Seawall Boulevard is a major road in

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galves ...

in the United States. The boulevard is conterminous with

Farm to Market Road 3005 A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used f ...

south of 61st Street. It runs along the Gulf coast waterfront of the island near the main parts of the city. It is named for the

Galveston Seawall The Galveston Seawall is a seawall in Galveston, Texas, that was built after the Galveston hurricane of 1900 for protection from future hurricanes. Construction began in September 1902, and the initial segment was completed on July 29, 1904. From ...

built along the beaches. Seawall Boulevard is home to several hotels and entertainment venues including the famous

Hotel Galvez The Grand Galvez Resort & Spa is a historic 226-room resort hotel located in Galveston, Texas, United States that opened in 1911 as the Hotel Galvez. It was named to honor Bernardo de Gálvez, 1st Viscount of Galveston, for whom the city was name ...

. In 2011 a voter referendum which passed by the Seawall Enhancement Campaign led to a creation of a parking management district where motorists who park on Seawall Boulevard would pay up to $8 per day or $25 annually where revenue from paid parking is used for Seawall enhancements. Paid parking is waived on the Fourth of July, Mardi Gras, and the Lone Star Rally but due to the budget shortfall of the first six months of the Seawall Enhancement Campaign parking revenues are still collected despite the provisions stated during the 2011 election. A sunset clause which was part of the 2011 referendum eliminates paid parking after 7 years of service. Paid seawall parking was phased in since July 11, 2013 which is slated to expire July 11, 2020 where a continuation of the Seawall Enhancement Campaign after the 7-year contract requires another voter referendum to be placed on the May 2020 voter ballot for the City of Galveston municipal elections. December 2016 marked the end of an era where 24 hour parking is a thing of the past - the Galveston City Council approved a 3-5 a.m. curfew where some beachgoers have monopolized parking spaces on both sides of the Seawall from Broadway to 101st Street with the exception of the designated areas around the 61st and 94th Street Pier used by fishermen.

Open Era

During Galveston's ''

Open Era The racket sport traditionally named lawn tennis, invented in Birmingham, England now commonly known simply as tennis, is the direct descendant of what is now denoted real tennis or royal tennis, which continues to be played today as a separate sp ...

'' the road became quite famous as a lavish, nationally known tourist venue and casino district featuring elegant hotels and clubs. The boulevard's prominence began with the construction of the club and casino Maceo's Grotto (later called the

Balinese Room The Balinese Room was a famous nightclub in Galveston, Texas, United States built on a pier stretching 600 feet (183 m) from the Galveston Seawall over the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. For decades a dance hall and illegal casino, the Ba ...

) in 1929. Other famous locations on this road included Murdoch's Bath House, the Buccaneer Hotel, the Pleasure Pier, and the Mountain Speedway roller coaster. Bath Houses and Boulevard, Galveston, Texas

Bath Houses and Boulevard, Galveston, Texas

The boulevard became the focal point for tourism events such as the International Pageant of Pulchritude of the 1920s, the first international

beauty contest A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

. The event would be held on the beach in front of the seawall attracting tourists from around the nation and media attention from around the world. Other events along the boulevard included the spectacular Mardi Gras parade and celebration. This era of prosperity declined during the 1940s and ended in the 1950s with the closing of the casinos by the Texas Rangers.

Open Era

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Further reading