Welcome to the Galveston Ghost website. We hope to share with you information about what we consider the most haunted city in Texas - and one of the most haunted cities in the United States. Galveston island has often been described as the cemetery with a beach attached. The small island on the south east Texas coast has survived plagues, great fires, war, and hurricanes.
Galveston Island is located about 50 miles outside of Houston, TX on the Gulf of Mexico coastline. Known primarily as a resort city and tourist destination, the island has been occupied since the early 1500's, first by the Kawakawa Indians. Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca and his crew were shipwrecked on the island in November of 1528 and referred to the island as "Isla de Malhado" or Isle of Doom. In 1785 another Spanish explorer named the island Gálvez-town in honor of Bernardo de Galvez y Madrid, Count of Galvez. Infamous New Orleans native and pirate Jean Lafitte organized Galveston into a pirate "kingdom" he called "Campeche." Lafitte claimed himself the head of the government or "pirate king" and resided on the island until 1821.
On September 8, 1900 the island was struck by a hurricane that to this day holds the record as the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history. The city was desolated and an estimated 6,000-8,000 were killed. 1/4 of the population was dead over night and most of the buildings on the city were leveled. To this day contractors digging on Galveston island still find shallow unmarked graves of storm victims. With so many bodies, so many dead, it was impossible to bury them all. First Galveston officials attempted a burial at sea, but bodies kept washing back up on shore, lastly they finally buried the bodies of storm victims, or allowed residents to bury the dead where and how they saw fit.
With all this death and history is it any wonder why almost every building on this small barrier island can report some kind of paranormal activity? Ghostly children playing in the aisles of the Sea Wall Walmart, a desperate nun slamming doors up and down the halls of the Galvez hotel searching for a lost child, wounded civil war soldiers wondering along the beach, even famous Pirate Jean Lafitte haunts trinity bay and frightens away treasure hunters trying to find his hidden gold. The strand district is the center of most of the hauntings. Many of the buildings are original to the city and date back to the late 1800s and early 1900s. Bodies of storm victims were brought to the Strand District cotton storage buildings after the 1900 storm, a slave market, public hanging scaffold, and more were all once located in the Strand District of modern day Galveston Island. If you want to learn more be sure to take one of our tours when you're on the island.
We hope you will enjoy exploring the website, reading the history of the island, and getting to know some of the paranormal hot spots. Next time your on the island be sure to keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. You never know when and where you might come in contact with the spirit of a dead civil war solider, a pirate, or a victim of yellow fever.
Have a questions? Want to report a haunting or share a story? Contact us by using the form to the right of the screen! We look forward to hearing from you!
