Full Citation

Title: Galveston's Maritime Workers in 1880: A Quantitative View

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2018

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Abstract: Galveston represented the promise of the New South better than any other Gulf-side town. Connecting the state's cotton-producing hinterland to the wider Atlantic world, the island's port served as a regional marketplace for both commerce and credit and was dubbed by its own boosters the "Wall Street of the Southwest" or "the New York of the Gulf."' By 1880, the island's wharf district was crisscrossed by train tracks and dotted by warehouses, cotton press operations, and mercantile firms; the two-mile train trestle to the mainland and the well-protected deep-water port along the bayside (north shore) ensured an export capacity of a half-million cotton bales per year. This geographically small wharf was a busy one, with an average of 185 ocean-going ships clearing annually. 2 The revenue and the economic development that flowed from this sector enabled the island to declare itself, in 1891, the "wealthiest city in the world of its size."3 The accompanying promise of good jobs led to influx of migration and extraordinary demographic growth, so that between 1850 and 1880, the number . . .

Url: https://scholarworks.sfasu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2806&context=ethj

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Authors: Ryden, David Beck

Periodical (Full): East Texas Historical Journal

Issue: 1

Volume: 56

Pages: 40-54

Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Land Use/Urban Organization, Other

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