When in Texas: Galveston is Victorian, but with a Texan accent

Driving along the city streets lined with Victorian houses, one would think they are in an English county. But wait until you hear the locals speak. Texan accent.

It’s a drive “not too far” from Houston. The forty-minute ride south from the largest city in the Lone Star State will get you to a charming seaside secret—The Republic of Galveston, as the locals would call their place. It’s like Texas’ little secret, one of many; this city is an island getaway blessed with amazing sunsets.

The 32-mile stretch of beach alone is enough for me to say, "This is a paradise." Add to it the well-preserved Victorian houses and edifices lining the city streets, the largest concentration in the country, in fact. The must-sees are the Broadway Beauties: the 1859 Ashton Villa, the 1892 Bishop's Palace, and the 1895 Moody Mansion. Imagine how the early 20th-century Galveston's elite lived.

Galveston is all about soft, sandy beaches and amazing 19th-century architecture rolled into one; an island surrounded with beauty and incredible history.

The city was named after a Spanish colonial governor and general, Bernardo de Gálvez y Madrid, Count of Galvez. It became the main port during the Texas Revolution and eventually the largest port in the US during the 19th century.

But this paradise had its share of misfortunes, not caused by man but by Mother Nature herself. Galveston suffered the most deadly natural disaster to strike the country in the 1900s, known as The Great Storm, where it claimed thousands of lives and razed a third of the city.

Efforts were made to protect the city by raising the entire level of the city by eight feet and by 17 feet at the seawall, slanting the ground so water would run off into the bay. The feat proved to be a success in saving the city when another hurricane as ferocious as the 1900 storm swept down on Galveston in 1915.

It took years before Galveston got back on its feet. The early 80s was the onset of the city’s renewal. It capitalized on overhauling and promoting the Historic Downtown District, where the concentration of Victorian commercial architecture was. The move revived the Mardi Gras celebration, then encouraged the city into preserving and restoring buildings that eventually landed towns on the list of National Register of Historic Places.

Just when Galveston was recovering and on the road to rediscovery, tragedy struck once more. The 2008 Hurricane Ike struck and devastated the city anew.

It was my first time to see Galveston. Driving through the city, I would have thought I wasn't in Texas. The streets are lined with homes designed in English architecture. It stood proud, some restored, some waiting to be restored, after the recent calamity struck the area. But there is always the thought that after each heartbreaking experience, there is no way but up. The Republic of Galveston will regain its former glory.