Houston Galveston Rockport and Fredericksburg Texas
Louisiana and Mississippi
Located in the Texas Hill Country
Fredericksburg is one of the earliest German settlements with a district
encompassing 40 blocks of buildings dating from the mid-19th century
The Admiral Nimitz Museum is a landmark since the
late 1800's when it was the old Nimitz Steamboat Hotel.
Rockport is a tourist destination with access to various forms of marine
recreation and attractions such as boating, bay, offshore, wade, beach, and
pier fishing, duck hunting, waterskiing, swimming, birdwatching, and seafood.
The History of the Texas Maritime Museum goes back to the
late 1970’s at the Rockport annual Sea Fair
The Museum’s purpose is to recount Texas maritime history
through artifacts, documents, and other materials of unique or historical
value; collections and exhibits are based on four central themes:
Technology of offshore petroleum production and
transportation
Development of Texas seaports, maritime communities and
commerce along the Gulf of Mexico
Exploration and Settlement history of the
Texas Gulf Coast beginning with the Spanish and French
The Texas seafood and fishing industry.
Galveston is located
on Galveston and Pelican Islands on the Gulf Coast It was the main port of the
Texas Navy and later served as the capital of Texas During the 19th century
it was a commercial center the largest city in Texas and a major port in
America.
A deep-water channel connects the harbor with the Gulf and the
Gulf Intracoastal Waterway
The Texas Seaport Museum tells the story of
a rich legacy of seaborne commerce and immigration. Look for ancestors in a
computer database containing the names of more than 133,000 immigrants who
entered the United States through Galveston.
The Center
for Coastal Heritage is a resource for
practitioners working at the cross-section of the built environment and natural
environment and a commitment to coastal resilience, sustainability and
environmental health.
Houston is
the largest city in Texas and the US South as well as America's fourth-largest.
A cosmopolitan destination and home to an energetic arts community, it was founded
in 1836 near the banks of Buffalo Bayou. The city was named after former
General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and commander
at the Battle of San Jacinto, 25 miles - 40 km - east of where the city
was established.
The Port and Railroad, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in
the city's population. In the mid-20th century, Houston became
the home of the Texas Medical Center, the world's largest concentration of
healthcare and research institutions, and NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
Architecture the Bayou City is full of interesting buildings that reveal its
past; throughout Downtown and the city's central core, there is an abundance of
significant architecture that tells the story of this port and railroad town
turned metropolis.
Boating and Cruising the Bayport Cruise Terminal is located on the Western shore of
Galveston Bay, 30 minutes from downtown Houston. The state-of-the-art facility
is near the Kemah Boardwalk with a 36-foot carousel, a 65-foot Ferris wheel and
rides like Aviator, Boardwalk Tower and the Boardwalk Beast, a boat ride that
takes you four miles into Galveston Bay at speeds up to 40 mph.
The
Story of Mobility in America
Maritime Museums in Historic Towns
The Houston Maritime Museum started out as a
small private museum for founder Jim Manzolillo’s extensive collection of
maritime artifacts and ship models, now grown to over eight galleries that
cover the world of maritime history and culture from early navigation and
exploration, to World War II, the merchant marine and the energy industry. Noteworthy
is the exhibit on the history of Buffalo Bayou, the origins of the Houston Ship
Channel and the port’s impact on the economy of Houston, and the nation.
Industry
and the Environment HMM hosts lectures
by members of the maritime community and academia highlighting innovation and
progress in the maritime industry.
Madisonville is located at on the banks of the Tchefunke River near where the
river enters Lake Pontchartrain. Founded by in 1800, as the town of Coquille or Cokie because of the abundance of shells in the area, at the site
of the Native American village of Chiconcte.
The town was later renamed after President Madison.
Lake
Pontchartrain Basin Maritime Museum is located on the banks of the scenic
Tchefuncte River in Madisonville. The museum brings Louisiana’s maritime
history to life through unique interpretive programs, exhibits, and
publications.
A Historic Journey through Maritime Louisiana
The Museum features unique
exhibits that illustrate the innovation, creativity, and perseverance of
Louisiana’s people, concentrating on the maritime history of the Lake Pontchartrain
Basin, the lower Mississippi River Valley, and the Gulf Coast of Louisiana.
The
Tchefuncte River Light Station is a
symbol of the dynamic maritime history and culture of Louisiana. The original
tower was badly damaged during the Civil War and was rebuilt in 1867-1868 on
the same foundation using many of the same bricks.
The Biloxi
Waterfront lies directly on the Mississippi Sound,
with barrier islands off the Coast and into the Gulf of Mexico. Old Biloxi was
part of the First Permanent Settlement in 1699 by French Colonists in French
Louisiana. The name of Biloxi in French was Bilocci, a transliteration
of the term for the local Native American tribe in their language.
The Biloxi
Lighthouse is the best-known local landmark. It was
built in Baltimore and completed at the site in May 1848; it is one of the two,
out of twelve, surviving lighthouses along the Mississippi Coast.
The First
Cannery was built in 1881 to process seafood, an
economic development that attracted new immigrants from Europe to work in the
seafood factories processing shrimp and other local fish harvested by shrimp
boats and oyster luggers.
The
Maritime & Seafood Industry Museum was
established in 1986 to preserve and interpret the maritime history and heritage
of Biloxi and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. It offers exhibits on shrimping, oystering,
recreational fishing, wetlands, managing marine resources, charter boats,
marine blacksmithing, wooden boat building, netmaking, catboats/Biloxi skiff
and shrimp peeling machines.
The Museum has brought life to local maritime traditions by replicating two 65′
two-masted Biloxi Schooners that sail on the Mississippi Sound and waters of
the north central Gulf of Mexico almost daily. The Museum also conducts yea-
round educational programs and a summer Sea-n-Sail Adventure Camp which teaches
youth about local maritime heritage.