Point Bolivar Light

For other uses, see Bolívar (disambiguation) Bolivar Roads is a natural navigable strait fringed by Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston Island emerging as a landform on the Texas Gulf Coast. The natural waterway inlet has a depth of 45 feet (14 m) with an island to peninsula shoreline width of 1.5 miles (2.4 km). The ship canal approach is defined by two jetties extending into the Gulf of Mexico with distances of 4.5 miles (7.2 km) from the Bolivar Peninsula and 2.25 miles (3.62 km) from Galveston Island. The jetty harbor entrance originated in the 1890s as a preventative structure to inhibit the coastal sediment transport progressions by means of deviations with the continental margin and the Gulf Stream ocean current. The Bolivar Roads channel tailors a nautical navigation gateway for Galveston Bay, Houston Ship Channel, Port of Galveston, and West Bay.

The Battle of Galveston was a naval and land battle of the American Civil War, when Confederate forces under Major Gen. John B. Magruder expelled occupying Union troops from the city of Galveston, Texas on January 1, 1863. After the loss of the cutter Harriet Lane, the Union Fleet Commander William B. Renshaw blew up the stranded vessel USS Westfield to save it from falling into enemy hands. Union troops on shore thought the fleet was surrendering, and laid down their arms. The battle is sometimes called the Second Battle of Galveston, as the Battle of Galveston Harbor (October 1862) is sometimes called the First Battle of Galveston.

The Battle of Galveston Harbor was fought at Galveston, Texas on October 4, 1862, during the American Civil War. After attempts to blockade the Texas coastline were unsuccessful, the Union Navy decided to attempt to capture the port of Galveston. While Galveston was defended by Confederate forces, most of the cannons in the city's defenses were removed, as Galveston was thought to be indefensible. On October 4, five Union naval vessels commanded by Commander William B. Renshaw approached Galveston, and a single ship, USRC Harriet Lane was sent into Galveston Bay under a flag of truce. The Confederates, commanded by Colonel Joseph J. Cook, could not get a boat to Harriet Lane in a timely manner, and the Union ship left the bay. The Confederate boat headed for the Union fleet, which moved towards the bay under flags of truce to meet it. Misunderstandings led to artillery fire, although a four-day truce was eventually made. The terms of the truce were unclear, and the Confederates used the truce to evacuate the city, which was initially objected to by Renshaw. At the expiration of the truce, Union troops landed in Galveston and raised the United States flag over the city. The Confederates recaptured Galveston on January 1, 1863, in the Battle of Galveston. The battlefield has lost historical integrity due to development and changes in the shoreline.

SS Selma was an oil tanker built in 1919 by F.F. Ley and Company, Mobile, Alabama. President Woodrow Wilson approved the construction of 24 concrete vessels of which only 12 were actually completed. SS Selma is the only permanent, and prominent, wreck along the Houston Ship Channel. It lies approximately one mile north of Galveston Island.

Fort Point Light was a lighthouse located on the south side of the entrance to Galveston Bay in Texas.

USS Cavalla (SS/SSK/AGSS-244), a Gato-class submarine, is a submarine of the United States Navy named for a salt water fish, best known for sinking the Japanese aircraft carrier Shōkaku. Her keel was laid down on 4 March 1943 by Electric Boat Co., Groton, Connecticut. She was launched on 14 November 1943 (sponsored by Mrs. M. Comstock), and commissioned on 29 February 1944, Lieutenant Commander (later Rear Admiral) Herman J. Kossler, USN, (class of 1934) in command.

USS Stewart (DE–238) is an Edsall-class destroyer escort, the third United States Navy ship so named. This ship was named for Rear Admiral Charles Stewart (28 July 1778 – 6 November 1869), who commanded USS Constitution during the War of 1812. Stewart is one of only two preserved destroyer escorts in the U.S. and is the only Edsall-class vessel to be preserved. She is on display in Galveston, Texas as a museum ship and is open to the public.

USS Tautog (SSN-639), a Sturgeon-class attack submarine, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the tautog (Tautoga onitis), a wrasse commonly found along the Northern Atlantic coast. The submarine was in service from 17 August 1968 to 31 March 1997.

Pink Dolphin Monument is a public monument in R.A. Apffel Park/East Beach on Galveston Island, Texas. Inaugurated on July 25, 2014, the monument is dedicated to celebrating gender and sexual minority communities. It is the first monument dedicated to gender and sexual minorities in the southern United States.

Pelican Island is an island located in Galveston County, Texas. It is part of the city of Galveston and is linked to Galveston Island by the Pelican Island causeway. The island is home to the Texas A&M University at Galveston as well as two museum ships—the destroyer escort USS Stewart (DE-238) and the submarine USS Cavalla (SS-244)—and Seawolf Park. Seawolf Parkway is the only street that runs across the island. In 1965, Galveston businessman George Mitchell purchased a large parcel of land on Pelican Island and donated some of it for the permanent home of Texas A&M University at Galveston. The Intracoastal Waterway borders it to the north, separating Pelican Island from another island.