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Twin
Snowy Egrets at Smith Oaks Rookery, High Island
Photo courtesy Rodger Whatley, April
18, 2006 |
History in
a Pecan Shell
Appropriately named,
High Island's altitude of 38-feet makes it the highest point on the
Gulf Coast between Mobile, Alabama, and Campeche, Mexico. The name
is credited to Anson
Jones who referred to the area as "the High Islands" in 1845.
Jean Lafitte's cabin
boy retired there in the 1870s. His house was restored in the 1970s
and he's buried nearby. Naturally, there are rumors of a buried treasure.
The first Anglo settler moved to High Island in 1845. The area didn't
gather a population - except when storms hit the coast. A post office
wasn't opened until 1897. In the 1890s the the mineral springs were
purchased and promoted. The business, which thrived in the late 1890s,
was destroyed in the 1900
storm.
An initial search for oil after the Spindletop
discovery proved fruitless, but it was finally discovered in the 1930s
- providing an economic boost to the region. |
Bird
Sanctuaries
Today,
touism drives the High Island economy with two bird sanctuaries
as well as a fishing pier.
Book Hotel Here
› Galveston
Hotels
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High
Island Related Stories
Bolivar
Peninsula: Scene of Slaving, Smuggling, Filibustering and Farms
by By W. T. Block
("Cannonball Tales" Column)
Very few areas of Texas can claim a longer time span of written
history than can that thirty-mile sliver of sand known as Bolivar
Peninsula...
The
Longest Train Ride by C. F. Eckhardt
"Train #1 of the Gulf & Interstate Railroad, left Beaumont, Texas,
at 7:00 AM on September 8, 1900, to make the run to Port Bolivar,
about 85 miles away by modern highway... G&I #1 was on High Island,
within 11 miles of Port Bolivar, when the storm surge came in. When
it receded Engine #4 and her tender were buried to the domes in
sand, the baggage car had been rolled and tumbled 500 feet across
the flats, and the head-end revenue and passenger cars were scattered
from Hell to breakfast across the salt marsh. Thirty miles of track
had been swept away...
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High Island,
Texas Forum
Subject: Image
from High Island TX
I live in Webster TX. I am a Wildlife/Nature photographer . I took
these Twin Snowy Egret's (approx. 5 weeks old) at Smith Oaks Rookery,
High Island TX. It's a Wonderful place to share Nature/Wildlife. -
Rodger Whatley, April 18, 2006
Book Hotel Here › Galveston
Hotels |
Galveston
County 1907 postal map showing High Island
From Texas state map #2090
Courtesy
Texas General Land Office |
| Texas
Escapes, in its purpose to preserve historic, endangered and vanishing
Texas, asks that anyone wishing to share their local history, stories,
landmarks and vintage/historic photos, please contact
us. |
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