Galveston was originally inhabited by Indians, then pirates, then Spanish, and finally the settlers who would become the Texans.  Following Texas Independence in 1836, a group of entrepreneurs discovered the value of Galveston's world-class deep-water port.  Throughout the 1800s, Galveston and Houston were locked in a bitter economic rivalry.  Galveston was definitely well out in front.

This port was an unparalleled economic engine that created great wealth and prosperity for everyone on the Island.  By the mid to late Nineteenth Century, Galveston was one of the richest cities in the world on a per capita basis!  Galveston was an island port and trading center that was very much as busy as Hong Kong.

Huge southern mansions lined Broadway and grand houses were scattered throughout the neighborhoods.  In addition, the middle class and the working class enjoyed a very high standard of living.  

Cooled by balmy ocean breezes, Galveston was a paradise. 

And then the Great Storm hit in 1900...

The people of Galveston never knew it was coming.

By the time they found out, it was too late.

There was no escape.

1 in every 4 died.

Strangely enough, the worst disaster in American history was never given a name.  To this day, they simply call it "The Great Storm".

As one might gather, Galveston had been debating the wisdom of building a seawall throughout the latter part of the 1800s.

"Within the last two or three years, people have begun to think that the islands and peninsulas along the Texas and Louisiana Coast
  are unsafe places to inhabit due to the threat of hurricane.  Galveston Island is but a waif of the ocean, liable at any moment  
  to be engulfed and submerged by the self-same power that gave it form."  -- Braman's Information about Texas, 1858

However, like many things in life, the soothsayers were unable to capture the attention of the townspeople until it was too late. 

Many are surprised to learn that the highest death total from a disaster in America history was this deadly Galveston hurricane.

Somewhere between 6,000 and 12,000 people lost their lives that day.  By comparison, famous disasters such as the San Francisco earthquake (3,000), 9-11 (3,000), Pearl Harbor (2,500), and Hurricane Katrina (2,000) don't even come close.

Sadly, the citizens had no idea the hurricane was coming.  They were completely blind-sided.  Given the fact that only a single narrow bridge connected Galveston to the mainland, the people had no way to escape.  Nor was there any refuge.  The city was defenseless.  The wood structures were simply not strong enough.  With no high spots to retreat to, once their house fell, they were goners.  With no protection from the incoming flood waters, a 15-foot storm surge inundated the city.  Structures were flattened and many helpless victims drowned.

The Great Storm became the defining event in Galveston history.  The ocean cleared the land of all structures on the Gulf of Mexico side of the island.  A strip extending the full length of the city and approximately eleven blocks deep was flattened.  Approximately 4,000 structures were demolished.  Only one third of the buildings still stood in the aftermath of the storm.

Throughout the 1800s, Galveston had been the largest, most prosperous city in Texas.  A major center of commerce, with a population of 38,000 at the turn of the century, Galveston had been poised for greatness.  That was all gone.

In the blink of an eyelash, the city had been reduced to rubble.  Overnight the population went from 38,000 to 30,000.  Then after many of survivors moved away, it went to 25,000.

By some accounts Galveston didn't even exist anymore. 

Rebuilding would take a long time.  First came the seawall, the project the city had been delaying for years.  The vote to build the seawall passed with little opposition.  Gaining a consensus on the seawall no longer seemed to be an issue.  Someone with a dark sense of humor said all the voters who had previously disagreed must be dead now. 

In addition to the massive seawall to buffer the Gulf of Mexico from Galveston, in addition they also raised the grade of the downtown part of the city several feet higher than before.  If water did get over the seawall, it would drain much more quickly.

By all standards, Galveston had been well ahead of Houston at the turn of the century.  Located just 50 miles apart, Galveston's population was 38,000, Houston's population was 44,000.  However, Galveston's population was growing and Houston's wasn't. Galveston's buildings were far more attractive and the city was actually larger in size.  Meanwhile Houston was a dirty, unimpressive ramshackle town that existed primarily as a place for railroads to export lumber and cotton.  Much of Houston's exports went directly to Galveston from where it was shipped to other parts of the country.  In other words, Houston was supported by Galveston's booming economy.

On September 8th, 1900, that all changed.  The unnamed hurricane marked the turning point in the fortunes of the two cities. 

Galveston's leaders soon got a new piece of bad news.  Instead of investors rushing in to rebuild Galveston, they stayed away in droves. After the storm, investors were afraid of Galveston's vulnerable location.  They preferred to invest in Houston instead.  This was just the beginning.  Galveston's string of bad luck wasn't over.  Not by a long shot.

In January 1901... just four short months after the hurricane... the famous Spindletop oil discovery in nearby Beaumont not only changed the face of Texas, but the entire United States as well.  No oil field in the world had ever been so productive.  Thanks to Texas, the United States became the world's leading oil producer at the time.  Furthermore, Texas wasn't done yet.  Spindletop generated a frenzy of further oil exploration throughout the State.  The ensuing economic development became known as the Texas Oil Boom. 

Spindletop presented a huge opportunity at the exact moment when Galveston was unable to respond.  Although Galveston possessed the finest natural port in the entire South, it was unable to invest in the burgeoning oil industry because most of its capital was tied up in developing the seawall defense against future disasters.  

No one ever said that life was fair.

The Houston Ship Channel flows practically to the edge of Houston's gleaming towers

The man who compounded Galveston's misery arrived in Houston in 1898.  His name was Jesse H. Jones.  (Yes, this was the same Jesse H. Jones who created the Jones Scholarship that caused me so much anguish in my Senior year of high school.) Jesse H. Jones was Houston's original mover and shaker.  A builder and investor, Jones had just begun to make his mark when the Great Storm and Spindletop took place. Jones took careful note of the Spindletop oil discovery.  He anticipated that the oil strike plus the growing importance of rice crops would create a rapid shift in the economy in Texas.  Sensing that Houston was perfectly poised to take advantage, Jesse Jones began building the city that would accommodate the explosive growth of the new Texas economy.  Houston business leaders agreed. Houston began its rise to prominence.  With Galveston crippled by the hurricane, Spindletop shifted the region’s development from Galveston to Houston.  Galveston was reeling and Jesse H. Jones supplied the kill shot.  Jones proposed building the Houston Ship Channel!! It was a brilliant move.  Galveston was by far the superior port and much more convenient to shipping in the Gulf of Mexico.  But Galveston was crippled and unable to make a counter-move. Galveston officials stared glumly as Houston dredged out Buffalo Bayou.  The engineers created an artificial canal wide enough and deep enough to serve gigantic oil tankers.  Even more ironic, the Houston Ship Channel extended practically to the edge of downtown Houston.  Now smug executives in their tall skyscrapers could look out and survey their growing empire. Houston was no longer dependent on Galveston's port. This new ship channel was not only protected from the ocean, it was better positioned geographically to build new rail and roads for shipping than Galveston Island would have been.  The opening of the Ship Channel made Houston an International port overnight.  Oil, rice, and cotton came straight to Houston shipyards and was redirected to distant ports. Galveston's share of Houston's economy evaporated overnight.  Jesse Jones was not only a shrewd anticipator of economic trends, he also possessed uncanny good luck and timing. Just months before the Ship Channel was completed in 1914, the Panama Canal opened.  Ordinarily Galveston, the superior natural deepwater seaport, would have been poised to take advantage.  But they were still too busy building their seawall.  Houston became the obvious next choice as the first stop for all sea traffic to and from the Panama Canal.  The Panama Canal could have been Hong Kong to Galveston. Instead it was Hong Kong to Houston. Jesse Jones' lucky streak continued when World War I broke out in 1914.  World War I was highly mechanized.  This created an overwhelming thirst for more oil that could only be met from one place on earth - Houston, Texas.  Thanks to the Houston Ship Channel, World War I and the Panama Canal propelled Houston into world prominence.  Houston not only became the dominant seaport in the South, this marked the beginning of Houston's evolution into the nation’s petrochemical capital.  Since Houston is my hometown, from my point of view, I say thank you, Jesse Jones, for your foresight... even if I didn't win your college scholarship.  But my heart certainly goes out to Galveston.

Houston's gain was Galveston's loss.  Unfortunately, once the seawall was completed 1915, it was too late for Galveston. 

Alarmed at the city's terrible run of bad luck, the civic leaders decided that tourism was their best bet to make a comeback.

For starters, the new seawall helped create a very beautiful beach right in front of the city.  Why not put a hotel there?

In 1911, the Hotel Galvez was completed.  Unfortunately, the city's economy was still in dry dock.  Despite the beautiful hotel and the convenient beach, there was no rush to fill the Galvez.

Strangely, the event that got Galveston moving again was the Prohibition Era (1920-1933).  In hindsight, we now know that a major unintended consequence of Prohibition was the growth of urban crime organizations... Al Capone, for example.

Into Galveston's economic vacuum came Sam Maceo.  Referred to as the 'Galveston Godfather' and 'Mr. Galveston', Maceo soon became the most important man in the history of Galveston.

SUBCHAPTER 104 - SAM MACEO

Sam Maceo and his brother Rosario came to Galveston shortly before the outbreak of World War I.  They were barbers by trade.

As Prohibition took hold, the brothers began to smuggle in cheap wine to give as gifts to their customers. Seeing how interested their customers were in the liquor supply, the Maceos gradually became serious bootleggers. The Maceo brothers allied themselves with Beach Gang leader Ollie Quinn and opened the Hollywood Dinner Club, the Gulf Coast's most elegant night club.

Sam Maceo's smooth personality quickly made him the face of the nightclub. It was during this time that Maceo developed his style and the interpersonal skills that would come in handy when dealing with Island politicians.  In short order, Maceo learned the name of every person on the island and Galveston County.

Apparently those political skills paid off handsomely... fortuitous arrests of the leaders of the other existing gangs allowed the brothers to gain complete control of the island's underworld without any sort of blood bath.

Sam Maceo operated more like a clever politician than a gangster.  Known as the "Velvet Glove," Maceo's smooth style and ability to influence people was legendary.  Through his vast network of connections, Maceo wielded influence comparable to an elected official and a business leader at the same time. 

Sam Maceo held relationships with celebrities and politicians throughout Texas and the United States.  Thanks in large part to his own substantial celebrity and good deeds, law enforcement found it easier to look the other way. 

Once Sam Maceo was in control, through gambling, prostitution and nightclubs, he built an empire.  However, unlike the Brando character in the Godfather, Sam Maceo was not known for his use of force.  Since Maceo was allowed to rule Galveston without interference, he always preferred to use persuasion in lieu of force.  There were no widespread vendettas in Galveston.

During the Twenties and Thirties, Sam Maceo turned Galveston into the 'Sin City of the Gulf Coast'.  

Modern people refer to Galveston as the Las Vegas of the Thirties.  As we will see, this phrasing is highly ironic. 

Galveston had long been a hot spot for prostitution dating back to its origins as a pirate hangout.  Indeed, legend has it that Texas owed a large debt of gratitude to prostitution... or to a beautiful prostitute from Galveston in particular. This former slave girl would come to be known as "The Yellow Rose of Texas" due to her mulatto light-brown coloring. 

The Yellow Rose caught the eye of none other than Generalissimo Santa Ana during his visit to a Galveston brothel following his brutal victory at the Alamo.  Taking the girl with him to his campground at nearby San Jacinto, the Yellow Rose so thoroughly distracted Santa Ana that he failed to make sure the grounds were properly guarded.  The following morning, the Texas army under General Sam Houston totally surprised the flat-footed Mexicans.  The fight lasted just 18 minutes.  In that brief time, 600 Mexican soldiers were killed and 730 captured.  By contrast, only nine Texans died.

Texas had its independence and the nearby community got its name... Houston.

Was it Texan fighting superiority or the charms of this desirable woman that created Texas Independence?  The success of the Yellow Rose in disarming the enemy might indeed explain the state's notorious benign attitude towards women of the night.  Perhaps this ancient debt to the benefits of prostitution explains why Texas showed considerable disinterest when it came to enforcing Texas prostitution laws down in Galveston. 

Since gambling and bootleg liquor went hand-in-hand with prostitution, the back rooms of popular nightclubs along the Galveston seawall became known for their illegal activities.  People from across the state and nearby Louisiana flocked in.  In addition, all those new Houston millionaires made sure to buy a pleasure palace in the Galveston area to accommodate their frequent visits.  In this way, at least some of that new-found Houston money made its way back into the Galveston economy.

Meanwhile, for some strange reason, the rest of the state seemed content to let Galveston conveniently ignore the vice laws.  The city became known as the 'Free State of Galveston'.  My guess is that most Texas politicians didn't like Prohibition any more than the next guy and enjoyed having a place where they go to have some fun. 

Sam Maceo became the talk of the town.  Thanks to the prosperity generated by Maceo's empire of decadence, the Twenties and Thirties would become the heyday of Galveston. 
 

Hotel Galvez and Sam Maceo's Balinese Room
 

SUBCHAPTER 105 - DOWN AT THE BALINESE

Perhaps he was a gangster, but at heart, Sam Maceo was a businessman.  Over time, the Maceos eventually came to own all the major vice-oriented businesses on the Island.

In the midst of this era of free living, the Balinese Room stood out as the most famous nightclub of all.  Built in 1929, the Balinese, Galveston’s most famous pleasure pier, was ostensibly a restaurant, but it was also a well-known casino. With the restaurant in the front part, the casino was placed at the very back of the structure extending far out into the Gulf. The standing joke said the waiters caught the fish every night.

Sam Maceo used a well-known real estate technique known as "location location location" to ensure his nightclub's success... he put it right across the street from the now-successful Hotel Galvez.  Smart move.

Sam Maceo had cultivated a relationship with William Moody, Galveston's business leader and owner of the Hotel Galvez.  Moody and Maceo got along just fine.  Thanks to Maceo, Moody's giant hotel stayed packed with celebrities and guests who flocked to visit the nation's newest resort town.  Imagine their delight to discover that every vice known to man was open to all, a major lure indeed during Prohibition.  Galveston became the playground of the Southwest, bigger than New Orleans a few hundred miles to the east.

Though certainly no saint, Sam Maceo was definitely civic-minded. Maceo endeared himself not just to William Moody, but to all his Galveston neighbors by sharing his profits throughout the city.  Maceo helped return prosperity to a community weary from the hurricane devastation.

No one dared upset the apple cart.  The legitimate businesses on the island such as banking and hotels were able to thrive thanks to the illegal activities.  Real estate was booming thanks to the Houston millionaires buying up those fancy mansions on Broadway Boulevard.  Galveston was back in business.

Now that Maceo had the tacit support of the business community, it stands to reason that the politicians were under his spell as well.  This gave law enforcement yet another reason to look the other way.  The benevolence of Sam Maceo helped considerably.  Though Sam Maceo was the island's dominant figure, he never abused his power.  He generally did not attempt to prevent others from prospering so long as it did not interfere with his business.  In the view of many, Sam Maceo had brought Galveston back from ruin.

SUBCHAPTER 106 - THE DOWNFALL OF GALVESTON

Through his considerable skill, Sam Maceo made the Balinese Room famous throughout the nation. The impressive list of entertainers who performed at his club clearly underscores the substantial influence of Sam Maceo.  Given the prosperity he created and his benign approach, Maceo knew few enemies.  This explains how he was allowed to run vice on the island for three decades with little opposition.

So what happened to Sam Maceo? The onset of World War II marked the beginning of the end.  For one thing, after Pearl Harbor, people weren't exactly in the mood for partying like they had been. 

Then the Hotel Galvez across the street became headquarters for an expanded Coast Guard presence to patrol the Gulf of Mexico.  Tourists were forbidden to stay there and the Balinese Room was declared "off-limits" for the men barracking at the Galvez.

When World War II was over, Sam Maceo noticed the political climate had changed.

The Texas Attorney General got elected after campaigning to “close down Galveston” and its illegal casinos by using the Texas Rangers.

For thirty years, the laws that applied to other parts of Texas did not apply to Galveston.  However, after the war, the open-minded attitudes had seemingly shifted.  Law and Order politicians from other parts of Texas called upon the Texas Rangers to look into the Maceo operation.

The entrance of the Texas Rangers into the picture brought on a semi-comic cat and mouse game.  Everyone knew the casino was operating in violation of the law and that the club’s illegal gambling made it a hub of mob activity.  The problem was catching them in the act.

The Rangers set up shop in a hotel near the club and raided the casino often.  But their efforts were thwarted by the length of the pier.  First the band would strike up the song The Eyes of Texas upon their arrival.  This alerted the dealers and waitresses to start a well-rehearsed cover-up.  By the time the Rangers ran down to the tail end of the long corridor, tables, cards and chips had all disappeared into secret wall and floor pockets.

The Rangers did eventually shut the club down.  What was their secret?  First they gave up trying to catch anyone.  Instead they sat in the casino all day, every day.  Intimidated by the Rangers’ presence, the customers stopped coming.  The Balinese went out of business in 1957.

However, Sam Maceo was long gone by this time.  As the investigation into Maceo's Texas activities grew more serious in the late Forties, Maceo decided he was fed up with the interference. 

Frustrated by the constant need to keep his extensive gambling activities under wraps, Maceo turned his eyes elsewhere.  At this point Maceo decided to move his empire to Nevada.  He became a major player in a new venture known as "Las Vegas". 

Maceo became the leading investor in the Desert Inn, a new casino which opened in 1950.  At the time, the Desert Inn was the largest and most elaborate casino resort on the Las Vegas Strip. 

Galveston's loss turned into immense good fortune for Las Vegas. 

Back in Sam Maceo's hey day, Las Vegas didn't even have a paved road running through.  The only reason people stopped there was to get gas on the way to someplace else. 

Sam Maceo once said that if Texas would just legalize gambling, he could have made Galveston bigger than Havana, Cuba. 

Had that happened, Las Vegas probably would never have gotten off the ground because the mob money would have gone to the lucrative resort playground already established in Galveston.

However, despite his best efforts, Maceo was never able to find a way to get gambling legalized in Texas. 

One can only wonder what Galveston would be like today if Sam Maceo had gotten his way.

On second thought, maybe we don't have to wonder.  Houston could have been the next door neighbor to the biggest resort center in the country.

Some people say the day Sam Maceo left town was as bad as the day the Great Storm arrived.  Once the Maceo Magic left, things were never the same.  While Vegas became a boom town, Galveston became a ghost town.

Law enforcement bragged that they had rid Galveston of organized crime.  What a joke.  In a deeply ironic twist, during the 1950s far more dangerous criminal elements entered the vacuum created by Maceo's departure.  Taking advantage of Galveston's history of lax law enforcement, now drugs, murder, theft and vandalism abounded. 

Overnight the magnitude of the loss of Sam Maceo became more apparent.  As they say, be careful what you wish for.  All along Galveston had thought it had a serious crime problem, but now that Sam Maceo was gone, they learned what real crime was. 

The closing of the Balinese in the mid-Fifties marked the end of an era.  Prostitution had been eliminated.  Forty-seven clubs, brothels, and other vice establishments were reportedly closed and 2,000 slot machines were destroyed.  Though officials said they destroyed all of the city's gaming equipment, most of the equipment had simply been shipped to Las Vegas before the authorities ever discovered it.  Either way, it didn't matter.  Tourism was completely gone . The hotels were empty and were soon put up for sale.  No one bought them. 

The outside forces that killed the Golden Goose brought difficult economic times to the city in the 60s and 70s.  Galveston began a steep decline into urban decay.

With little activity at the Port and tourism mostly limited to day trippers from Houston heading to the beach, economic activity remained anemic for the next thirty years.  

In many ways, the loss of Sam Maceo was as bad as the Great Storm had been.  The population declined rapidly as people moved to Houston and elsewhere in search of employment.  With a greatly diminished tax base, services were curtailed. 

This led to another serious problem.  Now the beach became ugly.  Seaweed and dead fish were left to rot in the hot sun.  The place smelled.  Litter wasn't being picked up regularly.  Poor police presence allowed low-lifes to make the beach unpleasant for families to visit.  Gangs moved in. As rumors of the deserted, uncared-for beach made their way through the Greater Houston area, fewer people bothered to make the trip down.

Another blow came when Houston's millionaires lost interest in the beautiful old homes of Galveston.  Once the area's popularity was gone, they sold the old homes for pennies on the dollar.  This left hundreds of magnificent old buildings to rot and fall apart.   Slowly but surely these magnificent Victorian style homes were slipping towards the point of no return.  

Residents were appalled by the crumbling historical infrastructure.  All vestiges of Galveston's great past were on the edge of disappearing.  Galveston was on the verge of losing its ghosts as well.  The joke was that Galveston was so dead even the ghosts in the famous Tremont Hotel were leaving too.

  This well-regarded book by Howard Barnstone 
  contains many photographs of the old homes.

 Beautiful Victorian mansions such as this
 were abandoned and allowed to decay.

SUBCHAPTER 107 - THE MAN WHO SAVED GALVESTON

Rick Archer's Note:  Fortunately for Galveston, starting in the mid-Seventies, a native son turned his attention back to his hometown. 

Houston oilman George P. Mitchell began to singlehandedly lift Galveston onto his back and return Galveston to prosperity. 

The story of what George Mitchell did is so incredibly profound that I felt absolutely compelled to add him to my story.

And what exactly is George Mitchell's link to my story?

Mrs. Ballantyne's maiden name was Mitchell.  Her brother was billionaire George Mitchell. 

Mrs. Ballantyne saved me and her brother saved Galveston.  That's my surprise. 

What is fascinating about George Mitchell is that both he and his sister Maria grew up poor.  There was no silver spoon in their family.  George Mitchell earned every dime through sheer genius and hard work. 

Along the way, George Mitchell created energy independence for America, founded The Woodlands, saved Galveston, and brought the cruise industry to Texas for good measure. 

George and his wife Cynthia Woods Mitchell committed themselves to the overall success and revitalization of The Strand District and the hotels of Galveston Island.

Over a period of 30 years, the Mitchells invested more than $175 million in rehabilitating historic properties in The Strand National Historic Landmark District.

Today Mitchell Historic Properties oversees Galveston properties owned by George Mitchell and his family.

These properties include three hotels - Tremont, Galvez, Harbor House - and approximately one-fourth of the buildings in the historic Strand District and Pier 21 along the harbor.

From what I gather, two of George and Cynthia's children - Grant and Sheridan - are actively involved in overseeing the continued success of the work of their parents.  Their gesture surely honored their parents. I imagine this act touched their father and mother in a profound way.

It is impossible for me to describe all the ways that George Mitchell affected Galveston, but the pictorial tribute below is a good place to start. 

George Mitchell is seated with his wife Cynthia Woods Mitchell beside him.  The lady standing with her granddaughter beside George Mitchell is Maria Mitchell Ballantyne.