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The Texas Gulf Coast
624 miles of coastline on the Gulf of Mexico is dotted with islands, beaches, fishing piers, boat docks, natural preserves, oil rigs and seaports. Over 600 historic shipwrecks are also located in the tidewater coastline. Fishing, shellfishing and shrimping are major industries along the Gulf coast. Major islands of the Gulf coast include Galveston, Matagorda, Mustang, Padre and St. Joseph.
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South Padre Island
This is the tip of Texas and the Lone Star State's only true tropical isle. South Padre Island is a coastal resort town on the Gulf of Mexico with five miles of seashore fun, shopping, dining and water activities. South Padre Island, bordered by the Laguna Madre bay, is also ecologically significant with 34 miles of sand dunes, water birds, shrimp, and the best deep-sea fishing in Texas.
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We are only 30 minutes from Old Mexico now. Whatcha" say? Wanna'go? Maybe not this trip.
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Deep Sea Fishing
Fishing all along the coast abounds. Whether you fish along the jettys or take an adventursome charter boat trip you are almost sure to catch your limit.
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Surfing
The surf is up a lot on the Texas coast. Come on in folks!
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Just one of the impacts Texas makes on the world economy is offshore drilling. Due to strict ecology regulations water lovers and sealife exist well together.
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Shrimping
The next time you pop a shrimp into your mouth it probably came from the Texas coast.
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Houston
Houston is the fourth largest city in the nation. With nearly two million City residents and 4.5 million in the metropolitan region, Houstonians will attest that Houston is a fun place to call home. Each year more than 38 million people zip in and out of Houston's two major airports.
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An "Eyecatcher"
"A statue as big as his legend, a 67-foot replica of the statesman and first President of the Republic of Texas on a 10-foot granite base. Texas-size Sam is the world's tallest statue of an American hero located on I-45 between Dallas and Houston in Huntsville, Texas.
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Spindletop
Where our oil industry all started.
In 1889 Pattillo Higgins, a young Beaumont man, became interested in the possibility that Spindletop Hill covered a vast pool of oil. Higgins was a self-taught geologist and from his extensive studies and observation of surface indications, he concluded that an abundance of cheap fuel was available at Spindletop.
Beaumont businessman Captain George Washington O'Brien had known of the possibility of producing oil from Spindletop Hill as early as 1865 and had acquired over one thousand acres of the John Allen Veatch survey in 1888. Higgins interested his friend George W. Carroll in purchasing the other major portion of the Veatch survey. In 1892, the men decided to pool their interests and form the Gladys City Oil, Gas, and Manufacturing Company. It was one of the earliest oil companies incorporated in Texas.
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The U.S.S. Texas
The battleship U.S.S. TEXAS, saw service from 1914 to 1946, fighting in two world wars. It is docked in a slip on the Houston Ship Channel adjoining San Jacinto Battleground State Historical Park and open to visitors.
Let's beam our way from the southernmost part of Texas to the tip top. The Panhandle. Hang on. One click will get us there.
