When I Say "Galveston"...

what's the first word that comes to mind?

The Sept. 8, 1900 hurricane that hit Galveston was the worst natural disaster in United States history to that point in time, and remains the country’s deadliest natural disaster killing an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 people. More than 3,600 structures were destroyed including the entire wharf front.

And for many people outside of southeastern Texas, that is the “first-word” response they would make to “Galveston.”

And it is this association with “The Great Storm” that Clyde Steddum would like to expand for the city of Galveston. Steddum, the Vice Chairman of the Galveston Park Board of Trustees, was kind enough to read some of our blog entries on Galveston and noted, “You discovered many of the features of this city that make it great.” (How we met Clyde is a story that we’ll tell tomorrow.)

One of the city’s gems that we have not visited until recently is what C. Grant Mitchell, President of Mitchell Historic Properties and producer of the documentary “The Great Storm,” calls “a great symbol for Galveston. It is a symbol of strength and resilience.”

It is the Hotel Galvez & Spa®, a National Trust Historic Hotel of America, and the only historic beachfront hotel on the Texas Gulf Coast.

“Hotel Galvez opened on June 10, 1911, at 6 p.m. and was immediately proclaimed ‘Queen of the Gulf.’ Within a year of opening, it was deemed the ‘best arranged and most richly furnished seaside hotel in America’ by Hotel Monthly. When the hotel opened in 1911, it had 275 guest rooms with a room rate starting at $2 per day.

“In the early 1920s, families across the country began flocking to Galveston’s original beachfront hotel. ‘Moving in’ to Hotel Galvez for the summer was a common trend among wealthy families, many of whom spent from six weeks to six months in the hotel, paying a mere two dollars a day for luxurious accommodations.

“Between 1920 and 1932, Hotel Galvez served as headquarters for the International Pageants of Pulchritude, the beauty pageants that were predecessors to the Miss Universe Pageant.

“The hotel functioned as a working facility for the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II, and in 1944 the hotel was awarded an ‘honorable discharge’ from its duties.

Considerable restoration work has occurred within the past 21 years:
-- In 1993, it was purchased by its current owners who launched a $20 million restoration to reflect its 1911 origin.

-- In preparation for the hotel’s 100th anniversary in June 2011, hotel owners completed an $11 million renovation.
-- More recently (May, 2013), the owners completed a $900,000 renovation to its lobby,

restaurant,

and bar area, which is now home to the Galvez Bar & Grill”

(pressroom.mitchellhistoricproperties.com/hotel-galvez-spa/fact-sheets/hotel-galvez-key-step-in-galveston-179643).

And speaking of the Bar & Grill....