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 the culture and history of that era.
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)
Galveston is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of 211.31 square miles (547.3 km2), with a population of 53,695 at the 2020 census, is the county seat of surrounding Galveston County and second-largest municipality in the county. It is also within the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area at its southern end on the northwestern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
Plan of the City of Galveston (c. 1845)
The Beach Hotel catered to vacationers until a fire in 1898.
Sunset Route, Seawall, Galveston, Texas (postcard, c. 1907)
Damage after Hurricane Carla, 1961