History of the City of Texas City

NEW Texas City 100 Years Online Exhibition To celebrate the 100 year anniversary of Texas City, Moore Memorial Public Library has created a permanent online historical exhibit about Texas City’s history. This online exhibit was created by the staff of Moore Memorial Public Library over a two-year time period. To develop the articles, staff used print resources from our collection, archives and vertical file (including some materials that were donated to the library by community members), authoritative sources available through the Internet, and materials borrowed through interlibrary loan from other institutions.

The exhibit has been designed with multiple and flexible access points, to accommodate varying levels and types of interest. The navigation buttons on the left side of the pages allow individuals to explore the exhibit by choosing specific topics of historical interest or to proceed chronologically through the full span of Texas City history. For those who simply wish to view historical photographs, we have included a photo gallery of over 240 pictures. Users who would like a short, historical recap of the most important events along with a sample of historical photographs from a particular time period can choose the Decades option.

We envision this exhibit as a permanent record of the city's history. We hope to update and add new material to it as additional historical information and/or sources come to our attention, and as new historical events unfold. We have designed the exhibit to be a comprehensive overview of Texas City history as well as a photographic scrapbook of life in this community over the last one hundred and twenty years.

To visit this exhibit, go to www.texascity-library.org/TCH/index.html.

We hope you find this exhibit both enjoyable and educational. Please let us know any comments you might have. (October 2010)

Texas City History Decade by Decade (pdf)
Timeline of Important Events in the history of Texas City (pdf)

The Galveston County Daily News has generously offered microfilm copies of back issues of the Texas City Sun newspaper. The Texas City Sun operated in Texas City from 1911-2004, and the microfilm collection set offered by The Galveston County Daily News is a virtually complete record of the newspaper issues produced during that time period. While ownership of the microfilm will remain with the Galveston County Daily News, the microfilm will be on permanent loan to Moore Memorial Public Library for use by library staff and members of the general public.

Patrons will be able to use this collection to research local history, work on their genealogies, or reprint old articles relating to family or friends. According to Les Daughtry, former editor of the Texas City Sun and currently with the Galveston Daily News, this is the only microfilm collection in existence of the newspaper's back issues. Moore Library offers a hearty thanks to the Daily News for this opportunity. If you would like to know more about the microfilm collection, or if you would like to view or print an article from the Texas City Sun, visit the Reference Desk or call at (409) 643-5977 for more information.

Helen Edmunds Moore Online Exhibit - Who was Helen Moore? She was worker, a volunteer, a state legislator, a traveler and a nature enthusiast. She worked tirelessly to help others and her community. In Texas City, Helen Moore is remembered largely in connection with Moore Memorial Library. While she and her husband, Hugh Benton Moore worked with the civic club to start the library, this event was only a small part of what she did with her life. Mrs. Moore worked to promote many worthy causes, including: women's right to vote, our community's readiness for enemy attack (during World War II), better conditions and treatment for the mentally ill and other persons cared for by the State of Texas, and better standards and practice in the medical profession. The online exhibit provides information about Mrs. Moore's life and her contributions to our community. (April 2008)

Texas City Disaster 1947 Online Exhibition - The morning of April 16, 1947, started out as an average spring day, but by day’s end several hundred Texas City residents lost their lives and thousands of dollars of property was destroyed when a ship in the port of Texas City exploded. This year is the 60th anniversary of the Texas City Disaster. This exhibit was created by staff librarians Daniel Stuart, Samantha Johnson, and Amelia Chau. It provides a description of the 1947 Disaster, its causes and its impact on the community. The exhibit includes photos, maps, and a bibliography of sources relating to the disaster.
(April 2007)

Taking a trip down memory lane. Click here to view photos of Texas City during the 1930s-1970s taken by a Texas City resident, Johnny Mitchell. The photos are located at http://www.texascityphotos.com/index.html.

Enjoy!

Texas City Historical Photographs Featured on the Web (Click here to read more on page 3 of the July 2006 issue of Moore Times Newsletter)

Point your browser to http://texashistory.unt.edu
Select "Researchers Portal"
Type the terms "Texas City" into the search box
Choose Moore Memorial Public Library from the pull-down menu labeled "institution"

Enjoy the photographs.

Texas City traces its roots to small settlements that sprang up along Galveston Bay as early as the 1830's, during the era of the Texas Republic. First came Campbell's Bayou at Virginia Point, home to privateer James Campbell and his family. Campbell had served as Jean LaFitte's trusted lieutenant.

The settlement of Austinia was laid out near the mouth of Moses Lake. Intended as a starting point for a planned railroad to connect Galveston Bay with a town on the Brazos River, the community existed with a few buildings and homes between 1837 and 1839. When the railroad was not built along the proposed route, the settlement disappeared, leaving no trace.

The settlement of Shoal Point, located near the promontory of land that was to become the base of the Texas City Dike, was established by 1839. Almira Bowen, the widow of the original land grantee Sylvester Bowen of Bailey's Prairie in Brazoria County, and her second husband Henry Wilcox established their home one mile south of Shoal Point that year.

The settlement of Shoal Point flourished, partly because of the location of the Half Moon Shoal lighthouse two miles out in the Bay. This lighthouse was one of four built in the Galveston Bay or along the shoreline by the U. S. Government during the pre-Civil War period.

Cattle Ranchers, fruit growers, fishermen, and a succession of lighthouse keepers brought their families to live here. By the 1870's the Shoal Point settlement boasted a post office, a one room school, and a citizenry of approximately fifty families. North of Shoal Point was Dollar Point and Miller's Point, home of German settler Gottfried Moller (sometimes spelled Miller), who came to this part of Texas in 1849. Descendants of the Wilcoxes, Campbells, and Mollers live in Texas City today

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