DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — and what a story it's got to tell. Picture the year 1910, and two men — G. C.
Perkins and W. Y. Fuqua — standing on the western shore of Galveston Bay with a partnership and a plan.
A decade after the devastating 1900 storm had torn through this county, prosperity was finding its way back, and these two landowners meant to meet it head-on. What they built was Clifton-by-the-Sea, a bayside resort for families, rising up along the rail line that ran between Galveston and Houston, one of several mainland communities that grew up along that same stretch of shore. Parklands.
A hotel. Summer homes. And out over the water, right at this very site, a bathhouse and an open-air pavilion standing on a pier.
By 1913, telephone service had reached Clifton-by-the-Sea, and the main street had a name befitting the ambition behind the whole enterprise — Grand Avenue. A long boulevard, if you please. Now, you might think the story just about writes itself from there — and it does, though not the way you'd hope.
The 1915 hurricane came through and destroyed many of those improvements. Many, but not all. And the community held on.
By 1924, the bathhouse and pavilion had been rebuilt, and summer residents were coming back to the water. Then a fire in 1929 destroyed the pavilion again. They built it once more — because that is apparently just what folks around here did.
And that third pavilion hosted summer dances with music brought in from Houston and Galveston orchestras, the kind of evenings that make a place feel like it matters. Then a 1943 hurricane destroyed the bathhouse and pavilion for the final time. Final.
That word does some heavy lifting. After World War II, this stretch of shore took on a different kind of life — workers in the nearby petrochemical plants made this their home, and the Bayshore Community Club stepped up to sponsor civic projects as the community changed around them. In 1948, a post office was established, and the name adopted was Bacliff.
But here's what the marker wants you to carry with you: those origins as Clifton-by-the-Sea remain a strong part of its heritage. Storms took the pier. Fire took the pavilion — twice.
The name itself eventually changed. But the story of what was built here, and rebuilt, and built again, well — that one's still standing.
What the marker says
Established in 1910 through the partnership of area landowners G. C. Perkins and W. Y. Fuqua, Clifton-by-the-Sea is a reminder of the era in which prosperity returned to Galveston County following the devastating 1900 storm. Developed as a bayside resort for families, Clifton-by-the-Sea was one of several mainland communities between Galveston and Houston that grew up along the rail line that paralleled the western shore of Galveston Bay. The resort featured parklands, a hotel, summer homes, and a bathhouse and open-air pavilion built on a pier out over the water at this site. By 1913, telephone service extended to Clifton-by-the-Sea, and the main street was a long boulevard known as Grand Avenue. The 1915 hurricane destroyed many of these improvements, but by 1924 the bathhouse and pavilion were rebuilt and summer residents were returning to the community. The pavilion -- built once again after a 1929 fire destroyed it -- hosted numerous summer dances with music provided by Houston and Galveston orchestras. A 1943 hurricane destroyed the bathhouse and pavilion for the final time. After World War II, this area became home for workers in the nearby petrochemical plants. The Bayshore Community Club sponsored a variety of civic projects as the face of the community changed. When a post office was established in 1948, the name Bacliff was adopted, but its origins as Clifton-by-the-Sea remain a strong part of its heritage. (2001)