Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Oh. Galveston.

Oh. Galveston.

Last updated on: November 18, 2019 at 8:57 am by John Mark N. Reynolds

Oh. Galveston. 2019-11-18T08:57:44-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Galveston is, roughly, twice as large as Manhattan.

It is also entirely a gazillion times less populated, vital to industry, or important in American history. The Confederacy could not keep it, the Union hardly wanted it. Hurricanes cut her date with destiny short.

Galveston is a Houston vacation spot: the a-bit-quaint neighboring metropolis on the Gulf. That’s what you see if you don’t know what you are seeing, heading off on a cruise hardly noticing where you are leaving.

I am told, and have read, that once Galveston was the place. Houston was a cow-town while Galveston was a financial center for the Caribbean. Remnants of this are all around, Victorian mansions in abundance, so I almost believe the story. The martyred Tsar, Nicholas II, sent a beloved teacher and priest to Galveston to build Christ’s church. The community is still there, though the Empire and Galveston’s status have both fallen since those halcyon days.

When I came to Houston, I rode with nonagenarian who told me that once, long ago, to be from Houston was nothing while to be from Galveston was “all that.” To walk the “Strand” in Galveston is to see a what was and then wasn’t: real estate that was valuable enough to get a beautiful antebellum building, but that never got valuable enough to tear that less than skyscraper thing down. Galveston kept trying to defeat the weather and bad press. They raised an Art Deco era almost skyscraper to heaven, now mostly full of babble about trains and complaints about hurricanes.

Galveston talks a good bit about hurricanes.

You see, if I have the myth right, Galveston could be Manhattan, or at least the Manhattan of the South*, if only, if only 1900 had been dry.The Golden Age of Galveston when Houston was the cow town and the island city was the place was gone with a mighty wind.

Mayhap.

Who can know?

I do know that the busy boosters of Galveston got a beautiful hotel built in 1911: the Hotel Galvez:palatial digs for presidents, gambling joint, and seedy site for celebrities. Now it is spruced up by Wyndham and generous benefactors and delectable to eye and palate with a Sunday brunch worth a drive from Houston. The builders of Galvez would not let a hurricane shut them down, but the winds kept blowing and Houston was safer, had a port, and limitless land.

Houston became the American city of the twenty-first century. When space calls, they do not say “Galveston, we have a problem.” Galveston became a satellite to Space City.

The island didn’t die, just became dependent as the money and power moved inland to Houston. Many now come to take a Caribbean cruise from the port, spending a few hours in the city that almost was something. They sail away and the temptation is sum up Galveston this way.

That would be too bad, because Galveston is magnificent because she did not fulfill her dream. She is awash in affordable Victorian, Edwardian, and mid-twentieth century splendor, because Galveston failed. There was no reason to tear down most of the buildings: the eye of history moved past Galveston.

As a result, the city is a time capsule of styles and municipal magnificence of an earlier era. The boosters got the job done, but the goal of a bigger, better, Galveston, the city of the South failed. The good they did lives after them in this city, the failure was their success.

Galveston is charming, vibrant, and interesting precisely because failure kept her safe for different times. Galveston is romantic as an incarnate lost cause: smart people who bet on Galveston lost, but their money wasn’t wasted. They built cathedrals and palaces, yet the city never became the Manhattan of the South.

If Miss Havisham’s cake had been better preserved, a noble ruin, yet still edible, then it might be like Galveston is to Texas: nobody who was somebody who is not anybody now. Visit Galveston now before some unfeeling soul makes it more a condo-haven for Houston. Galveston is a must-visit. There you can see an alternative American history written in stone . . .

———————————-

* “(blank) of the South: is the give up phrase of the Lost Cause. Nobody builds the “University of Texas of the North” or the “Atlanta of the West.”

Pop Culture

Spiritual Reflections

Previous Post

November 17, 2019

Mandalorian (A Review and Appreciation) and the end of cord cutting?

Next Post

November 19, 2019 Avoiding Mr. Collins: Help us Jane, You are One of Our Few Hopes!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, yet humble and riding on what?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A camel A white horse A chariot A donkey

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »