From Marsh to Man-Made Maritime Hub: Pelican Island

Galveston Unscripted | VisitGalveston.com

A neglected marsh evolved into Galveston’s hidden engine, from a Civil War battery and a quarantine station for immigrants to a WWII shipyard hub and a maritime university that shapes ocean careers. We trace how silt, storms, and bold engineering turned two spits into a platform for ships, study, and memory.
• fragile marshlands
• early maps showing two separate spits
• Civil War fortifications guarding the channel
• post‑1900 hurricane dredging and grade raising
• quarantine and immigration through Pelican Island
• Seawolf Park and WWII naval vessels
• shipyards powering Galveston’s economy
• bridge access enabling growth and education
• Texas A&M Galveston and maritime training
• the island as habitat, history, and future
Visit the Galveston Naval Museum at Seawolf Park. Explore Texas A&M’s waterfront campus. Drive past the shipyards still humming with work.
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1. Setting the Scene: Pelican Island (00:00:00)

2. Mapping a Vanishing Marsh (00:00:20)

3. Civil War Battery and Aftermath (00:01:07)

4. Dredge, Disaster, and Rebirth (00:02:52)

5. Quarantine Gate to the Southwest (00:03:58)

6. Shipyards, Bridge, and a Campus (00:04:43)

7. Legacy, Landmarks, and What’s Next (00:06:10)