DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, in my own words. Galveston. A city that has always had one foot in the Gulf and one foot in the wider world.
For thousands of immigrants making their way into Texas and the American Southwest, this was the door — and what a door it was. But like most things worth talking about, the story of how that door worked is a little more complicated than it first appears. Federal laws passed in 1875 ended the days of unrestricted entry into the country, and that change had real consequences for real people standing on real docks.
It led to the establishment of the area's very first U.S. Immigration Station, right there at Galveston's Pier 29. That's where U.S.
Customs officials went to work — medical exams, baggage inspections, formal processing. If you were found to be diseased or incapacitated, you weren't setting foot in Texas. You were facing deportation.
The ocean you'd just crossed would take you back. Now, thirty-one years later — 1906 — the U.S. Congress made a decision.
They chose Galveston over New Orleans as the site of a major new federal immigration station. And the plans they drew up were ambitious. They envisioned an impressive immigrant landing station out on Pelican Island, something comparable to New York's Ellis Island facility.
Comparable to Ellis Island. Let that sit with you for a moment. Those plans were never fully realized.
What got built was a scaled-down version, and it didn't open for business until 1913. It had barely found its footing when hurricane winds damaged it in 1915. It closed the following year, 1916.
So the immigration offices picked up and moved — relocated to a building on Galveston's 21st Street. But the story wasn't over yet. Not by a long stretch.
In 1933, a brand-new three-story immigration station was completed at 1700 Strand Avenue. Three stories. Immigration offices, dormitories, medical facilities, a kitchen, dining areas, recreational areas.
The whole operation under one roof. It served as an immigration and deportee-staging facility for the better part of a decade, until about 1940 — when it was converted for use as a U.S. Customs Office.
Thousands of lives passed through the stations that stood on this ground. Some were welcomed in. Some were turned away.
And that three-story building on Strand Avenue, built to receive the world, eventually became something else entirely. That's Galveston for you — always in the middle of the current, always changing what it does with the tide.
What the marker says
Galveston was the port of entry for thousands of immigrants who settled in Texas and the southwest. Federal laws enacted in 1875 ended the unrestricted entry of immigrants into the country and led to the establishment of the area's first U. S. Immigration Station at Galveston's Pier 29. There U. S. Customs officials conducted medical exams, baggage inspections and formal processing of immigrants; those found to be diseased or incapacitated faced deportation. The U. S. Congress chose Galveston over New Orleans as the site of a major new Federal immigration station in 1906. Plans to build an impressive immigrant landing station on Pelican Island comparable to New York's Ellis Island facility were never fully realized. The scaled-down station, fully operational by 1913, was damaged by hurricane winds in 1915 and closed in 1916. The immigration offices were subsequently relocated to a building on Galveston's 21st Street. A new 3-story immigration station containing immigration offices, dormitories, medical facilities, a kitchen, and dining and recreational areas was completed here at 1700 Strand Avenue in 1933. It was used as an immigration and deportee-staging facility until about 1940 when it was converted for use as a U. S. Customs Office.