The Strand

Galveston's main business street, famously known as the Strand, in the late 19th century, was dubbed the Wall Street of the Southwest due to the influx of port vessel traffic and the establishment of numerous financial institutions. The Strand's ornate Victorian buildings are still the envy of cities all over the country.

Today, Galveston holds one of the most extensive collections of historic buildings in the United States, a favorite destination of architects and tourists alike. "The Strand" is generally used to refer to the entire five-block business district between 20th and 25th streets in the downtown area.

The earliest city layout in the late 1830s includes Avenue B. This was the Street's name before it was dubbed "The Strand. "However, the origins of the word are not entirely agreed upon. Some have speculated that it was named after the well-known London street called "Strand" to make the Street seem more prominent. The word, Strand, comes from the Old English word "Strond," meaning "shore" or "river bank." The Strand runs parallel to the Port and the Bay. The earliest buildings were typically wooden and were vulnerable to fire and deadly hurricanes that often affected the fledgling island community. Eventually, as the city surged economically, the structures in the Downtown area were replaced with iron-fronted brick buildings, many of which we can still see and explore.

Beginning in the 1830s, due to Galveston's enormous vessel traffic, between 700 and 1400 vessels called the port every year. The Strand became a popular place for significant businesses to set up shop, wholesalers, cotton agents, paint, drug, grocery, dry goods, insurance companies, commission merchants, cotton brokers, attorneys, and before the civil war, even slave auctioneers.

A few buildings in the downtown district date back to the mid-1850s, and other historic buildings typically date back to the 1870s and 1880s. Galveston's premier architect, Nicholas Clayton, designed fifteen commercial structures on the Strand. Eight of them still stand.

Through the 19th century, the port city of Galveston boomed economically; the Strand, which is close to the harbor, grew into the region's leading business center. From 1838 to the late eighteen hundreds, 18 Texas newspapers were started in Galveston; most were headquartered on the Strand. The Galveston Daily News, founded in 1842, is the lone survivor that still operates today and is the oldest newspaper in Texas. During the Civil War, when the Union forces blockaded Galveston, many businesses on the Strand closed up shop and moved to Houston for the war. The land portion of the battle of Galveston was fought around Twentieth street, on and around Kuhn's Wharf. The Confederate forces on the island fought from the Strand at the Hendley building and the immediate surrounding area.

As the Civil War ended, on June 19th, 1865, The southwest corner of 22nd street and The Strand was the location of the Union Army's declaration of General Order Number 3, which officially freed all enslaved people in the state of Texas. This historical event is known as Juneteenth and is now a national holiday in the United States.

In 1865, After the Civil War, The city of Galveston Thrived. The Port of Galveston became one of the busiest in the country. In 1881, total business on the Strand amounted to $38 million, all thanks to the port of Galveston and the United States' westward expansion. In the late eighteen hundreds, most goods and people came through Galveston to get to Texas, making the city and the Strand a vibrant, vital, and bustling place where deals were made, ships were supplied, and people immigrated into the united states. Galveston's Business prowess lasted until September of nineteen hundred; the great storm, also known as The 1900 Hurricane, destroyed the city and killed over 6,000 people. The Strand was slowly deteriorating and being demolished for newer buildings and parking spaces until the 1970s and eighties. After a unified effort by community leaders, the Strand was revitalized to appeal to island-going tourists. The Strand, and downtown Galveston, is a National Historic Landmark. The Strand was and is still the heart of the city's business district.