San Luis Pass (Galveston Island)

The San Felipe incident was the first naval battle fought between Mexican and rebel forces during the Texas Revolution. Thomas McKinney deliberately provoked the Mexican government by heavily arming the merchant ship San Felipe, filling it with a cargo of munitions meant for Texian revolutionaries, and sending it from New Orleans to Brazoria, Texas. Aboard was a crew of Texians and Stephen F. Austin, recently released from incarceration in Mexico and dedicated to Texian independence from Mexico. On September 1, 1835, as the San Felipe was transferring the last of its cargo to the Laura, also crewed by Texians, the Mexican Navy warship Correo de Mejico approached. Uncharacteristically for merchant vessels both ships reacted aggressively, firing on the Correo and capturing it after a day-long pursuit. The San Felipe's captain, William Hurd, arrested the captain of the Correo, the British-born American citizen Thomas Thompson, as well as the crew. Though Thompson was a commissioned officer of the Mexican navy, Hurd brought them back to New Orleans as pirates. Thompson had been seizing smuggling ships along the coast which had begun carrying arms in to the rebels in Texas and the capture of him and his ship cleared the way for more arms and support for the rebels to move into the area.

Follet's Island is a barrier island on the Texas Gulf Coast in Brazoria County, Texas, immediately southwest of Galveston Island. Follet's Island separates the Christmas Bay system from the Gulf of Mexico, making it one of a chain of barrier islands running along most of the Texas coast. The island is roughly 13 miles (21 km) long and has a maximum elevation of about 3.5 feet (1.1 m) above mean sea level. Many historians believe that Cabeza de Vaca and his companions from the Narváez expedition landed at what is now Follet's Island. The southwestern tip of the island is occupied by the city of Surfside Beach, Texas.

Christmas Bay is a small bay located on the Texas Gulf Coast in Brazoria County, Texas, immediately southwest of West Bay, near the Galveston Bay system's southwest corner. It is a minor estuary, one of a series of estuaries along the Gulf Coast of Texas, and receives the discharge from Bastrop Bayou, along with the adjacent coastal watershed. The bay is separated from the Gulf of Mexico by Follet's Island and connects with it through San Luis Pass and Cold Pass. Its minor extensions are Bastrop Bay to the north and Drum Bay to the southwest. The nearest city is Freeport, about 10 miles (16 km) to the southwest at the mouth of the Brazos River. The bay has a surface area of 4,173 acres (1,689 ha) and features high water quality, vast oyster reefs, and surrounding salt marsh habitat. The area has not been significantly impacted by human activities. Much of its shoreline is protected within the Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge.

Bastrop Bayou is a river in Texas in Brazoria County.

USS Granite City was a Confederate blockade runner steamer captured in March 1863 by the Union Navy during the American Civil War. She was armed with cannon and by August 1863 was in service as a gunboat in support of the Navy blockade of Confederate waters. She was recaptured in January 1864 by Confederate forces, again became a blockade runner, and ultimately was abandoned as a wreck after running aground.

Cedar Lake is a lake in Brazoria County, Texas, United States. It is shaped like a teardrop, and is under one mile in diameter. It is fed by Cedar Lake Creek and the San Bernard River, draining into the Gulf of Mexico. In 1949, the completed Gulf Intracoastal Waterway became another tributary.

The Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge is a 44,414-acre (179.74 km2) wildlife conservation area along the coast of Texas (USA), east of the towns of Angleton and Lake Jackson, Texas. It borders Christmas Bay and the Intracoastal Waterway, separated from the Gulf of Mexico by Follet's Island. Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge was established in 1969 and provides quality habitat for wintering migratory waterfowl and other bird life. The refuge contains a freshwater slough which winds through salt marshes.In winter, more than 100,000 snow geese, Canada geese, pintail, northern shoveler, teal, gadwall, American wigeon, mottled ducks, and sandhill cranes fill the numerous ponds and sloughs to capacity.In summer, birds which nest on the refuge include 10 species of herons and egrets, white ibis, roseate spoonbill, mottled duck, white-tailed kite, clapper rail, horned lark, seaside sparrow, black skimmer, and scissor-tailed flycatcher.Three national wildlife refuges on the Texas coast - Brazoria, San Bernard and Big Boggy - form a vital complex of coastal wetlands harboring more than 300 bird species.

Austin Bayou is a small waterway in Brazoria County, in the U.S. state of Texas. The bayou is named for Stephen F. Austin, the founder of Texas.

Jamaica Beach is a city in Galveston County, Texas, United States on Galveston Island. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 1,078. The city is bordered by Galveston to the east and west, the east bay on the north, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south.

Amsterdam is an unincorporated community in Brazoria County, Texas, United States. Amsterdam is on Chocolate Bayou, 10 mi (16 km) east of Angleton in east central Brazoria County.

Galveston Island State Park is a Texas state park located on western Galveston Island in Galveston County, on the western Gulf Coast in Texas.

Surfside Beach, also known locally as Surfside, is a city in Brazoria County, Texas, United States, that is situated on Follet's Island by the Gulf of Mexico near the city of Freeport. The population was 482 at the 2010 census. The city has claimed the "Cradle of Texas Liberty" title due to the fact that the Treaty of Velasco which ended hostilities between Texas and Mexico was signed at Fort Velasco, which was located near the city's current City Hall.Former Congressman Ron Paul maintains a home in Surfside.