Galveston: A History of the Island

Chisholm Trail Series

by Gary Cartwright

Galveston—a small, flat island off the Texas Gulf coast—has seen some of the state's most amazing history and fascinating people. First settled by the Karankawa Indians, long suspected of cannibalism, it was where the stranded Cabeza de Vaca came ashore in the 16th century. Pirate Jean Lafitte used it as a hideout in the early 1800s and both General Sam Houston and General James Long (with his wife, Jane, the “Mother of Texas”) stayed on its shores. More modern notable names on the island include Robert Kleberg and the Moody, Sealy and Kempner families who dominated commerce and society well into the twentieth century.

Captured by both sides during the Civil War and the scene of a devastating sea battle, the city flourished during Reconstruction and became a leading port, an exporter of grain and cotton, a terminal for two major railroads, and site of fabulous Victorian buildings—homes, hotels, the Grand Opera House, the Galveston Pavilion (first building in Texas to have electric lights). It was, writes Cartwright, “the largest, bawdiest, and most important city between New Orleans and San Francisco.”

This country's worst natural disaster—the Galveston hurricane of 1900—left the city in shambles, with one sixth of its population dead. But Galveston recovered. During Prohibition rum-running and bootlegging flourished; after the repeal, a variety of shady activities earned the city the nickname “The Free State of Galveston.”

In recent years Galveston has focused on civic reform and restoration of its valuable architectural and cultural heritage. Over 500 buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and an annual "Dickens on the Strand" festival brings thousands of tourists to the island city each December. Yet Galveston still witnesses colorful incidents and tells stories of descendants of the ruling families, as Cartwright demonstrates with wry humor in a new epilogue written specially for this edition of Galveston . First published in 1991 by Atheneum.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Historical

344 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Gary Cartwright was an American journalist and writer. He specialized in true crime stories. In the 1970s Cartwright was among the first writers hired at Texas Monthly. He remained there until his retirement as senior editor in 2010. Cartwright also co-wrote and co-produced movies and television shows. In 1980 his book Blood Will Tell was nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America in the category of Best Fact Crime.

Reviews

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best part of this book is the gossipy last half that deals with the fortunes of Galveston's elite families - IF you were BOI (born on the island) or ever lived there. Otherwise, it may be the worst part. The book seems to be in two parts: the first half covers the high points of Galveston's colorful history, with an excellent chapter on the 1900 storm. The second part centers on the influences and infighting of the Sealy, Kempner and Moody families. I lived in Galveston and attended high school there from 1961-1964, so found the family stories entertaining. I learned a fair bit of history that I did not know, especially about the treatment of the native Karankawa population and the Civil War events. There appear to be other, better histories of Galveston, though. Gary Cartwright was on the staff of Texas Monthly magazine and did an in-depth profile of Shearn Moody in the 1980s. I had the strong impression that his notes for that article, with a bit of early history added, formed the basis of the book. Two items sorely lacking were notes on sources and a good town map

[Michelle P · Rating 5 out of 5]

My ancestors moved to Galveston in the mid-1800s and I'm the first generation to never live there. The Island has always had a wonderful mystique to me. When we would visit my grandparents my dad would drive me and my brother around and tell us stories about its colorful history. Somehow I didn't read this book til now. It was a fun and illuminating journey, covering the strange cast of characters that have called Galveston home. The final third or so gets bogged down a bit with the story of the Moody legacy, so to speak. I would love for Cartwright to write an updated version covering the past 30 years. What would he have to say about the current Galveston? Overall a must-read for those with an affinity for the Island.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This comprehensive history of the Island covers much of the same ground as other similar works on Galveston history. Cartwright's journalistic style makes Galveston history engaging - I found myself chuckling several times throughout this read. This man is a master of the ironic vignette. His focus tends to settle for a bit too long on the ruling families of Galveston. Nevertheless, the story is compelling enough to expose the underpinnings of Galveston politics in a way that other books do not even approach.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the prologue the author writes that this is a history written by a journalist and not an academic. Cartwright writes in a very engaging way, and I enjoyed the book. The last fifty pages drag as he tells of the legal machinations of the island's ruling families.

[Russell Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve admired Gary Cartwright’s writing for years. In the author’s note to Galveston: A History of the Island, Cartwright tells us he is a reporter, not a historian. That is a good thing because this is not a dry piece of history, but rather the book is chockful of great stories. He covers Galveston from the Karankawa Indian days to the pirate era, the Spanish explorer time, the pre- and post-Civil War years, and on to the present (or at least the present at the time the book was written, in 1991.) Having lived in Houston and visited Galveston over the years, I can report not a whole lot as happened in Galveston since 1991. There has been no big boom in development or population to my knowledge. Galveston, once the premier city in Texas, has continued on its way—as it has for the entire twentieth century and into the twenty-first—as a pleasant place to visit and, I suppose, a good place to live. The rich families that controlled it for the last hundred years are perhaps in decline, but another descendant of Galveston’s mobsters (not that he is a mobster himself) has sort of taken over and added touristy developments. Cartwright ends his book with the rise of that developer, Tilman Fertitta, great nephew of one of the gamblers who held tight control over Galveston in the 1950s. As I said, this book is chockful of stories which I found entertaining. But Cartwright’s book tends to sway towards the stories of those powerful civic leaders and tells us less, at times, about the ordinary people and ordinary lives of Galveston. I wanted a book that described what life was like in the city during its various decades. Instead, mostly what I got were tales of dirty dealings among its powerful leaders. That’s well and good and something, I suppose, a reporter would gravitate to. But I wish Cartwright had been a little bit more historian as well.

[Mary Havens · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Galveston, oh Galveston
I still hear your sea winds blowing"
I'm sure I annoyed my family by singing this song while reading this book :)
Cartwright begins the book saying he's a journalist, not a historian. I'm not sure what the difference is (especially in 1990 when this book was written) but Cartwright's journalism background (I suppose) makes this microhistory of Galveston extremely easy to read. Granted, I got a little bogged down with the Civil War intricacies and the business dealings of the Galveston 3 families but I just glossed over those until the next interesting tidbit appeared. And it didn't take long.
I have been to Galveston a few times (the last time, I focused on Galveston history and tried, unsuccessfully, to locate Mrs. Isaac Cline's grave) and read a few books on the 1900 storm. I never tire of reading of this horrific storm. I think the horror is always new, no matter how many different ways I read it.
Anyway, that storm only covers one chapter. The rest of the book is very much the history of Galveston from as far back as Cartwright could muster until about 1990 when the book was published. I haven't read many city microhistories and I imagine that most of them are the same with different players: some visionaries, some corruptibles, a lot of money and a lot of wheelings and dealings. What may set Galveston apart is the amount of corruption (???) and the legality of that corruption. That makes for very interesting reading; that and the threat of natural disaster yearly.
If you have a piqued interest in Galveston, I highly recommend this book. Again, very easy to read and compelling. Makes me want to read more Texas city histories (although, I'm a little concerned they won't be as good.....).

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A History I Never Knew or Was Told

Living in Galveston I wanted to know about the history of where I ended up planted. Even though I grew up a mere 40 minutes away and my family visited the beaches often during the summers of the 70s and 80s, I am amazed at the history. Today you wouldn't know that there had ever been a time when this island went through a slump. It's a nice little artsy and historic community. There are the big event weekends that we survive through every year but it is otherwise lovely.
Not really too much in that to talk about the book. A fascinating read although a very dry start. I picked this book up and put it down for months before it became captivating. If you can get through that slow start the book is great. I would really like to find out how accurate some events are portrayed considered they just see unbelievable, but history is full of unbelievable moments.

[Modern Piranha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely what it claims to be - a sprawling history of the Texan city. The book is less engaging towards its end, but that's no fault of Cartwright's as it reflects the less colorful later era of Galveston's past.

Also, this book is far less dry than you would expect. I tend to prefer nonfiction history books written by journalists over historians, just because one trade writes professionally and the other is focused on research, and that format certainly helps move things along here.

I wouldn't have minded if the book had ended after the end of The Free State of Galveston, but that's not an actual complaint - what is talked about is a relatively forgotten slice of US history, set on the Gulf of Mexico in the Caribbean Sea. I wouldn't say it's vital to getting an understanding of the region, but it definitely displays a piece of its colorful history in all its glory. Cool stuff.

[J Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book. It’s written by a journalist rather than an academic historian, so perhaps that makes the geographical errors (reversing north and south in multiple instances), spotty narratives, misplaced and overwhelming focus on three families, and the extremely simplistic and misstated economic contextualizations understandable. It does not, however, explain the incorrect word usages, the grammatical errors that create ambiguity, and the changes of writing style in the last 1/3 of the book.
Sadly, this had the potential to be an excellent history of an island, but it’s too variable to be especially good.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up next door to Galveston, which during the 80s lacked the glamour of South Padre Island or the picturesque and prosperous isles of the East and West Coasts. To me, Galveston was a beach town perpetually stuck in "low season." But, if you stopped to look, the city's gems do reveal themselves, the Victorian black iron of the (now restored) Strand, the Vietnamese shrimpers who represent the latest wave of Galveston's immigrant history, the bootleggers, profiteers, and raiders who prowled the coasts from Jean Lafitte, to Civil War officers, and Mafioso during World War II.

[Robert Montalbo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gary Cartwright has written many articles in Texas Monthly and has covered many aspects of Texas. His research and explanation of how the Spaniards arrived, how the native Karankawa Indians were treated, the Mexican influence and all the geography and history of Galveston make this a fine read. Highly recommend. Gary makes Galveston so interesting. Ive been many times, but after reading his book, i now enjoy Galveston even more. It truly needs to be appreciated for its rich history.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Galvestonian from one of the families mentioned, I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot about the other families!

Considering the light that has been shed on how BIPOC communities are often shadowed, I would love to know more about Galveston’s black population, their history and experience.

[TheOtherMap · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a solid rundown of the history of this coastal Texas city, which has had one of the wildest rides of any place in the USA, period, including being the birthplace of casinos. I recommend it for anyone that wants a deeper dive into Galveston history, or wants to learn about a lesser-known part of the US.

[Jeb Boyt · Rating 4 out of 5]

An engaging and entertaining history of the island, particularly for the labor, racial, and elite politics of the 20th Century. Still relevant, if slightly dated in its treatment of the Karankawas and Juneteenth. Its only major fault is that Cartwright had a journalist's disdain for footnotes and sharing sources. Would be great to see an expanded edition that showed his work.

[Lucy Boeshans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Because we visited Galveston, I wanted to learn more about the history of the island. I especially loved seeing the homes and buildings on The Strand and learning how they survived the 1900 hurricane that devastated the island and how they built the seawall and raised the island to bring it up above sea level, it was a wonderful book telling a rich and intriguing history.

[Emily DuPree]

I didn’t not finish it on purpose I just couldn’t renew it at the library another time. I really enjoyed the ~1/2 of it that I did get to, I love Galveston and I found the history so interesting. Will probably check it out again.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who hates non-fiction, this really surprised me. It's written in such a way that it could almost fool you to be a novel. Highly recommend for research or just someone who wants to learn some history!

[Mark Hodges · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting history of the Island and its inhabitants. The narrative was a little too scattered, but the colorful stories made it a worthwhile read.

[Thomas Strawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent story telling that tells the history in a profile fashion with excitement as if living in the moment.

[Oletta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb. Cartwight really did his homework, although it became more of a biography of the Moody family by the end.

[Meg Averill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed learning about Galveston, but was perturbed by the lack of attention to the experiences of women or people of color.

[Muizz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like many people who grew up in the Greater Houston area, though I am not an islander myself, Galveston is a place near and dear to my heart. It's a place where I've made countless memories throughout the years, and whose history I've scratched at times, but never really delved into in depth. Gary Cartwright's book was recommended to me by a local bookseller as the definitive history of the island, so I was all too eager to delve in and learn more.

Like his Texas Monthly contemporary Paul Burka, Cartwright clearly was a talented journalist and the book makes for a smooth and entertaining read despite the sheer amount of history covered. The book proceeds mainly by following certain figures from Galveston's history, and often times these people's stories are fascinating in and of themselves. And there is a fair amount that can be gleaned not just about Galveston's history, but also about Houston, Texas, and the Gulf Coast.

However, Cartwright's rendering of Galveston's history is very selective in scope – he almost singularly focuses on elite, white Galvestonians. Other groups – especially Black Galvestonians and the indigenous Karankawa people, are at best footnotes or their depictions are racist and disgusting. His writing about the Karankawa people is especially reprehensible as he describes them in beastly terms, and remarks on their genocide as if it were a mundane thunderstorm (and contrary to Cartwright's harmful retelling about their "extinction," they are very much still alive today). Cartwright also comes across as a good old white boy in his view on Galveston and Texas' history of anti-Black racism. He presents a very whitewashed version of history, downplaying slavery's importance in Galveston's political economy, and decrying the civil war as a "tragic and stupid" without any interest in what its central causes were. His recounting of the era of Jim Crow is particularly obscene, giving off the impression that Black Galvestonians were all too fine with the racial terror regime, I quote: "Black leaders accepted whatever the white power structure handed down, and warned their people to beware of radicals preaching dangerous ideas like social equality (Cartwright, 221)." Ultimately, Black Galvestonians come across as bit actors even when their history is presented, as in the chapter about the civil rights movement being more interested in highlighting the benevolence of Galveston's white elite.

And that is the other aspect, his focus on the elites of Galveston, particularly the Moody, Sealy, and Kempner families, comes across as hagiography. Though he details some of the unsavory details about these families, his focus on them comes across as tabloid-ish, as he writes in length, especially towards the end, about the bickering and disputes within and between these families. More problematic, however, is that Cartwright seems uninterested and even defensive by the end about the way these selfish, parasitic elites hoarded money, resources, and power for themselves at the expense of Galveston as a whole. Dismissing the idea that the families have responsibility for the island's stunted economy and growth, Cartwright asserts "Galveston couldn't grow much even if it wanted to, and in its heart of hearts it doesn't want to (Cartwright, 324)."

Cartwright declares at the beginning that he is a journalist, not a historian, but he seems to have forgotten a basic tenet of journalism: that it is meant to "comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable." Over thirty years have passed since Cartwright wrote his book about Galveston, and I believe its high time that a better, much more up to date historiography was done, one that is inclusive of all islanders, not just the white ones.

[Rickeclectic · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this is considered one of the basic histories of Galveston. It is written by Gary Cartwright, a long time writer for Texas Monthly. I was somewhat disappointed. The book tends to ramble and tends to get overfocused on certain topics. I think it covers the subject as best I can tell, but it seems like he kind of walked casually through it instead of taking more care or trying to make the prose more interesting. There are a number of topics of interest: the karankawa indians, the 1900 flood, then three key families that ruled the island and the mafia connections, but I get the feeling that the facts are more interesting than the writing. There is another book called Galveston: A History by David McComb that may be better but I have not read it.

[James Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely enjoyed reading this book regarding Galveston. This book helped to put this history of Galveston in an order which made it easy to understand and follow along. The Island and City of Galveston is highlighted as a major character in the book and highlights it’s growth from exploration to modern day.

This book is an easy read, it takes the history of Galveston and breaks it into easy to read language and brief excerpts which inform the reader of important people and events in the creation and development of the city. If you have never read this book, it’s an absolute must read and addition to anyone’s library.

[Katherine Phillips · Rating 5 out of 5]

So what if the author is not a historian, as some reviews have complained. This is a rollicking, fun read of a very unique island off the Texas coast. I visited there as a child, and even then sensed it's uniqueness and felt the presence of it's haunted past. From the cannibalistic Indians to the ill-fated Cabeza de Vaca...from Jean Lafitte to the illustrious Moody family...what a ride! There's even a pirate named Crazy Ben. Kudos to the author who is alive and well in Austin, Texas. I didn't miss a zillion footnotes one little bit!

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

While living in Dallas, I visited Galveston several times but never relized how important it once was as a port. I also never realized that Galveston in it's hey day was like Las Vegas is today.

Of course, I'd heard of the disasterous storm which raked the island in the early 1900s but didn't realize the magnitude of it until reading this book.

A good learning experience for what was once a vital North American port.

[Katrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a fascinating history of Galveston, including a lot of information about the hurricane of 1900 that devastated the island. However, it was written in 1991 and therefore doesn't have an update after the more recent hurricane a few years ago.
My sister Nancy gave me this book after we visited the island together several years ago.
Katrin

[Trenton · Rating 4 out of 5]

My family has vacationed in Galveston for 40+ years - I have spent time there every summer of my life. This history of the island is fascinating. Cartwright illuminates the rich history that not many Texas are aware that Galveston has. It makes me love the island even more - and helps me better understand the sense of tragedy and sadness that exists beneath the surface of this place.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cartwright is a journalist, not a historian. He tells a good story, but I missed the footnotes. And his chronology jumped around a bit. Not a bad book, but not a great book either. It will stay on my shelf though, because of the whole Texas thing.

[RDD · Rating 2 out of 5]

The information was interesting, but it was poorly organized and it bounced around too much for my taste. If I had not been to Galveston and was not familiar with the area, I don't think I would have found this book interesting.