History & Culture

Archaeological evidence shows that humans have been using the resources of Galveston Bay for at least 5,000 years. Early hunter-gatherers modified the bay environment by harvesting shellfish and other wildlife, producing shell middens and introducing plants from other ecoregions.

After 1800, settlers exploited the fish, shellfish, prairies and forests in and around the bay to develop the early fishing, cattle and lumber industries. Commercial fishing for shrimp, oysters and fish continues today with modern technology, but the composition of the catch has changed.

In addition to its biological resources, the Bay's physical resources were utilized as well. The bay and its tributaries yielded construction materials in the form shell, sand and clay. Ranch land composed of upper prairies and lower salt grass marsh areas were used over time for other purposes including farming, oil extraction and industrial and urban development. Riparian timber resources became scarce and the lumber industry disappeared from the vicinity of Galveston Bay.

Beginning in the mid-1800s, alterations of the Bay for navigation include channels to three major ports and many smaller harbors. Dredged material from the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, the Texas City Channel, the Galveston Channel and the Houston Ship Channel have been deposited on the open bay floor or into designated containment areas creating planned and unplanned islands which alter bay currents. Heavy exploitation of buried shell and groundwater produced detrimental effects. In the early- to mid-1900s, growth of the petroleum industry led to changes of land use in and around Galveston Bay.

The region has exhibited continuous immigration and economic expansion over most of the past 50 years. Much of the region's growth has been attributed to the construction of the Houston Ship Channel and the discovery of oil in the early part of the twentieth century. The ascent of the Houston metropolitan area to the major population and industrial center it is today, however, has taken place largely since World War II. Houston's population gains during the 1970s and early 1980s were remarkable.

See more information on Galveston Bay history and culture in Chapters Three and Four of The State of the Bay and in GBEP Partner Resources.