Originally planning to hit Houston first, we detoured when we evaluated Easter weekend camping options, and instead headed south after entering Texas, towards the Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston. Our first stop in the area was Fort Travis and Ernst Battery.
The United States began an ambitious seacoast fortification program in 1888, the first major defense expenditure undertaken since the end of the Civil War nearly 25 years earlier. Three forts were built in the Galveston Bay area between 1897 and 1899. Fort Crockett on Galveston Beach served as the headquarters for the entire harbor defense system. The Galveston seawall was built around it in 1906 and it now exists as Fort Crockett Seawall Park. Fort San Jacinto was on the far eastern tip of Galveston Island, directly across the channel from Fort Travis. Four Batteries remain intact at Fort Travis.
Ernst Battery was built in 1898, and named after Second Lieutenant Rudolph Ernst, United States Sixth Infantry, who was killed in the Mexican War (1847). It contained three small caliber “rapid fire” pedestal guns with searchlights, and casemented ammunition magazines below. Its purpose was to defend the harbor entrance against torpedo boats and raiding parties in small boats. Two to three additional batteries on the same fort through the end of WWII, each with an increasing level of sophistication considered advanced for it's day. With the advent of accurate aerial bombing during the first half of the 20th century, the military usefulness of such a battery would have waned well before World War II, and the coastal defense fort was sold as surplus by the late 1940's.
From there we drove south to take the Galveston Island Ferry across the mouth of Galveston Bay where it meets the Gulf of Mexico.
We drove through Galveston Beach, which is your typical middle-class beach town with themed bars, amusement park piers, junk "gift" shops, mini-golf and tattoo parlors. The water here has a more "industrial" feel due to the nearby Houston Ship Channel carrying millions of tons of cargo on container ships and working oil and gas rigs visible a few miles offshore.
We made a few stops along the beach at parking areas, then rode through the historic district with its large assortment of Victorian houses and mansions. During the late 19th century, Galveston was Texas's largest and most prominent city, and this is evident in the housing and religious structures that remain from that era. Block upon block of huge Victorian homes line the streets of the old town, in states of care ranging from the most perfectly maintained southern beach mansion to nearly derelict with broken windows and missing shingles. Old town Galveston must have been a fabulous place to be 100 years ago.
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From there we drove south to take the Galveston Island Ferry across the mouth of Galveston Bay where it meets the Gulf of Mexico.
The photo below is of a shipwreck in Galveston Bay near which our ferry passed. The wreck is the remains of the SS Selma, a reinforced concrete-hulled ship experimented with for wartime use shortly after WWI. Launched in 1919 and run aground in 1920, she was towed to Galveston for repairs; however the shipyard had no expertise in repairing concrete-hulled ships, so the Government abandoned the project and she was scuttled here in 1922. Over 90 years later, she remains in the same location.
We made a few stops along the beach at parking areas, then rode through the historic district with its large assortment of Victorian houses and mansions. During the late 19th century, Galveston was Texas's largest and most prominent city, and this is evident in the housing and religious structures that remain from that era. Block upon block of huge Victorian homes line the streets of the old town, in states of care ranging from the most perfectly maintained southern beach mansion to nearly derelict with broken windows and missing shingles. Old town Galveston must have been a fabulous place to be 100 years ago.
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We hopped back on the ferry and headed to the Bolivar Flats, our camp for the night. For $10 a year (expires every December 31) you can get a beach parking permit and camp anywhere on the 27 miles of beach between Crystal Beach and Bolivar Peninsula! The sand is packed down, similar to Daytona Beach, and is easy to drive on. Just drive down the beach, pick a spot, and camp.
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