Galveston ( ) is a city in and seat of Galveston County located on Galveston Island on the Gulf Coast in the U.S. state of Texas within the nowrap: Houston–Sugar Land–Baytown]] metropolitan area. As of the 2005 U.S. Census estimate, the city had a total population of 57,466. Galveston is accessible by the Galveston Causeway linking Galveston Island to the mainland on the north end of the city, a toll bridge on the western end of the island, and by ferry boat service on the east end of the city. Galveston is the second-largest city in Galveston County in population after League City.Schladen, Marty. "Forces drive people off island." Galveston County Daily News. July 23, 2006.

Galveston is known for the hurricane that struck it in 1900. The natural disaster that followed still counts as the most deadly in American history. A 10-mile (16-km) long, 17-foot (5.18 m) high seawall protects the city from floods and hurricane storm surge.

The city's tourist attractions include the Galveston Schlitterbahn waterpark, Moody Gardens botanical park, the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum, the Lone Star Flight Museum, a downtown neighborhood of historic buildings known as The Strand, many historical museums and mansions, and miles of beach front. The Strand plays host to a yearly Mardi Gras festival, Galveston Island Jazz & Blues Festival and a Victorian-themed Christmas festival called Dickens on the Strand (honoring the works of novelist Charles Dickens, especially A Christmas Carol) in early December. Galveston was also home to the Balinese Room, an historic nightclub, formerly a notorious illegal gambling hall, which was located on a pier extending into the Gulf of Mexico.

Exploration and settlement

Galveston island was originally inhabited by members of the Karankawa and Akokisa tribes, who used the name "Auia" for the island. The Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca and his crew were shipwrecked on the island (or nearby) in November 1528, calling it "Isla de Malhado" ("Isle of Doom"),McComb, David G.: Galveston A History, University of Texas Press, 1986, 293 pp., ISBN 978-0-292-72053-4 and there began his famous trek to Mexico.

During his charting of the Gulf Coast in 1785, the Spanish explorer José de Evia named the island Gálvez-town or Gálveztown in honor of Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Gálvez. The first permanent European settlements on the island were constructed around 1816 by the pirate Louis-Michel Aury as a base of operations to support Mexico's rebellion against Spain. In 1817 Aury returned from an unsuccessful raid against Spain to find Galveston occupied by the pirate Jean Lafitte, who took up residence there after having been driven from his stronghold in Barataria Bay off the coast of New Orleans, Louisiana. Lafitte organized Galveston into a pirate "kingdom" he called "Campeachy" (or "Campeche"), anointing himself the island's "head of government." Lafitte remained in Galveston until 1821 when he and his raiders were given an ultimatum by the United States Navy: leave or be destroyed. Lafitte burned his settlement to the ground and sailed under cover of night for parts unknown. There are still rumors that Lafitte's treasure is buried somewhere between Galveston Island, Bolivar Peninsula and High Island.