Galveston

Galveston is named for Bernardo de Gálvez, the 18th-century Spanish military and political leader; the island's first European settlement was built around 1816 by the French privateer Louis-Michel Aury. The Congress of Mexico established the port in 1825, and the Congress of the Republic of Texas incorporated the city in 1839 — it served as the republic's capital and the main port for its navy. Through the 19th century the Strand was the region's primary business center and was known as the Wall Street of the South; today the name means the five-block district downtown near the wharf, where the shops, the seasonal festivals and the restored Grand 1894 Opera House are. The hurricane of 8 September 1900 still holds the record as the deadliest natural disaster in United States history, and the seawall raised afterwards is the island's front edge.

Source: Galveston, Texas — Wikipedia