Galveston, Texas’s Wild Past
The Caribbean is one of the world’s most interesting regions, but its vital role in world cultural history has sort of been sidelined, or parted out. You may know about the unique culture of Key West, Florida, and that there are pre-contact Mayan ruins near Cancun; however, you probably wouldn’t know that Key West is about as far from Cancun as San Diego is from San Francisco.
There are a few very well-known aspects of the Caribbean, and one island city in particular brings many of them together: beaches, a history of piracy, and shady financial activity. This city also has a long history of decadent casino culture, was prostitution-friendly for decades, and has even had brushes with cannibalism. And, for a major curveball, it’s in Texas. Yes, that conservative, gun-centric fairyland where everything is bigger.
This historic capital of awkward eating habits, piracy, gambling, ladies of the night and finance sits on one small island off the state’s coast in the Gulf of Mexico. The city that covers this island was also a pivotal port, and was so resilient it rebuilt itself after a natural disaster that was too destructive to really grasp today. But the craziest thing to me is that it is no longer ANY of those things — these days, it’s more or less just a unique beach town right next to Houston. This island city’s name is Galveston.
