Free State of Galveston
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The Free State of Galveston was a satirical name given to the coastal city of Galveston in the U.S. state of Texas during the early-to-mid-20th century. Today, the term is sometimes used to describe t
Postcard view of Beach Boulevard and the Hotel Galvez, early 1940s
The Beach Hotel, a popular 19th-century Galveston resort
Open Gates mansion, built by George Sealy, 1891
Murdoch's Bathhouse, once a popular Galveston attraction (c. 1919)
Texas oil boom
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The Texas oil boom, sometimes called the gusher age, was a period of dramatic change and economic growth in the U.S. state of Texas during the early 20th century that began with the discovery of a lar
The Lucas gusher at Spindletop, the first major gusher in Texas
A drill-man drinking from a battered pan during the Texas oil boom in Kilgore, Texas—a snapshot of boomtown grit and improvisation (Lone Driller's Water Break, 1939)
Oil flowing through an open ditch in Texas, 1911
A Benz Motorwagen, c. 1888