Country United States Owned by City of Galveston Piers 39 | Location Galveston, Texas Type of harbor Natural Opened 1825 | |
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Operated by Galveston Wharves Board of Trustees | ||
Port of galveston gateway to the gulf
The Port of Galveston is the port of the city of Galveston, Texas. It was established by a proclamation issued by the Congress of Mexico on October 17, 1825, while the land known today as Texas was still part of Mexico. The Port of Galveston is the oldest port in the Gulf of Mexico west of New Orleans.
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Tornadoes blow through port of galveston
History
During the late 19th century, up until the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, the port was the busiest on the Gulf Coast and considered to be second busiest in the country, next to the port of New York City. The port exported most of the nation's cotton, along with large amounts of cattle, rice and other commodities. Galveston's wealth and great esteem was due in large part to the port's activity. The port was devastated by the 1900 Storm, and though it has since recovered, its status was quickly overtaken by the Port of Houston and other deep-water ports that were able to expand without restrictions due to geographic features.
Today
Located on the upper Texas coast on the eastern end of Galveston Island, it is 9.3 miles (15.0 km) from the open Gulf or approximately 30 minutes sailing time. The port is municipally owned by the City of Galveston and is managed by the Board of Trustees of the Galveston Wharves, as designated by the City Charter.
The port is equipped to handle all types of cargo including: containers, dry and liquid bulk, breakbulk, RO/RO, refrigerated and project cargoes. The Galveston Railroad, a terminal switching railroad, facilitates movement of cargo by rail. In addition, the port is the year-round homeport to three Carnival Cruise Line vessels (Carnival Breeze, Carnival Freedom and Carnival Valor). They also have one Royal Caribbean vessel and another coming in November 2016 (Liberty of the Seas) and (Vision of the Seas) sailing from the port year round. A Norwegian Cruise Line ship Norwegian Jade used to sail out of Galveston as well as Princess Cruises Crown Princess
Disney Cruise Lines also now sails from the port to locations in the Caribbean and the Bahamas. Disney operates Disney Wonder from the port during the fall and winter seasons. The Port of Galveston consists of the Galveston Ship Channel, the south side of Pelican Island, the north side of Galveston Island and the entrance to Galveston Bay. The Galveston Channel has an authorized minimum depth of 45 feet (14 m) and is 1,200 feet (370 m) wide at its narrowest point.