinery’s<br />
workers made a lasting impact<br />
on history. During World War II,<br />
U.S. Government funds resulted<br />
in the construction <strong>of</strong> three new<br />
units at the facility, where its<br />
workers produced vital jet fuel<br />
for American and Allied forces.<br />
The site saw continued growth following<br />
the war to keep up with post-war demands.<br />
By the 1960s, the plant had the capacity<br />
to produce 240,000 barrels <strong>of</strong> crude a day.<br />
During the next decade, a waste water<br />
facility was built as part <strong>of</strong> a modernization<br />
project. Further expansions and investments<br />
continued from the 1980s to 2000s aimed at<br />
improving capability, reducing emissions and<br />
producing a cleaner fuel.<br />
From 2005 to 2009, BP invested more<br />
than $1 billion and more than 60 million<br />
hours to renovate the 1,200-acre facility.<br />
Those renovations included major updates<br />
to 28 major process units, a rebuilt 27-mile<br />
steam system, new flare systems and a 62,000<br />
square feet employee services building.<br />
Located in south Texas City, the refinery has<br />
access to the world through the Port <strong>of</strong> Texas<br />
City and numerous pipelines.<br />
With a daily employee and contractor<br />
work force that can reach as high as 7,000,<br />
the site’s annual economic impact on the<br />
Texas economy from operating revenues<br />
and spin-<strong>of</strong>f revenues totals more than<br />
$20 billion.<br />
BP works to be a good corporate neighbor<br />
with employees participating in numerous<br />
community services projects and has<br />
raised nearly $1 million annually for the<br />
United Way. The company’s Fabric <strong>of</strong><br />
America program has enabled employees to<br />
give more than $1.1 million in contributions<br />
to local organizations.<br />
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170
BP TEXAS CITY<br />
CHEMICALS<br />
The 300 workers <strong>of</strong> the BP Texas City<br />
Chemicals facility are proud to run the<br />
world’s largest production plant <strong>of</strong> both<br />
paraxylene and metaxylene.<br />
The 220-acre site includes four manufacturing<br />
process units—three paraxylene (PX)<br />
and one metaxylene (MX). The PX production<br />
capacity is 2.5 billion pounds per year<br />
and the MX production capacity stands at<br />
500 million pounds per year.<br />
The principal use for paraxylene is purified<br />
terephthalic acid (PTA) which is used primarily<br />
in making polyester for textile fibers and<br />
fabrics for various products such as bottles<br />
containing groceries and cleaning products,<br />
magnetic tapes, micr<strong>of</strong>ilms and containers.<br />
The PX output from BP Texas City<br />
Chemicals is primarily shipped to BP’s PTA<br />
plant in Cooper River, South Carolina, and<br />
then exported to facilities throughout<br />
Asia. PTA is the key raw material used to<br />
manufacture polyester fiber, resin and film.<br />
The main use <strong>of</strong> metaxylene is purified<br />
isophthalic acid (PIA) which is used to<br />
make soda bottles, fiberglass auto bodies,<br />
surf boards, snowmobile housings, outboard<br />
motor covers, industrial cooling fans and<br />
vaulting poles.<br />
The MX production at BP Texas City is<br />
under long-term sales contract to a third party<br />
in the United State for conversion into PIA.<br />
The Chemicals plant purchases most <strong>of</strong><br />
its feed stocks directly from the adjacent<br />
BP Texas City Refinery.<br />
The chemical plant is located on the<br />
south side <strong>of</strong> Texas City and was acquired<br />
by BP in 1998 from Amoco along with the<br />
neighboring refinery.<br />
BP Texas City Chemicals implements a<br />
deepwater dock facility at the Port <strong>of</strong> Texas<br />
City which is leased from the Texas City<br />
Terminal Railway Port Authority.<br />
BP workers are proud to support local<br />
charitable and service organizations like the<br />
Salvation Army, the <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Food<br />
Bank, Ronald McDonald House, D’Feet Breast<br />
Cancer, the Bay Area Council Boy Scouts, and<br />
school districts throughout <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
On the next two pages, BP is proud to sponsor<br />
the presentations <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
Economic Alliance and United Way <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> Mainland. Both agencies have been<br />
excellent partners with BP Texas City in improving<br />
the quality <strong>of</strong> life for many citizens, families<br />
and businesses throughout <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
BUILDING A GREATER GALVESTON<br />
171
GALVESTON<br />
COUNTY<br />
ECONOMIC<br />
ALLIANCE<br />
The <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Economic Alliance<br />
was formed in February 1998 to provide<br />
economic development services for <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>. The current executive director is<br />
Don Gartman. The Alliance is a membership<br />
organization composed <strong>of</strong> cities, business,<br />
education and industry leaders in <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>. Its board <strong>of</strong> directors represents a<br />
wide cross section <strong>of</strong> the membership.<br />
The principal function <strong>of</strong> the Alliance is to<br />
facilitate the location and development <strong>of</strong> new<br />
business and industry into <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
Since its inception, it has worked with many<br />
new businesses to create new jobs and inject<br />
capital into the local economy. The Alliance<br />
works very closely with city economic development<br />
entities to attract business that is<br />
consistent with the growth plan <strong>of</strong> the city.<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> boasts a wonderful variety<br />
<strong>of</strong> communities, from the tourist centered<br />
economy <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> Island, to the industrial<br />
base <strong>of</strong> Texas City, to the scientific and<br />
technical focus <strong>of</strong> Northern <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
Each community is unique and has its own<br />
priorities for development.<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> is committed to creating<br />
an environment that encourages economic<br />
growth and the creation <strong>of</strong> jobs. It provides a<br />
well educated workforce, strong community<br />
support, excellent medical facilities through<br />
the University <strong>of</strong> Texas Medical Branch, and a<br />
wide variety <strong>of</strong> lifestyle experiences. More<br />
information about <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> cities<br />
and the <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Economic Alliance<br />
may be found at www.gcea.us.<br />
Although its principal function is to facilitate<br />
the location <strong>of</strong> new business and industry<br />
into <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>, in 2005, the Alliance<br />
decided to extend its work to the support <strong>of</strong><br />
small business development within <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>. It formed the <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
Economic Alliance Foundation for the primary<br />
purpose <strong>of</strong> raising the necessary match<br />
funding to bring the services <strong>of</strong> a Small<br />
Business Development Center to <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>. The Foundation entered into an<br />
agreement with the University <strong>of</strong> Houston to<br />
host the <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Small Business<br />
Development Center, which saw its first client<br />
in 2006. Since that time, the Center has<br />
assisted in the formation <strong>of</strong> over 100 new<br />
businesses, the creation <strong>of</strong> over 400 new jobs,<br />
and the infusion <strong>of</strong> over $23,000,000 into the<br />
economy <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>. The Center provides<br />
one-on-one business advice and counseling<br />
at no cost to the business owner, and<br />
a variety <strong>of</strong> training classes at very low cost.<br />
Visit www.gcsbdc.com for more information.<br />
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UNITED WAY<br />
GALVESTON<br />
COUNTY<br />
MAINLAND<br />
There is a United Way in almost every large<br />
city across the United States and several other<br />
parts <strong>of</strong> the world. Each United Way is as different<br />
as the diverse communities it serves.<br />
The organization now known as United Way<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Mainland has been serving<br />
the people <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s mainland<br />
communities since 1955. Then, it was called<br />
United Fund. Now it is called United Way<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Mainland. Then, and now,<br />
the mission is still the same: mobilizing the<br />
caring power <strong>of</strong> people to help one another.<br />
Each year, this United Way raises funds with<br />
the help <strong>of</strong> industrial and community advocates<br />
to support programs at local nonpr<strong>of</strong>its<br />
and to provide direct community services.<br />
The United Way was born out <strong>of</strong> necessity.<br />
It was created by men and women <strong>of</strong> good<br />
will as an answer to the waste and frustration<br />
<strong>of</strong> many competing appeals for funds, numerous<br />
and incessant demands for volunteer time<br />
and the fragmentation <strong>of</strong> human services.<br />
In the early years <strong>of</strong> this organization, the<br />
campaign goal was about $200,000 for 11 social<br />
service agencies. The 2012 campaign goal was<br />
$2,324,000, which was designated to fund more<br />
than 60 programs that improve the health,<br />
income and education <strong>of</strong> people who live in<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s 13 mainland communities.<br />
Year after year, employees from the industrial<br />
plants and local business leaders give<br />
a portion <strong>of</strong> their wages to United Way<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Mainland. The petrochemical<br />
businesses that call Texas City home have<br />
played an integral role in keeping the doors<br />
open for vital social service programs in<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> by supporting United Way.<br />
The support that this United Way has<br />
received from the industrial employees and<br />
contractors goes beyond financial donations.<br />
In 2012, United Way <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
Mainland had plant managers from every<br />
large plant in Texas City serving on their<br />
board <strong>of</strong> directors. These community leaders<br />
have been instrumental in improving the<br />
health, income and education <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong> by remaining proactive and steadfast<br />
in their commitment to United Way.<br />
United Way <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Mainland is<br />
a local phenomenon that evolved gradually<br />
through community efforts to help people. It<br />
also served to coordinate the agency activity<br />
into a galvanizing force to strengthen the<br />
impact <strong>of</strong> the individual on his or her<br />
community. United Way <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
Mainland continues today, as they have in the<br />
past, to be actively involved in coordinating<br />
vital health and human services to provide<br />
maximum impact to the people who live and<br />
work in <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>.<br />
Below: Eagle Scout Will Roberts, Texas City<br />
Mayor Matt Doyle, and BP Texas City<br />
Plant Manager and Business Unit Leader.<br />
BUILDING A GREATER GALVESTON<br />
173
OCEAN STAR<br />
MUSEUM<br />
Above: Ocean Star Offshore Drilling<br />
Rig Museum.<br />
Below: Boy Scout Troop 266 working on<br />
Geology Badge activities.<br />
Ahoy! Welcome aboard the Ocean Star for<br />
a first-hand adventure aboard an <strong>of</strong>fshore<br />
drilling rig. Whether charting a course for<br />
entertainment or education, visitors will find<br />
her ready to take them on a heady, industrialstrength<br />
voyage <strong>of</strong> discovery within a<br />
comfortable, modern museum setting.<br />
The only known facility <strong>of</strong> its type, the<br />
Ocean Star, a “jackup” drilling rig, <strong>of</strong>fers the<br />
opportunity to physically enter the world <strong>of</strong><br />
the <strong>of</strong>fshore petrochemical industry. This<br />
great leviathan <strong>of</strong> the deep—deep water<br />
drilling, that is—is a marvel in technology,<br />
and although Ocean Star is now retired from<br />
active duty and permanently berthed at<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>’s Pier 19—she still has many<br />
lessons to teach.<br />
Within the renovated three-story interior,<br />
complete with elevators, innovative exhibits<br />
illustrate the evolution <strong>of</strong> drilling and the<br />
petroleum industry from 2,000 B.C. to modern<br />
times. Technological advances in the<br />
exploration for, capture and transport <strong>of</strong> oil<br />
and gas are clearly illustrated in multi-media<br />
presentations, and, through interactive<br />
exhibits, visitors can experience what it is like<br />
to operate a cyberbase driller’s<br />
chair or mount a “Billy Pugh”<br />
personnel basket, the main<br />
method <strong>of</strong> transporting people<br />
and supplies from ships onto the<br />
rig itself. Visitors also will see a<br />
display <strong>of</strong> “pigs,” a pipeline<br />
cleaning device, and learn why<br />
these devices squeal.<br />
Detailed models <strong>of</strong> the ocean<br />
floor are a lesson in Gulf Coast<br />
ecology and geology, and exciting<br />
videos, photographs and intricate scale models<br />
<strong>of</strong> the various type <strong>of</strong> ships, drilling rigs,<br />
<strong>of</strong>fshore production facilities and other<br />
equipment used to extract petroleum and<br />
natural gas products from under the sea<br />
dramatically illustrate the when, where, why<br />
and how <strong>of</strong> the North American drilling<br />
industry from the late nineteenth century to<br />
modern times. A Hall <strong>of</strong> Fame features industry<br />
pioneers, and an oil careers exhibit<br />
includes an interest pr<strong>of</strong>ile survey and a<br />
hands-on, hats-on display <strong>of</strong> uniforms.<br />
Outdoors at the Ocean Star, metal gangways<br />
and decks rattle underfoot, and the heft<br />
and height <strong>of</strong> the rig’s decks and their onboard<br />
equipment are stunning. Standing on<br />
the drill floor, it is a 193-foot shot, straight<br />
up to the top <strong>of</strong> the derrick, and at her<br />
working weight <strong>of</strong> 5,096 tons, the Ocean Star<br />
was a formidable presence during her fifteen<br />
years <strong>of</strong> service in the Gulf <strong>of</strong> Mexico.<br />
Equipment on view ranges from seismic<br />
equipment, “Christmas trees” and a “monkey<br />
board” to the giant block-and-tackle system<br />
used to control the drill’s descent, drill bits,<br />
coring bits, power tongs, drill collars, a<br />
blow-out preventer, a helicopter and the<br />
all-important crane used to move men and<br />
material on and <strong>of</strong>f the rig.<br />
Attracting approximately 40,000 visitors a<br />
year from across the nation and around the<br />
world, the Ocean Star is open year-round and<br />
has received enthusiastic reviews, including<br />
being listed as a “Must Visit” museum by Go<br />
Guides Destination, named “Best Museum in<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>” by Islander magazine, and referenced<br />
as a point <strong>of</strong> interest by Newsweek and<br />
Corporate & Incentive Travel magazines.<br />
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174
In addition to tours for the general public,<br />
the Ocean Star <strong>of</strong>fers “on board” accredited<br />
teacher workshops and education supplies<br />
such as “Knowledge Boxes” and “Playing With<br />
Petroleum Kits” that are estimated to impact<br />
some 90,000 students annually. There are also<br />
Tour Plus Programs designed for students in<br />
grades three through twelfth, overnight programs,<br />
Boy Scout and Girl Scout badge workshops<br />
and monthly family day events. For<br />
those unable to visit the Ocean Star, a Mobile<br />
Offshore Learning Unit travels to schools<br />
throughout the state. The Ocean Star is additionally<br />
available for event rentals.<br />
The museum also depicts the ties between<br />
modern lifestyles and the need for petroleum<br />
through an exhibit <strong>of</strong> toys, shoes, cell phones,<br />
computers, deodorants, disposable diapers,<br />
household cleaners, paints, cosmetics and<br />
medicines that are all connected to <strong>of</strong>f-shore<br />
oil and gas production. Transportation and<br />
climate control are also an integral part <strong>of</strong><br />
today’s world, and although progress is being<br />
made in the development <strong>of</strong> alternative energy<br />
sources for these, it is estimated that fossil<br />
fuels will be needed to help power them for<br />
many decades yet to come.<br />
Oceanic and other exhibits illustrate the<br />
many steps taken to protect the environment<br />
during oil and gas exploration and extraction.<br />
Rig platforms are shown supporting the<br />
growth <strong>of</strong> coral and other marine life, and a<br />
video on the Texas coast’s Flower Garden<br />
Banks points out that it is recognized as one<br />
<strong>of</strong> the world’s healthiest reef systems despite<br />
the presence <strong>of</strong> some 400 oil and gas wells<br />
within a ten mile radius <strong>of</strong> the sanctuary.<br />
Safety and comfort are paramount concerns<br />
for personnel <strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong>fshore rigs, which<br />
operate under the auspices <strong>of</strong> the U.S. Coast<br />
Guard. The Ocean Star displays such specialized<br />
equipment as escape pods, some <strong>of</strong><br />
which can hold up to twenty-eight men,<br />
a barometric treatment facility, and, for<br />
deep-water surveillance and construction,<br />
protective dive suits and remotely-operated<br />
under-sea vehicles. There are also exhibits to<br />
show how rig workers live on a daily basis in<br />
their floating home, with ship-style cabins,<br />
recreational areas and kitchens known for<br />
their exceptional food. During her working<br />
days, the Ocean Star had a<br />
crew <strong>of</strong> forty-nine, but<br />
today’s larger rigs may<br />
have as many as ninety<br />
workers on board that<br />
range from “rough necks”<br />
to computer specialists.<br />
The Offshore Energy<br />
Center, a nonpr<strong>of</strong>it educational<br />
organization formed<br />
in 1989 and headquartered<br />
in Houston, is dedicated to<br />
expanding the awareness <strong>of</strong><br />
the vast energy resources<br />
beneath the world’s oceans,<br />
and chronicling the unique heritage and<br />
technological accomplishments <strong>of</strong> the industry<br />
that discovers, produces and delivers these<br />
resources in a safe and environmentally<br />
responsible way. OEC receives no federal or<br />
state funding and is supported by the community<br />
and the industry. Special displays at the<br />
Ocean Star honor those individuals and companies<br />
who have provided major financial and<br />
in-kind donations to the museum, and the<br />
OEC additionally sponsors an annual fundraising<br />
gala and golf and fishing tournaments.<br />
Built in 1969 by the Bethlehem Steel Yard<br />
in Beaumont, Texas, the Ocean Star served <strong>of</strong>f<br />
the Louisiana coast before being retired in<br />
1984. Acquired in 1995 by the OEC, she was<br />
refurbished, rebuilt, relocated in <strong>Galveston</strong>,<br />
and reopened as a museum in 1997.<br />
Top: Visitors pause their audio guided tour<br />
for a photo on the rig floor.<br />
Above: Children from Dickinson ISD on a<br />
guided tour during a field trip.<br />
BUILDING A GREATER GALVESTON<br />
175
GULF COPPER<br />
Gulf Copper is golden on the upper Texas<br />
coast. Specializing in ship and drilling rig<br />
repair and upgrades—and operating under<br />
the <strong>of</strong>ficial name <strong>of</strong> Gulf Copper Drydock and<br />
Rig Repair—the progressive company has<br />
brought to <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> not only a new<br />
industry but also created much needed jobs<br />
and provided a major economic boost with<br />
the opening <strong>of</strong> its latest facility on Pelican<br />
Island in 2005.<br />
One <strong>of</strong> the leading rig repair companies in<br />
the Gulf <strong>of</strong> Mexico, Gulf Copper describes<br />
itself as “employee-owned, customer-driven.”<br />
According to Vice President Leonard Hale—<br />
who oversees <strong>Galveston</strong> operations—the<br />
company is dedicated to establishing itself as<br />
the long-term preferred provider <strong>of</strong> marine<br />
and industrial fabrication and repair services<br />
in all the markets it serves.<br />
“We intend to be our customers’ project<br />
partner and solution provider not just in<br />
the present but for months and years to<br />
come,” says Hale. “Through our programs <strong>of</strong><br />
seeking continuous improvement in both<br />
productivity and the quality <strong>of</strong> our work,<br />
Gulf Copper is committed<br />
to building value for<br />
our customers, employee/<br />
owners, vendors and the<br />
communities in which<br />
we operate. Individually<br />
and as a company, we are<br />
adamant about adhering<br />
to safe practices in the<br />
workplace, protection <strong>of</strong><br />
the environment and<br />
ethical dealings with all<br />
our stakeholders.”<br />
Gulf Copper was founded in 1948 when<br />
three employees <strong>of</strong> Farmers Copper in<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> moved to Port Arthur, Texas, to<br />
begin an independent enterprise dedicated<br />
to the fabrication and installation <strong>of</strong> copper<br />
piping aboard ships.<br />
When the original owners retired in 1979,<br />
the Port Arthur company was purchased by<br />
Morris Albright and Bill Picton, who expanded<br />
its operations to include full topside ship<br />
repair with a machining division. Over the<br />
years, Gulf Copper further diversified to service<br />
the commercial marine, <strong>of</strong>fshore shipping,<br />
oil and gas, petrochemical, power generation,<br />
construction and transportation industries.<br />
A second branch was opened in Corpus<br />
Christi in 1990, and since that time, Gulf<br />
Copper has grown to become an international<br />
leader in marine repair, and today operates<br />
additional locations in San Diego and Guam.<br />
In the first six years following the opening<br />
<strong>of</strong> the Pelican Island facility, the number <strong>of</strong><br />
employees at that location grew from 150 to<br />
more than 800, <strong>of</strong> whom more than 500 have<br />
become shareholders through the company’s<br />
Employee Stock Ownership Plan. This plan<br />
was initiated in 1998 when Gulf Copper<br />
decided to further reward the numerous<br />
talented people on its payroll and initiated a<br />
program in which employees such as welders,<br />
fitters, machinists, electricians and laborers,<br />
among others, could share in the ownership<br />
<strong>of</strong> the company.<br />
With some 3,000 feet <strong>of</strong> quayside space<br />
and dry-docking capabilities for most jack-up<br />
drilling rigs as well as smaller semi-submersibles,<br />
Gulf Copper’s <strong>Galveston</strong> facility is<br />
widely recognized for its diversity and ability<br />
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176
to provide a broad range <strong>of</strong> services for its<br />
customers, including fabrication, blasting,<br />
painting, machining, mechanical, electrical,<br />
scaffolding and other marine-related work.<br />
Additional areas <strong>of</strong> Gulf Copper specialization<br />
include modification, reclassification,<br />
topside repairs, installation, staging, sea fastening<br />
and modular fabrication. It also provides<br />
support for the surveying, repairing,<br />
retr<strong>of</strong>itting, maintenance and general services<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong>fshore vessels, including jack-ups, semisubmersibles,<br />
barges, MSVs and others.<br />
With deepwater facilities in both Port<br />
Arthur and <strong>Galveston</strong>, Gulf Copper is advantageously<br />
located to the U.S. Gulf Continental<br />
Shelf and the U.S. Gulf Deepwater Oil Fields.<br />
As a dynamic local hub for some <strong>of</strong> the most<br />
demanding repair in the maritime industry,<br />
the company is able to support a client list<br />
that includes major and independent <strong>of</strong>fshore<br />
drilling rig contractors, <strong>of</strong>fshore oil and gas<br />
operating and service companies, national oil<br />
companies, major U.S. commercial ship operators<br />
and the U.S. government and military.<br />
Such diversity <strong>of</strong>fers its own challenges,<br />
however. “We know that every customer and<br />
every job is unique,” says Hale, “Gulf Copper<br />
has the manpower and expertise to devise a<br />
solution that fits a wide range <strong>of</strong> requirements,<br />
and our highly trained staff will listen<br />
to a customer’s needs and create a solution<br />
that is tailored to a specific project.”<br />
Partnership with the community also is an<br />
important focus for Gulf Copper. In addition<br />
to being known for its generous corporate<br />
donations, it participates in local fund drives<br />
and sponsorships within its home communities.<br />
Following Hurricane Ike in 2008, it<br />
provided extensive repair services and materials<br />
at cost for <strong>Galveston</strong>’s severely damaged<br />
Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig and<br />
Museum. Upholding its mission as a major<br />
supporter <strong>of</strong> activities that involve a community’s<br />
youth or those in need, Gulf Copper’s<br />
activities in these areas include the Salvation<br />
Army’s Red Kettle Drive, the Southeast Texas<br />
Food Bank, Toys for Tots; Cell Phones for<br />
Soldiers and Newspapers in the Schools.<br />
It is also a major supporter <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
Seafarers Center, a nonpr<strong>of</strong>it, multidenominational<br />
organization aimed at serving the needs<br />
<strong>of</strong> the men and women<br />
who live and work at<br />
sea. “The welfare <strong>of</strong> the<br />
seafarer and his or her<br />
care while in port is<br />
important to us,” says<br />
Hale. “By providing<br />
these workers who are<br />
far from home with<br />
much needed amenities<br />
such as reading<br />
materials, news outlets,<br />
and phone services<br />
with international<br />
capabilities, we can<br />
provide a sense <strong>of</strong> welcome and comfort.”<br />
Gulf Copper additionally participates in the<br />
work <strong>of</strong> the ARC Center <strong>of</strong> Southeast Texas,<br />
a branch <strong>of</strong> the oldest and largest nonpr<strong>of</strong>it<br />
volunteer organization in the state committed<br />
to creating opportunities for people with<br />
intellectual and developmental challenges.<br />
The most poignant <strong>of</strong> Gulf Copper’s volunteer<br />
activities, however, is its participation in<br />
the Mary Madeline Project to provide comfort<br />
and support to grieving families who have<br />
suffered the death <strong>of</strong> a baby. Founded in<br />
memory <strong>of</strong> Madeline Marie Erickson, who<br />
died at the age <strong>of</strong> seven weeks, this nonpr<strong>of</strong>it<br />
organization provides infant-size burial gowns<br />
and blankets to local hospitals.<br />
For additional information on Gulf Copper,<br />
visit www.gulfcopper.com.<br />
BUILDING A GREATER GALVESTON<br />
177
CENTERPOINT<br />
ENERGY<br />
Below: In December 2008, CenterPoint<br />
Energy received approval from the Public<br />
Utility Commission <strong>of</strong> Texas (PUCT) to<br />
deploy more than 2 million smart meters<br />
across its electric service territory in and<br />
around Houston. Electric smart meters are<br />
part <strong>of</strong> Energy InSight SM , CenterPoint<br />
Energy’s system <strong>of</strong> integrated smart<br />
technologies, designed to give consumers<br />
more control over their energy consumption<br />
while improving electric reliability and<br />
power restoration. The company continues<br />
to work toward a bright electric future<br />
with the implementation <strong>of</strong> a self-healing<br />
intelligent grid that will use smart meters,<br />
power line sensors, remote switches and<br />
other automated equipment to improve<br />
power reliability and restoration in<br />
central Houston.<br />
For CenterPoint Energy, “Always There ® ” is<br />
more than a slogan, it is a pledge. Rain or<br />
shine, sleet or snow, more than 8,800<br />
CenterPoint Energy employees understand<br />
the necessity <strong>of</strong> reliable energy delivery.<br />
Headquartered in Houston, CenterPoint<br />
Energy, Inc., is a domestic energy delivery<br />
company that includes electric transmission<br />
& distribution, natural gas distribution, competitive<br />
natural gas sales and services, interstate<br />
pipelines and field services operations.<br />
CenterPoint Energy and its predecessors<br />
have long been dedicated to the <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
community. A leading energy delivery company<br />
with more than 2 million electric end-use<br />
customers in its 5,000 square mile service territory,<br />
the company’s electric business powers<br />
more than 64,000 customers in <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>. From the very first flip <strong>of</strong> a switch,<br />
which turned on electric lights in <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
in the late 1800s, the island has undeniably<br />
had its share <strong>of</strong> devastating storms. From the<br />
Hurricane <strong>of</strong> 1900, which holds the record<br />
for the deadliest hurricane in U.S. history, to<br />
Hurricane Carla in 1961, Hurricane Alicia in<br />
1983 and Hurricane Ike in 2008, CenterPoint<br />
Energy has been true to its pledge <strong>of</strong> being<br />
“Always There ® .” Ike, the third costliest hurricane<br />
to ever make landfall in the U.S. at that<br />
time, caused great destruction and wiped out<br />
electrical power for more than 2.1 million<br />
customers. It was the largest power outage in<br />
both company and state history. CenterPoint<br />
Energy employees and more than 11,000<br />
linemen and tree trimmers from across North<br />
America worked day and night, restoring<br />
power to all who were capable <strong>of</strong> receiving it<br />
in just eighteen days.<br />
Though it has a proud past, CenterPoint<br />
Energy is also investing in leading-edge technology<br />
for a new energy future. The company<br />
is installing and building an intelligent grid.<br />
Smart meters will promote energy conservation<br />
and give consumers the ability to better<br />
monitor and manage their electric use. With<br />
intelligent grid communication equipment,<br />
the company will have the ability to reroute<br />
power around problems automatically, thus<br />
minimizing service disruptions, which will<br />
result in fewer and shorter outages.<br />
In <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>, CenterPoint Energy<br />
has also been providing safe, reliable natural<br />
gas service since the 1920s. In its six-state<br />
natural gas service territory, the company has<br />
more than 107,000 miles <strong>of</strong> main and service<br />
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178
lines, and delivers natural gas to more than<br />
3.2 million residential, commercial and<br />
industrial customers, about 57,000 <strong>of</strong> which<br />
are in <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>. Natural gas is<br />
domestically abundant with enough resources<br />
and proven reserve to satisfy current demands<br />
for 100 years. It also <strong>of</strong>fers more savings,<br />
greater comfort and less impact on the environment.<br />
CenterPoint Energy’s natural gas<br />
distribution business is also making intelligent<br />
investments by installing remote electronic<br />
transmitters on customers’ existing<br />
natural gas meters enabling the company to<br />
read meters remotely, virtually eliminating the<br />
need for a meter reader to enter a customer’s<br />
yard. This technology could also serve as a<br />
foundation to provide on-demand gas usage<br />
information to consumers, and to shut-<strong>of</strong>f gas<br />
meters automatically when gas leaks or unsafe<br />
levels <strong>of</strong> carbon monoxide are detected.<br />
CenterPoint Energy and its employees are<br />
not only “Always There ® ” for our communities<br />
after a storm, but daily. Giving graciously<br />
<strong>of</strong> both time and money, employees log<br />
hundreds <strong>of</strong> thousands <strong>of</strong> hours volunteering<br />
for worthwhile causes, and join the company<br />
in financially supporting charitable causes<br />
such as United Way, Habitat for Humanity,<br />
Junior Achievement, March <strong>of</strong> Dimes and<br />
numerous other organizations. The company<br />
is also proud to invest in the area’s future<br />
by sponsoring educational programs and<br />
providing financial support to help <strong>Galveston</strong>area<br />
students reach their goals.<br />
For more information on CenterPoint<br />
Energy, Inc., please visit the company online<br />
at www.CenterPointEnergy.com.<br />
Below: Community involvement is a way <strong>of</strong><br />
life for the employees <strong>of</strong> CenterPoint Energy,<br />
who contribute hundreds <strong>of</strong> thousands <strong>of</strong><br />
volunteer hours to worthwhile causes each<br />
year. The company cares about the well<br />
being <strong>of</strong> its community and supports<br />
charitable causes such as United Way,<br />
Habitat for Humanity, UNCF, Junior<br />
Achievement, March <strong>of</strong> Dimes and<br />
numerous other organizations. The<br />
company also proudly sponsors many<br />
educational programs around the city,<br />
providing financial support to help students<br />
reach their goals.<br />
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FIRST CHOICE<br />
POWER<br />
First Choice Power is in the business <strong>of</strong><br />
providing electricity to people and businesses<br />
all over Texas. But they would tell you their<br />
real job is looking out for their customers and<br />
putting “you first.”<br />
With friendly, face-to-face service. A team<br />
that listens to you and finds answers. By<br />
helping you use electricity smarter—for a<br />
lower electricity bill and a better environment.<br />
That is how they do it.<br />
That commitment does not stop with<br />
electricity. They are actively involved in the<br />
community, giving time and resources to<br />
programs that do things like fund grants<br />
for nonpr<strong>of</strong>its and teachers and provide one<br />
million meals to Texans in need with a<br />
program called Food First TM .<br />
“Because, like you, we’re proud <strong>of</strong> the<br />
places we work and live,” said Gabe Sims,<br />
manager <strong>of</strong> the Texas City local <strong>of</strong>fice. “We<br />
understand you have a choice when it<br />
comes to buying electricity, and we want to<br />
be your company—a company you actually<br />
like. A company that is always surprising<br />
you with helpful service and great benefits.<br />
The kind <strong>of</strong> company you tell your friends<br />
and co-workers about.<br />
“And from what we hear, we are,” he<br />
added. “In fact, your enthusiastic support<br />
has helped us grow to be one <strong>of</strong> the largest<br />
retail electric providers in the state. Most <strong>of</strong><br />
our new customers come to us based on<br />
word-<strong>of</strong>-mouth from friends and family. In<br />
fact, more than half <strong>of</strong> our customers are<br />
from referrals.”<br />
As part <strong>of</strong> PNM Resources, Inc., First Choice<br />
Power is “Texans serving Texans.” They are<br />
small enough to provide personalized customer<br />
care, but large enough that customers<br />
know they will be here for the long haul.<br />
“We’ve grown our business by taking care<br />
<strong>of</strong> our customers the way we would take care<br />
<strong>of</strong> our family, led by a first-rate leadership<br />
team—good people who know a lot about the<br />
energy industry and also know the value <strong>of</strong><br />
doing what’s right,” Gabe said.<br />
A certified retail electric provider in Texas<br />
since 2001, First Choice Power has been<br />
around since the start <strong>of</strong> deregulation in<br />
January <strong>of</strong> 2002. But its Texas roots run much<br />
deeper. It has ties to a seventy year heritage <strong>of</strong><br />
serving Texans, and many customers know<br />
them as the affiliated retail electric provider <strong>of</strong><br />
TNMP (Texas New Mexico Power).<br />
Gabe Sims and Laura Flores <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Texas City local <strong>of</strong>fice review a<br />
customer’s account.<br />
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It is not just its company history that is<br />
long—they also have a long history <strong>of</strong> giving<br />
back to communities they serve. First Choice<br />
Power supports nonpr<strong>of</strong>it organizations,<br />
teachers and communities throughout Texas,<br />
including a partnership with Gleanings from<br />
the Harvest and Reduce your Use Grants TM for<br />
Mainland Communities, United Way, Santa Fe<br />
Texas Education Foundation, Odyssey<br />
Academy in <strong>Galveston</strong>, Resource & Crisis<br />
Center <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>, HRA Village<br />
Incorporated in Texas City, and M. I. Lewis<br />
Social Service Center in Dickinson.<br />
“Every time I turn around, I see them<br />
involved in the community, and the police<br />
department could not ask for a better supporter,”<br />
said Neal Mora <strong>of</strong> the Texas City<br />
police department.<br />
So whether you are shopping for a new<br />
electricity provider or you are a longtime<br />
First Choice Power fan, you will find<br />
they are working hard every day to earn<br />
your business.<br />
Contact the local store at (409) 949-9260<br />
or stop by 915 North Twentieth North in<br />
Texas City—for a cup <strong>of</strong> c<strong>of</strong>fee or a chat.<br />
Above: Brad Senter (center) receives<br />
$10,000 for being the customer with the<br />
most referrals through the First Choice<br />
Power Turn on a Friend Program.<br />
Below: Customer Cathy Touchton stops by<br />
to talk about her bill with Jay Campbell.<br />
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HDR, INC.<br />
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF SCOTT DOBRY PICTURES.<br />
When H. H. Henningson founded what<br />
would eventually become HDR, he not only<br />
fulfilled his personal dream to lift small<br />
midwestern communities from their frontier<br />
status, he laid an incredible foundation for<br />
one <strong>of</strong> the largest and most respected architectural-engineering<br />
companies in the world.<br />
Indeed, almost a full<br />
century since Henningson<br />
first unfurled the blueprints<br />
for his new civil<br />
engineering firm in 1917,<br />
the company has continuously<br />
evolved and expanded<br />
in scope and size and<br />
is today an expertise-driven<br />
international firm that<br />
delivers its services through<br />
a strong local presence; a<br />
company that is diligently<br />
and assuredly changing the world, project by<br />
project, community by community.<br />
Although today HDR has more than 185<br />
<strong>of</strong>fices worldwide—including fifteen in Texas<br />
and five along the Texas Gulf Coast—<br />
Henningson Engineering Company, as it was<br />
first known, began with just one <strong>of</strong>fice in<br />
Omaha, Nebraska. From that <strong>of</strong>fice, twelve<br />
employees designed water and sewer systems<br />
for new cities and towns throughout the<br />
Midwestern frontier. The company grew<br />
quickly, however, tripling in staff in the first<br />
few years and expanding its services along the<br />
way, even helping to organize the public<br />
power districts that would finally deliver<br />
much-needed electricity to the rural areas <strong>of</strong><br />
Nebraska in the 1930s.<br />
From the beginning, Henningson was a<br />
firm believer that a company is only as strong<br />
as its employees, and like HDR’s management<br />
today, was always vigilant about hiring only<br />
the best, most talented and most loyal<br />
employees. Many <strong>of</strong> those employees grew<br />
their careers along with the company as a<br />
result. Two staff members even went on to<br />
become equal partners in the venture, with<br />
their names eventually being added to the<br />
company shingle. Willard Richardson and<br />
Charles Durham both joined Henningson in<br />
the 1930s and, by 1946, were named partners.<br />
In 1950 the company <strong>of</strong>ficially changed its<br />
name to Henningson, Durham and Richards,<br />
Inc., or HDR for short. Henningson retired<br />
from the company in 1953, making Durham<br />
president and Richards, vice president.<br />
Under the leadership <strong>of</strong> Durham and<br />
Richards, the company continued to grow by<br />
leaps and bounds and, in 1955, further<br />
expanded its capabilities to provide total inhouse<br />
service to clients, including a new<br />
architecture department. Soon after, the company<br />
opened a second <strong>of</strong>fice and boasted an<br />
overall employee roster <strong>of</strong> 215. By 1977 the<br />
company celebrated its sixtieth birthday with<br />
18 <strong>of</strong>fices, a roster <strong>of</strong> 771 employees and a<br />
growing presence on the international front<br />
adding projects such as the $1.4 billion King<br />
Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia<br />
to its resume.<br />
The 1980s brought the addition <strong>of</strong> new<br />
specialty services—such as recycling, landfills<br />
and materials recovery—and continued<br />
growth in the company’s core services <strong>of</strong><br />
transportation, environmental, resource<br />
management, water, healthcare, science and<br />
technology and civic.<br />
HDR crowned the twentieth century by<br />
being named one <strong>of</strong> the top fifty architectural<br />
and engineering firms in the nation and by<br />
the dawn <strong>of</strong> the new century had won three<br />
large management assignments in Arizona,<br />
Missouri and Texas; was hired as part <strong>of</strong> the<br />
design-build team to renovate the Pentagon;<br />
and won a contract to design the Hoover Dam<br />
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Bypass project, a $240-million four-lane<br />
highway connecting Nevada and Arizona and<br />
crossing the Colorado River via the western<br />
hemisphere’s longest concrete arch bridge.<br />
In 2005, HDR reorganized into regional<br />
formats in order to help manage the company’s<br />
flourishing growth and completed a number<br />
<strong>of</strong> mergers and acquisitions spurring even<br />
more growth and a wider array <strong>of</strong> services. In<br />
2008, for example, it merged with CUH2A to<br />
create the most comprehensive science and<br />
technology design firm in the world.<br />
An entirely employee-owned company<br />
since 2003, HDR currently employs more<br />
than 7,800 pr<strong>of</strong>essionals worldwide and is led<br />
by Chairman and CEO George A. Little, PE,<br />
HDR Architecture President, Doug S. Wignall,<br />
AIA, RAIC, LEED AP, HDR Engineering<br />
President Eric L. Keen, PE, and a host <strong>of</strong> other<br />
executive team and board members. The<br />
company has stamped its name on thousands<br />
<strong>of</strong> completed projects in fifty states and sixty<br />
countries, many <strong>of</strong> which have led to a<br />
trophy-case burgeoning with awards and<br />
honors—two <strong>of</strong> the most recent being a<br />
number one ranking in Modern Healthcare’s<br />
2011 “Annual Construction & Design Survey<br />
<strong>of</strong> Healthcare Architects” and a number eleven<br />
ranking in Engineering News-Record’s 2011<br />
“Top 500 Design Firms.”<br />
A <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> project recently won<br />
honors when the Dallas Chapter <strong>of</strong> the<br />
American Institute <strong>of</strong> Architects awarded a<br />
2011 Citation Award to the HDR-designed<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Fire Station #4, a fire and rescue<br />
station located at the Scholes International<br />
Airport on <strong>Galveston</strong> Island. Designed to<br />
withstand extreme weather conditions, the<br />
station will serve as the primary fire and<br />
rescue support for island residences and the<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> airport. It will be a self-contained<br />
unit capable <strong>of</strong> maintaining critical services,<br />
even in the face <strong>of</strong> a hurricane.<br />
Another local project completed by HDR<br />
is the Houston-<strong>Galveston</strong> Regional Transit<br />
Framework Study, a comprehensive needsbased<br />
assessment <strong>of</strong> transit operations and<br />
capital needs in the Houston-<strong>Galveston</strong> area.<br />
Completed and presented in 2010, this study<br />
serves as the framework for developing a<br />
regional public transit plan that includes<br />
short- and long-term recommendations<br />
through 2040.<br />
Recently, the City <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> selected<br />
HDR to lead an ambitious planning project<br />
designed to ensure public and private actions<br />
align to improve the community’s livability,<br />
sustainability, and competitiveness. This<br />
planning effort, known as Progress <strong>Galveston</strong>,<br />
is organized in three parts: 1) completing<br />
an update to the City’s Comprehensive Plan;<br />
2) preparing a series <strong>of</strong> Specialized Plans<br />
addressing important issues such as historic<br />
preservation, mobility, parks and recreation,<br />
disaster recovery, and coastal management;<br />
and 3) rewriting and streamlining ordinances<br />
and regulations affecting the development <strong>of</strong><br />
private property.<br />
For more information on HDR, Inc., visit<br />
www.hdrinc.com.<br />
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183
PORT OF<br />
GALVESTON<br />
Sea birds soar overhead and palm trees dot<br />
the landscape as seagoing vessels from around<br />
the world ply the busy waters <strong>of</strong> the Port <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>. On almost any given day for much <strong>of</strong><br />
the past 200 years, this natural deep water harbor<br />
with easy open-ocean access has presented a<br />
similar scene <strong>of</strong> ever expanding—and <strong>of</strong>ten<br />
record-setting—coastal commerce set against a<br />
backdrop <strong>of</strong> picturesque natural beauty.<br />
As the first and oldest<br />
port in Texas, the Port <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> has played a pivotal<br />
role in the development<br />
<strong>of</strong> not just <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
but the American Southwest.<br />
Repeatedly asserting itself as a<br />
leader in maritime travel,<br />
commerce and trade, it has<br />
time and again asserted its<br />
claims to fame. During the<br />
1800s, as cotton became<br />
king, the Port <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
led the world in its export, and the city it called<br />
home became known as the “Queen <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Gulf.” More recently, the Port <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> has<br />
continued to set records with such diverse<br />
achievements as earning the title <strong>of</strong> the Premier<br />
Cruise Port in the Gulf <strong>of</strong> Mexico and, on a<br />
very different note, breaking the U.S. record as<br />
an international exporter <strong>of</strong> live cattle.<br />
Located only 9.3 miles from the open sea at<br />
the entrance to <strong>Galveston</strong> Bay and contiguous<br />
with the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway, the 850-<br />
acre Port <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> is a self-supporting enterprise<br />
with annual operating revenues <strong>of</strong> more<br />
than $20 million and an estimated statewide<br />
economic impact <strong>of</strong> more than $1 billion.<br />
Served by both major western railroad lines, it<br />
is approximately a one-hour drive from Houston,<br />
the nation’s fourth largest city, to which it is<br />
linked by the interstate highway system.<br />
Supporting its leadership role in domestic<br />
and international shipping, the Port <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> includes two state-<strong>of</strong>-the-art cruise<br />
terminals with three cruise ship berths, a<br />
short-line terminal railway, an export grain<br />
elevator and facilities to handle a diversified<br />
mix <strong>of</strong> traditional and non-traditional cargo.<br />
Its capabilities include “roll-on/roll-<strong>of</strong>f” and<br />
container cargo, dry and liquid bulk, export<br />
grain, refrigerated fruit, plus general and<br />
special project cargo. It also is home to ship<br />
and rig repair facilities, one <strong>of</strong> which operates<br />
the largest dry dock west <strong>of</strong> the Bahamas.<br />
Never resting in its quest to provide optimal<br />
conditions and cutting-edge opportunities<br />
for the maritime industry, the port’s<br />
recent improvements have included<br />
such projects as deepening the harbor,<br />
adding an additional cruise terminal,<br />
and installing what is believed<br />
to be the world’s largest mobile gangway.<br />
The port’s ability to handle<br />
special cargo projects is spotlighted<br />
by its success in 2011 with the largest<br />
ever “load-out” <strong>of</strong> livestock in any<br />
one shipment from a U.S. port. This<br />
included the successful transport <strong>of</strong><br />
almost 6,000 head <strong>of</strong> cattle, a number<br />
<strong>of</strong> whom were pregnant, to Russia to<br />
replenish depleted herds there.<br />
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The Port <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> is also an international<br />
leader in the cruise industry and hosts<br />
several <strong>of</strong> the largest and newest ships representing<br />
the world’s top cruise lines. As the primary<br />
point <strong>of</strong> embarkation for cruises to the<br />
western Caribbean, the number one cruise<br />
port in Texas and the Premier Port on the Gulf<br />
<strong>of</strong> Mexico, it is among the nation’s busiest<br />
cruise ports and has been ranked among the<br />
top twenty cruise ports in the world. As an<br />
additional plus, the Port’s convenient location<br />
adjacent to the Historic Downtown <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
Strand District allows passengers and crew<br />
members to easily explore numerous shops,<br />
restaurants and other attractions, all within a<br />
short walking distance.<br />
The excellent reputation <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> as a<br />
cruise ship port is further reinforced by the<br />
decisions made by such industry greats as<br />
Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean<br />
International to designate <strong>Galveston</strong> as a yearround<br />
home port and seasonal home port,<br />
respectively, for their largest ships, some boasting<br />
passenger capacities <strong>of</strong> up to 4,000.<br />
Combined with additional planned cruise line<br />
deployments, it is estimated that approximately<br />
one million passengers annually will soon<br />
include the Port <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> in their travels.<br />
Such statistics are in stark contrast to the<br />
port’s earliest days, when it was little more than<br />
a trading post. That began to change in the early<br />
1800s, when French privateer Louis Michel<br />
Aury was commissioned by Mexico to establish<br />
a port in <strong>Galveston</strong> that could be used in<br />
Mexico’s fight for independence against Spain.<br />
Aury was unfortunately called away on business<br />
about the time Jean Lafitte, having just<br />
been run out <strong>of</strong> New Orleans for pirating<br />
activities there, was looking for a new<br />
location for his headquarters. Lafitte<br />
quickly took advantage <strong>of</strong> Aury’s absence<br />
and moved his own operations to the<br />
island, establishing a fortified village commune<br />
he named Campeche. With homes,<br />
saloons, gambling and boarding houses—<br />
plus Lafitte’s own mansion, known as<br />
Maison Rouge–the settlement eventually<br />
boasted a population <strong>of</strong> around 1,000 and<br />
purportedly operated quite pr<strong>of</strong>itably<br />
until its activities were eventually closed<br />
down by the United States.<br />
In 1825, while still<br />
under Mexican rule,<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> was designated<br />
a provisional port and customs<br />
entry point by the<br />
Congress <strong>of</strong> Mexico, and<br />
six years later a Mexican<br />
custom house was established<br />
on the island. With<br />
the break away <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Republic <strong>of</strong> Texas from<br />
Mexico, <strong>Galveston</strong> became<br />
the homeport for the Texas<br />
Navy in 1835 and was<br />
declared by the Texas<br />
Congress as an <strong>of</strong>ficial port<br />
<strong>of</strong> entry in 1837. By the<br />
time Texas renounced its<br />
status as an independent<br />
republic and became a<br />
part <strong>of</strong> the United States in 1845, the Port <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> had grown to become a major center<br />
<strong>of</strong> international shipping and commerce, a<br />
position that has distinguished it ever since<br />
among the great ports <strong>of</strong> the world.<br />
Port <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> is located on the Internet<br />
at www.port<strong>of</strong>galveston.com.<br />
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HITCHCOCK<br />
INDUSTRIAL<br />
DEVELOPMENT<br />
CORPORATION<br />
First settled by a group <strong>of</strong> French pioneers<br />
in the 1820s, Hitchcock, Texas, is not only<br />
one <strong>of</strong> the oldest communities in <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
<strong>County</strong>, but it is one <strong>of</strong> the most resilient and<br />
robust anywhere.<br />
Its story in fact is one <strong>of</strong> not just surviving,<br />
but thriving—surviving the nation’s most deadly<br />
hurricane in 1900, the Great Depression and<br />
even an invasion <strong>of</strong> insects that completely<br />
destroyed all <strong>of</strong> its local crops, yet always finding<br />
a way to turn it around, reshaping itself to<br />
make the most <strong>of</strong> all situations. It has been an<br />
important agricultural center and the “Vegetable<br />
Shipping Capital <strong>of</strong> the United States.” It has<br />
been a vital military center and the home <strong>of</strong> two<br />
major military installations—the Army’s Camp<br />
Wallace and a U.S. Naval Air Station known as<br />
Blimp Base. And, today, fueled by more than<br />
7,000 community-spirited citizens and led by<br />
committed and capable organizations such as<br />
the City <strong>of</strong> Hitchcock, the Hitchcock Chamber<br />
<strong>of</strong> Commerce and the Hitchcock Industrial<br />
Development Corporation (HIDC), it is still<br />
thriving and growing—this time as the gateway<br />
to the Golden Gulf Coast.<br />
Indeed, its strategic location only 20 minutes<br />
from <strong>Galveston</strong> and just 35 minutes from<br />
Houston and their deep water ports makes this<br />
71 square-mile community the very hub <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Greater Gulf Coast area, an asset that leaders<br />
say has not only brought them much success,<br />
but that also <strong>of</strong>fers unlimited potential for<br />
future growth. Major shopping malls, hospitals,<br />
colleges and recreational facilities are<br />
only minutes away and the Highland Bayou<br />
and Intercoastal Waterway gives Hitchcock a<br />
Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) as well as ample<br />
waterfront property open for both residential<br />
and commercial development—developments<br />
such as the exclusive, gated and masterplanned<br />
community <strong>of</strong> Harborwalk located<br />
on West <strong>Galveston</strong> Bay and including 850<br />
acres and sites for 550 homes, a marina, a<br />
beach club, restaurant and boat slips.<br />
Within the city limits are many conveniences<br />
including a medical clinic, a dental<br />
<strong>of</strong>fice, several eateries, a shopping center,<br />
banks, a modern library, a number <strong>of</strong> churches<br />
as well as a host <strong>of</strong> other businesses to<br />
satisfy the needs <strong>of</strong> the community. The<br />
Hitchcock Independent School District <strong>of</strong>fers<br />
instruction kindergarten through twelfth<br />
grade as well as a Head Start program and<br />
two private schools. The entire community is<br />
served by a well-equipped, skilled volunteer<br />
fire department, which keeps insurance rates<br />
low for businesses and residents alike and<br />
city services are top-notch including a dedicated<br />
and well-trained police department.<br />
For more information on the City <strong>of</strong><br />
Hitchcock; the Hitchcock Chamber <strong>of</strong><br />
Commerce; or the Hitchcock Industrial<br />
Development Corporation, a nonpr<strong>of</strong>it corporation<br />
which actively <strong>of</strong>fers assistance to<br />
developers in securing municipal services<br />
and issues bonds for construction <strong>of</strong> new<br />
business, visit www.hitchcockidc.com.<br />
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Occupying approximately 300 acres <strong>of</strong><br />
choice coastal plain on the former site <strong>of</strong><br />
World War II’s Naval Air Station in Hitchcock,<br />
Texas, today’s Blimp Base Interests, Inc., <strong>of</strong>fers<br />
prime industrial storage facilities, exceptional<br />
service and convenient location.<br />
With clients such as General Electric,<br />
BP, Mitsubishi Power Systems <strong>of</strong> America,<br />
Republic Helicopter, Dixie Equipment<br />
Company, Dynami, Inca Refinery, CCR,<br />
Depco and others, Blimp Base Interests<br />
includes a fifty-five acre Free Trade Zone,<br />
climate controlled warehouse and lay-down<br />
yard storage with superior land elevation.<br />
Founded in 1998 with only twelve acres,<br />
the company has been successful far beyond<br />
expectation, according to owner Joe Wilburn.<br />
Attributing much <strong>of</strong> its growth to his proactive<br />
business philosophy and deep commitment<br />
to service, Wilburn only half-jokingly states,<br />
“I never say ‘no,’” and cites numerous instances<br />
in which he has been able to provide clients<br />
with far more than mere storage.<br />
Drawing on his background in the petrochemical<br />
field and as a commercial and<br />
community developer, Wilburn is able to tap<br />
into a wide-spread network <strong>of</strong> industrial and<br />
related contacts, and is making a reputation<br />
for his company as the “go to” source for<br />
difficult projects.<br />
“When a client comes to me with an<br />
emergency in Louisiana, the contacts I’ve<br />
made over the years allow me to coordinate<br />
pick-up <strong>of</strong> the items he needs, locate trucks<br />
for their transport and expedite delivery,”<br />
Wilburn explains. “If someone has a building<br />
to move, I can help with that, too,” he adds.<br />
Within hours after Hurricane Ike struck in<br />
2008, Blimp Base Interests was up and running<br />
as a major staging area for emergency response<br />
efforts. As the warehousing<br />
and distribution point for<br />
BP’s Humanitarian Assistance<br />
Team, thousands <strong>of</strong> generators<br />
and tons <strong>of</strong> emergency<br />
supplies were distributed<br />
from the site, incorporating<br />
logistics that stretched to<br />
London, Japan, and other<br />
distant locations.<br />
Four 150-foot tall concrete<br />
pillars, the striking remnants <strong>of</strong> a 300<br />
by 1,000 foot blimp hangar built in 1941,<br />
mark the entrance to the complex <strong>of</strong>f<br />
Highway 2004. Here, lighter-than-air dirigibles<br />
ventured forth to defend the Gulf <strong>of</strong><br />
Mexico against German submarines, and the<br />
area is rich with reminders <strong>of</strong> its military<br />
heritage. Pigeon Street was so named because<br />
it led to coops for the messenger pigeons used<br />
to transport information from air ships back<br />
to land. The original base fire station is used<br />
today for <strong>of</strong>fices and a conference room, and<br />
remains <strong>of</strong> a rail line show where half-track<br />
tanks were brought in for refurbishment<br />
during the Korean War. The hangar itself was<br />
the largest wooden building in the world in<br />
1968, when it was demolished—except for its<br />
supporting concrete columns that refused to<br />
budge, even when dynamited.<br />
Additional information is available on the<br />
Internet at www.blimpbase.com.<br />
BLIMP BASE<br />
INTERESTS, INC.<br />
BUILDING A GREATER GALVESTON<br />
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PRUDENTIAL<br />
PREMIER<br />
PROPERTIES–<br />
BEACH OR BAY<br />
Prudential Premier Properties–Beach or<br />
Bay is located at 2275 Highway 87,<br />
Suite 18-A in Crystal Beach.<br />
Combining the delight <strong>of</strong> gifted matchmakers<br />
with the know-how <strong>of</strong> experienced<br />
real estate brokers, Mary Ellen Smith and<br />
Kelli Untermeyer, owners <strong>of</strong> Prudential<br />
Premier Properties–Beach or Bay, are dedicated<br />
to building beautiful relationships on<br />
Bolivar Peninsula.<br />
By tapping into their own personal and<br />
pr<strong>of</strong>essional enthusiasm for the area, Smith<br />
and Untermeyer have elevated Beach or Bay<br />
to a leadership role in arranging win-win real<br />
estate transactions on the scenic coast just<br />
northeast <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> Island.<br />
“Our mission is to promote Bolivar<br />
Peninsula, whether we are negotiating purchases<br />
or sales,” says Smith. “Whatever our<br />
client’s focus—first home, retirement property,<br />
primary residence, secondary home, investment<br />
property or rental—we are dedicated to<br />
matching people to the properties that meet<br />
their specific needs. This is a wonderful place<br />
to live, and we want to ‘share the wealth’.”<br />
This commitment to its home community<br />
was behind the company’s decision in 2006<br />
to pursue a national connection and expand<br />
client representation. After careful research,<br />
Beach or Bay teamed up with Prudential, a<br />
global leader in financial investing and real<br />
estate marketing, and, in Smith’s own words,<br />
“With this international connection, we<br />
helped bring the world to Bolivar’s doorstep.”<br />
Emphasizing the area’s significance, Smith<br />
adds, “There is only so much coastal property<br />
available, and our area is highly desirable.<br />
First <strong>of</strong> all, it is beautiful, and secondly, the<br />
prices are still relatively low. As home to the<br />
Bolivar Lighthouse and Fort Travis, it has<br />
great historic significance, and also <strong>of</strong>fers an<br />
incredible closeness to nature that includes<br />
world famous bird sanctuaries and several<br />
Audubon Society projects.”<br />
Community affairs are another major focus<br />
for Beach or Bay agents and staff, and Smith<br />
has served on the <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Parks<br />
Board and the Bolivar Peninsula Special<br />
Utility District Board. Other agency activities<br />
include membership in the Bolivar Peninsula<br />
Chamber <strong>of</strong> Commerce, <strong>Galveston</strong> Chamber<br />
<strong>of</strong> Commerce, Lighthouse <strong>of</strong> the Krewe and<br />
the Bolivar Cultural Foundation.<br />
Despite its international reach today, the<br />
company’s beginnings were modest and all<br />
has not been smooth. Before the first <strong>of</strong>fice<br />
was up and running, Smith and fellow founding<br />
realtor Joyce Cooley would sometimes<br />
find themselves writing contracts on the<br />
hoods <strong>of</strong> their cars. After a family illness<br />
forced Cooley’s retirement, Smith operated<br />
the company alone until Untermeyer, a<br />
broker associate with another major Bolivar<br />
company, joined Beach or Bay in 2008,<br />
just after Hurricane Ike struck the area.<br />
Fortunately, the company was able to quickly<br />
start rebuilding, and—along with many<br />
others on the peninsula—was soon looking<br />
forward to an even brighter future. Today, a<br />
wall hanging at the <strong>of</strong>fice entry greets visitors<br />
with the message: “At the beach, it’s all good,”<br />
and no one could agree more than Smith<br />
and Untermeyer.<br />
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188
MARATHON<br />
PETROLEUM<br />
CORPORATION<br />
Having the strength and endurance to “go<br />
the distance” has been part <strong>of</strong> Marathon<br />
Petroleum Corporation’s (MPC) heritage<br />
since its founding in 1887. Established in<br />
northwestern Ohio, a leading center for crude<br />
oil production in the late nineteenth century,<br />
the company has proven its ability to adapt to<br />
changing economic, political and market<br />
conditions, and emerge still a leader nearly<br />
125 years later.<br />
In addition to its Texas City refinery, MPC<br />
maintains similar facilities in Illinois, Ohio,<br />
Michigan, Louisiana and Kentucky. As a<br />
leading economic force in <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>,<br />
MPC’s Texas City site employs some 200<br />
workers and has a production capacity <strong>of</strong><br />
76,000 barrels <strong>of</strong> crude per day.<br />
MPC’s ties to its Texas City home include a<br />
strong focus on community well-being and<br />
enrichment. Among the core principles guiding<br />
MPC’s approach to doing business are its<br />
commitments to health and safety, environmental<br />
stewardship, integrity, corporate citizenship<br />
and inclusive culture. MPC’s local<br />
activities include participation in a number <strong>of</strong><br />
civic, charitable, educational and cultural<br />
organizations, ranging from The 1894 Opera<br />
House to the <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Food Pantry.<br />
Founded as the Ohio Oil Company, the<br />
company was purchased in 1889 by John D.<br />
Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Trust, under which<br />
it operated until 1911, when President<br />
Theodore Roosevelt’s trust-busting campaign<br />
allowed it to resume independent operation<br />
under its earlier name. In 1930 ‘The Ohio’<br />
purchased the Transcontinental Oil Company,<br />
acquiring the Marathon product name, the<br />
Pheidippides Greek runner trademark, and<br />
the “Best in the Long Run” slogan. In 1962 it<br />
acquired its Texas City refinery from<br />
Plymouth Oil Company, and also <strong>of</strong>ficially<br />
adopted the Marathon Oil Company name.<br />
Today, the Marathon Petroleum Corporation,<br />
the parent company <strong>of</strong> the Texas City facility, is<br />
headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, and ranks in<br />
the top 100 <strong>of</strong> the Fortune 500. Employing<br />
more than 25,000 employees, it maintains<br />
refining, marketing and transportation operations<br />
throughout the nation’s Midwest, Gulf<br />
Coast and Southeast regions and is the nation’s<br />
fifth largest company <strong>of</strong> its type.<br />
Among the keys to MPC’s success is the high<br />
regard in which it holds the health and safety <strong>of</strong><br />
its employees, contractors and the neighboring<br />
community. Deeply committed to minimizing its<br />
environmental impact, it is continually looking<br />
for ways to reduce its environmental “footprint.”<br />
MPC additionally upholds the highest standards<br />
<strong>of</strong> business ethics and integrity. Enforcing strict<br />
principles or corporate governance, it strives for<br />
transparency in all its operations. Dedicated also<br />
to making a positive difference in the communities<br />
where it operates, MPC values diversity<br />
and strives to provide its employees with a<br />
collaborative, supportive and inclusive work<br />
environment where they can maximize their<br />
full potential for personal and business success.<br />
BUILDING A GREATER GALVESTON<br />
189
VALERO<br />
REFINERY<br />
The year was 1908, and a new era was<br />
dawning over <strong>Galveston</strong> Bay. Petroleum—<br />
“black gold”—was restructuring the way<br />
America lived, and a new refinery was breaking<br />
ground on the Texas Gulf Coast.<br />
Operated initially as the Texas City Refining<br />
Company, that same refinery has continued<br />
operations for more than a century and today<br />
is one <strong>of</strong> fourteen refineries that make up<br />
Valero Energy Corporation, headquartered<br />
in San Antonio and North America’s largest<br />
independent refining company.<br />
Specializing in the production <strong>of</strong> highquality<br />
transportation fuels, the Valero Texas<br />
City Refinery occupies 300 acres <strong>of</strong> land<br />
strategically located along the Texas City ship<br />
channel. The refinery is able to process almost<br />
250,000 barrels <strong>of</strong> crude oil and other feedstocks<br />
each day, and makes gasoline, ultra low<br />
sulfur diesel, jet fuel and other high-grade<br />
petroleum products.<br />
Reflecting the company’s commitment to<br />
excellence, Valero early on recognized the need<br />
for enhancing safety, reducing emissions and<br />
being a good neighbor, which included building<br />
relationships within its home community,<br />
<strong>of</strong>fering progressive employee benefits and<br />
providing quality products for customers.<br />
Since acquisition by the Valero Energy<br />
Corporation in 1997, the Texas City Refinery<br />
has doubled its refining capacity while reducing<br />
emissions by half. Its participation in the<br />
Volunteer Protection Program (VPP) sponsored<br />
by the Occupational Safety and Health<br />
Administration (OSHA) has resulted in its<br />
being named Valero’s first “Star Site” and later<br />
being recertified as a VPP “Star Among Stars.”<br />
It also has been recognized with the National<br />
Petrochemical and Refiners Association’s<br />
Award for Safety Performance.<br />
Valero workers are considered the company’s<br />
top asset, as evidenced by an all-employee<br />
bonus program and highly competitive<br />
health benefits. The company also reaches out<br />
personally to workers in need. In one case,<br />
the company plane was sent to bring home<br />
an employee who was seriously injured while<br />
on vacation in an area that could not provide<br />
satisfactory medical treatment.<br />
Volunteerism and giving back to the community<br />
is important to Valero employees.<br />
Valero is perennially among the largest<br />
per-capita donors to local United Ways, and<br />
employees volunteer with the American<br />
Cancer Walk, Boy Scouts, Benefit for Children<br />
Golf Classic, Chamber <strong>of</strong> Commerce,<br />
Hospice, Life-Flight, Rotary Club, Special<br />
Kids programs, women’s and children’s<br />
shelters, and programs for hurricane victims,<br />
orphanages and the elderly. With financing<br />
supplied by Valero, an in-house volunteer<br />
program also identifies, organizes and implements<br />
projects such as landscaping, painting,<br />
and repairing <strong>of</strong> homes and recreational areas<br />
for nonpr<strong>of</strong>it organizations.<br />
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190
GALVESTON-<br />
TEXAS CITY<br />
PILOTS<br />
Part art, part science, part experienced<br />
“spot-on” navigational judgment—the task <strong>of</strong><br />
maneuvering the world’s largest moving<br />
objects through confined areas in a busy<br />
port facility is all in a day’s work for the<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>-Texas City Pilots.<br />
With approximately 5,000 vessels a year<br />
entering and leaving <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> ports,<br />
safety is the primary focus for the area’s statelicensed<br />
compulsory pilots. When dealing with<br />
navigation, even a single minor miscalculation<br />
could cause a major disaster, and pilots are a<br />
main line <strong>of</strong> defense against shipping mishaps.<br />
Ships entering and leaving the county’s<br />
ports range from luxurious cruise ships packed<br />
with vacationing passengers to giant oil<br />
tankers under the guidance <strong>of</strong> foreign crews.<br />
Pilots are on duty twenty-four hours a day,<br />
seven days a week, and provide not only<br />
shipboard guidance into and out <strong>of</strong> port but<br />
work to minimize the environmental impact<br />
that a busy port can generate through fires,<br />
collisions, damaging currents and contamination<br />
from fuel and cargo.<br />
With a history <strong>of</strong> having served as<br />
“Sentinels <strong>of</strong> the Ports <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
since 1845,” pilots have traditionally considered<br />
themselves the “eyes” <strong>of</strong> the county’s<br />
ports. Keen observation, skilled judgment<br />
and precise communications are essential<br />
elements <strong>of</strong> their work, and pilots employ<br />
a variety <strong>of</strong> skills, including diplomacy,<br />
to maintain port efficiency and safety.<br />
Piloting duties include boarding ships<br />
waiting for port entry and conducting an<br />
intensive exchange <strong>of</strong> vital information with<br />
the ship’s master, who may or may not have<br />
ever sailed into the port before or speak<br />
English as a first language. The pilot provides<br />
specific information about the port, and the<br />
master provides specific information about<br />
the ship and its cargo. After this exchange,<br />
further navigation into port is under the<br />
control <strong>of</strong> the pilot, who, in cooperation with<br />
the master and crew, directs the vessel’s<br />
movement for the remainder <strong>of</strong> the journey.<br />
The training to become a pilot is demanding<br />
and includes ten years <strong>of</strong> shipboard<br />
experience, holding a master’s license and the<br />
satisfactory completion <strong>of</strong> a two-year apprenticeship<br />
program. Each pilot is considered<br />
an independent contractor and must be a<br />
United States citizen. In Texas, pilot associations<br />
are governed by the state-appointed<br />
Pilot Commission, named by the governor<br />
and charged with overseeing and regulating<br />
tariffs and ensuring that all pilots are trained<br />
and equipped to service their customers.<br />
The <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> pilots’ headquarters<br />
on Pelican Island include comfortable living<br />
facilities for on-duty pilots, <strong>of</strong>fices, repair and<br />
maintenance facilities, and, most importantly,<br />
the high-tech communications center. It also<br />
houses an impressive collection <strong>of</strong> nautical artwork,<br />
log books from the 1800s and vintage<br />
photos, including one from 1905 showing the<br />
first steamship to visit the Port <strong>of</strong> Texas City.<br />
BUILDING A GREATER GALVESTON<br />
191
DOW<br />
TEXAS CITY<br />
OPERATIONS<br />
It was an uncertain time on May 21, 1941,<br />
when 249 men—Carbiders as they were<br />
called—turned the first valve that began<br />
producing ethylene at what is today known<br />
as Dow Texas City Operations. Production at<br />
the Union Carbide Texas City plant began<br />
just in time for its products to be in strong<br />
demand—and even indispensable—just a<br />
few months later when America went to war.<br />
While there have been both challenging and<br />
rewarding times over the last seven decades,<br />
the site’s future looks promising.<br />
By the mid 1950s, Texas City Operations<br />
was producing and shipping products, adding<br />
dock facilities and modernizing equipment.<br />
The site had also become a family affair, with<br />
many relatives working side by side—in fact,<br />
throughout the site’s history, Texas City<br />
Operations has employed multiple generations.<br />
Though employees were socially active<br />
during non work hours, the site was also<br />
characterized by community involvement,<br />
with many employees playing a meaningful<br />
role in local government and in the education,<br />
social, service and charity organizations that<br />
help give the city and county their character<br />
and direction. They were active in school<br />
classrooms and on athletic fields, mentoring<br />
young people and making life more comfortable<br />
for the elderly and poor.<br />
In the 1970s, the site began shutting down<br />
some units as business needs dictated.<br />
However, this decade also<br />
brought the introduction <strong>of</strong><br />
new technologies to Texas<br />
City Operations. In 1971,<br />
Carbide signed an agreement<br />
with the newly formed Waste<br />
Disposal Authority, a unique<br />
government and industry collaboration<br />
to improve water<br />
quality along the Gulf Coast.<br />
The new facility was built in<br />
1973, utilizing Carbide technology,<br />
to biologically clean<br />
waste water streams. The<br />
mid-1970s also saw the construction <strong>of</strong> a<br />
new vinyl acetate plant, using state-<strong>of</strong>-the-art<br />
technology, as well as the construction <strong>of</strong><br />
the low pressure OXO technology, a breakthrough<br />
in production <strong>of</strong> OXO alcohols that<br />
is still used to this day.<br />
A bigger change was on the horizon for<br />
Texas City. In August <strong>of</strong> 1999 the directors<br />
<strong>of</strong> Union Carbide Corporation and Dow<br />
Chemical Company approved a merger, one<br />
<strong>of</strong> the largest in the history <strong>of</strong> the chemical<br />
industry. Dow brought to the site a renewed<br />
emphasis on employee health and safety and<br />
today, it is clear through the site’s strong<br />
safety culture that the safety <strong>of</strong> the people<br />
who work at the site always comes first.<br />
Seventy years <strong>of</strong> operations is an impressive<br />
milestone, particularly in an increasingly<br />
competitive global marketplace. But throughout<br />
its history the people <strong>of</strong> Texas City have<br />
repeatedly demonstrated a can-do spirit and<br />
genuine concern for the site, the community<br />
and one another. With the perseverance and<br />
commitment that defines Texas City, the next<br />
seventy years look bright.<br />
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192
Sponsors<br />
A-1 Fire Equipment Co...........................................................................................................155<br />
Abundant Life Christian Center ..............................................................................................131<br />
AMOCO Federal Credit Union................................................................................................144<br />
Beachtown..............................................................................................................................132<br />
Better Business Bureau............................................................................................................158<br />
Blimp Base Interests, Inc.........................................................................................................187<br />
BP Texas City Chemicals.........................................................................................................171<br />
BP Texas City Refinery ............................................................................................................170<br />
CenterPoint Energy.................................................................................................................178<br />
City <strong>of</strong> La Marque...................................................................................................................128<br />
City <strong>of</strong> League City .................................................................................................................130<br />
City <strong>of</strong> Texas City ...................................................................................................................134<br />
College <strong>of</strong> the Mainland..........................................................................................................126<br />
Dow Texas City Operations.....................................................................................................192<br />
ERF Wireless, Inc. ..................................................................................................................138<br />
First Choice Power .................................................................................................................180<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> Chamber <strong>of</strong> Commerce...........................................................................................156<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> College ...................................................................................................................129<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Economic Alliance......................................................................................172<br />
<strong>Galveston</strong>-Texas City Pilots .....................................................................................................191<br />
GIA Insurance ........................................................................................................................160<br />
Gulf Copper ...........................................................................................................................176<br />
Gulf Greyhound Park..............................................................................................................135<br />
HDR, Inc. ...............................................................................................................................182<br />
Hitchcock Industrial Development Corporation......................................................................186<br />
HomeTown Bank, N.A. ...........................................................................................................154<br />
Hygeia Enviro-Clean, Inc. .......................................................................................................142<br />
J&J Telecommunications.........................................................................................................150<br />
Kleen Supply Company ..........................................................................................................140<br />
Leslie Watts ............................................................................................................................161<br />
Marathon Petroleum Corporation ...........................................................................................189<br />
Matthews, Inc.........................................................................................................................146<br />
Mihovil Photography ..............................................................................................................162<br />
Mitchell Historic Properties ....................................................................................................166<br />
Moody Gardens ® .....................................................................................................................120<br />
Moody Gardens ® Golf Course<br />
Moody Gardens ® Hotel......................................................................................................121<br />
Ocean Star Museum ................................................................................................................174<br />
Port <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> ....................................................................................................................184<br />
Prudential Premier Properties–Beach or Bay............................................................................188<br />
ROBCO Facility Services.........................................................................................................159<br />
SCENIC GALVESTON, Inc. ....................................................................................................133<br />
Texas A&M University at <strong>Galveston</strong> ........................................................................................124<br />
Texas City Independent School District...................................................................................122<br />
Texas City-La Marque Chamber <strong>of</strong> Commerce.........................................................................152<br />
Texas First Bank......................................................................................................................157<br />
The Grand 1894 Opera House................................................................................................118<br />
The Law Firm <strong>of</strong> Alton C. Todd ..............................................................................................148<br />
United Way <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Mainland ................................................................................173<br />
Valero Refinery .......................................................................................................................190<br />
SPECIAL THANKS<br />
League City Chamber <strong>of</strong> Commerce and<br />
North <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong> Chamber <strong>of</strong> Commerce<br />
SPONSORS<br />
193
About the Photographer<br />
R O B E R T<br />
M I H O V I L<br />
Photographer Robert Mihovil is a man <strong>of</strong> passion—passion for his family, passion for historic <strong>Galveston</strong> Island and passion for photography.<br />
Although his work has appeared in numerous local, national and international publications, his loyalty to his home community—and<br />
his affection for it as a favorite subject—has been paramount in his career.<br />
In his preparation for gathering the images featured in <strong>Coastal</strong> <strong>Visions</strong>: <strong>Images</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>, Mihovil contacted representatives<br />
<strong>of</strong> all the county’s chambers <strong>of</strong> commerce as well as local historians and civic leaders from throughout the area’s various communities.<br />
“It was important to me that <strong>Coastal</strong> <strong>Visions</strong> be truly representative <strong>of</strong> the county as a whole,” he says. “I wanted every area in the county<br />
to have input into the selection process <strong>of</strong> what really constitutes <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong>’s vision and which subjects were truly representative<br />
<strong>of</strong> our coastal lifestyle.”<br />
He is a regular contributor for Coast Magazine, Guidry News and Texas Journey. His work also has appeared in <strong>Coastal</strong> Living, National<br />
Geographic, Newsweek, Offshore, People, Smithsonian, Texas Highways and Texas Monthly. The Austin-American Statesman, Boston Globe,<br />
Houston Chronicle, New York Times and USA Today have also published his work.<br />
His photographs have additionally been chosen for the covers <strong>of</strong> such publications as the <strong>Galveston</strong> Park Board <strong>of</strong> Trustees Visitor’s Guide,<br />
the <strong>Galveston</strong> Chamber <strong>of</strong> Commerce Directory and AT&T telephone directories distributed throughout the county.<br />
Mihovil also teaches photography each summer at Sea Camp, an outreach program for students thirteen to eighteen years <strong>of</strong> age at<br />
Texas A&M <strong>Galveston</strong>. Remembering that his own interest in photography began at a similarly early age, he says “The first camera I ever<br />
owned, I won selling Worlds Finest Chocolate when I was twelve. I sold twenty-four cases to win the first prize, which was a stereo.<br />
I selected the second prize instead, however—a Kodak camera.”<br />
Mihovil Photography is located at 2402 Church Street, <strong>Galveston</strong> Island, Texas 77550. For additional information please go to his<br />
online web gallery at www.mihovil.com.<br />
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About the Author<br />
L E S L I E<br />
W A T T S<br />
Free-lance journalist Leslie Watts has lived and worked in the <strong>Galveston</strong> area for more than twenty years. In addition to a writing<br />
career that has included both print and broadcast communications; she has taught high school algebra and middle school English.<br />
A graduate <strong>of</strong> Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Watts earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism, and has also studied<br />
computer science at the University <strong>of</strong> Houston and worked on a master’s degree in mathematics at the University <strong>of</strong> New Orleans.<br />
Her career has included serving as director <strong>of</strong> continuity for WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge, and as a reporter, editor and columnist for<br />
the Houston Chronicle. Upon moving to <strong>Galveston</strong> in the late 1980s, she joined the University <strong>of</strong> Texas Medical Branch at <strong>Galveston</strong><br />
where, in conjunction with the medical school’s 100th anniversary, she held the position <strong>of</strong> Centennial Writer, and later assisted with<br />
other writing projects.<br />
Her free-lance writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Continental Airlines in-flight magazine, for which she was<br />
a contributing editor, features writer, columnist and restaurant reviewer.<br />
Watts enjoys spending time with her four children and seven grandchildren, and is an active member <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong>’s Grace Episcopal<br />
Church and <strong>Galveston</strong> Historical Foundation.<br />
ABOUT THE AUTHOR<br />
195
For more information about the following publications or about publishing your own book,<br />
please call HPNbooks at 800-749-9790 or visit www.hpnbooks.com.<br />
Albemarle & Charlottesville:<br />
An Illustrated History <strong>of</strong> the First 150 Years<br />
Black Gold: The Story <strong>of</strong> Texas Oil & Gas<br />
Garland: A Contemporary History<br />
Historic Abilene: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Alamance <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Albuquerque: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Amarillo: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Anchorage: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Austin: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Baldwin <strong>County</strong>: A Bicentennial History<br />
Historic Baton Rouge: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Beaufort <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Beaumont: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Bexar <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Birmingham: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Brazoria <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Brownsville: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Charlotte:<br />
An Illustrated History <strong>of</strong> Charlotte and Mecklenburg <strong>County</strong><br />
Historic Chautauqua <strong>County</strong>: A Bicentennial History<br />
Historic Cheyenne: A History <strong>of</strong> the Magic City<br />
Historic Clayton <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Comal <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Corpus Christi: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic DeKalb <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Denton <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Edmond: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic El Paso: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Erie <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Fayette <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Fairbanks: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Gainesville & Hall <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Greene <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Gregg <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Hampton Roads: Where America Began<br />
Historic Hancock <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Henry <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Hood <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Houston: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Hunt <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Illinois: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Kern <strong>County</strong>:<br />
An Illustrated History <strong>of</strong> Bakersfield and Kern <strong>County</strong><br />
Historic Lafayette:<br />
An Illustrated History <strong>of</strong> Lafayette & Lafayette Parish<br />
Historic Laredo:<br />
An Illustrated History <strong>of</strong> Laredo & Webb <strong>County</strong><br />
Historic Lee <strong>County</strong>: The Story <strong>of</strong> Fort Myers & Lee <strong>County</strong><br />
Historic Louisiana: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Mansfield: A Bicentennial History<br />
Historic McLennan <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Midland: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Montgomery <strong>County</strong>:<br />
An Illustrated History <strong>of</strong> Montgomery <strong>County</strong>, Texas<br />
Historic Ocala: The Story <strong>of</strong> Ocala & Marion <strong>County</strong><br />
Historic Oklahoma: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Oklahoma <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Omaha:<br />
An Illustrated History <strong>of</strong> Omaha and Douglas <strong>County</strong><br />
Historic Orange <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Osceola <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Ouachita Parish: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Paris and Lamar <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Pasadena: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Passaic <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Pennsylvania An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Philadelphia: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Prescott:<br />
An Illustrated History <strong>of</strong> Prescott & Yavapai <strong>County</strong><br />
Historic Richardson: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Rio Grande Valley: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Rogers <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Santa Barbara: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Scottsdale: A Life from the Land<br />
Historic Shelby <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Shreveport-Bossier:<br />
An Illustrated History <strong>of</strong> Shreveport & Bossier City<br />
Historic South Carolina: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Smith <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Temple: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Texarkana: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Texas: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Victoria: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Tulsa: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Wake <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Warren <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Williamson <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Historic Wilmington & The Lower Cape Fear:<br />
An Illustrated History<br />
Historic York <strong>County</strong>: An Illustrated History<br />
Iron, Wood & Water: An Illustrated History <strong>of</strong> Lake Oswego<br />
Jefferson Parish: Rich Heritage, Promising Future<br />
Miami’s Historic Neighborhoods: A History <strong>of</strong> Community<br />
Old Orange <strong>County</strong> Courthouse: A Centennial History<br />
Plano: An Illustrated Chronicle<br />
The New Frontier:<br />
A Contemporary History <strong>of</strong> Fort Worth & Tarrant <strong>County</strong><br />
San Antonio, City Exceptional<br />
The San Gabriel Valley: A 21st Century Portrait<br />
The Spirit <strong>of</strong> Collin <strong>County</strong><br />
Valley Places, Valley Faces<br />
Water, Rails & Oil: Historic Mid & South Jefferson <strong>County</strong><br />
COASTAL VISIONS - <strong>Images</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Galveston</strong> <strong>County</strong><br />
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