| | | | | | Government Information about Galveston - Crystal Beach area | | | |
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Galveston Island
 “Welcome to our splendid island. Just minutes from Houston, Galveston is Texas’ most beautiful, entertaining and historic island. Come enjoy 32 miles of sun-drenched beaches, temperate weather year round, blocks and blocks of Victorian architecture, countless exciting attractions, fantastic festivals, shopping on Galveston’s Historic Downtown Strand District and much more!”
Port Bolivar and Crystal Beach Chamber of Commerce
Clear lake Chamber of Commerce
Texas City Chamber of Commerce City of Texas City
Galveston Area Central Appraisal District
The Central Appraisal District's basic responsibility is to locate, list, and appraise property in the district for property tax purposes.
Galveston Independent School District
Galveston County Community Plan
The Community Plan is a discussion of a wide range of issues affecting Galveston County’s population. It includes data highlighting critical problems our communities face, and describes how public and private agencies are working together to address these problems. www.co.galveston.tx.us/Public_Information/whatisplan.htm | | | | | | | | |
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| | | | | | Lifestyle Information for the Galveston - Crystal Beach area | | | |
| | | | The City of Galveston is located on the upper Texas coast of the Gulf of Mexico on a 32 mile long island located two miles off the Texas mainland. Since 1839 Galveston served as Texas principal port and gateway to the Southwest and is still serving as such today. Strand Historic District with countless shops, galleries, restaurants, museums, and historic attractions is the main attraction in Galveston. From its sandy beaches to its historical Victorian architecture, Galveston Island is one of the most delightful destinations along the Texas Gulf Coast. Only 50 miles from Houston, Galveston offers visitors historic landmarks, museums, shopping, fishing, Moody Gardens, an old fashioned trolley and the Galveston Strand a range of outdoor activities to enjoy. Webcams
 With semitropical Island weather, visitors can enjoy casual strolling on the 13-mile Seawall or shopping along the Strand National Historic Landmark District which is comprised of 36 square blocks and a wide variety of shops, antique stores, restaurants and art galleries. Pier 21, off Harborside Drive, offers shops, portside restaurants and a maritime gallery. Three blocks from the Strand is the newly revitalized Postoffice Street Arts & Entertainment District which is home to various art galleries and shops.
Historic homes, museums and attractions are abundant on the Island, many within walking distance of each other. Galveston offers 13 historic homes and museums. All of the historic homes predate The 1900 Storm, which took the lives of 6,000 people. A multi-image documentary on the hurricane titled, "The Great Storm," is shown daily at Pier 21. Historic home fans should also tour through the East End Historic District, a designated historic district full of beautifully restored homes and mansions.
The most popular attraction, other than the beach, is Moody Gardens, which features an Aquarium Pyramid, Rainforest Pyramid, Discovery Museum Pyramid, IMAX Ridefilm Theater, a 3D IMAX Theater, and Palm Beach. Nearby is the Lone Star Flight Museum, home of the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame housing one of the finest collections of restored aircraft and aviation exhibits in the nation. Other one-of-a-kind museums include the Ocean Star Offshore Drilling Rig & Museum and the Texas Seaport Museum & 1877 Tall Ship Elissa.
Port Bolivar is a community at the western tip of the Bolivar Peninsula, a short ferry ride across the body of water known as Bolivar Roads from Galveston Island. Toll-free ferries are operated by the Texas transportation system every 20 minutes between Galveston and Port Bolivar.
Crystal Beach stretches about seven miles along Texas 87 just north of Port Bolivar. It's the largest residential and commercial community on the peninsula. Main industry is shrimping and oystering, and tourism. Summer visitors swell population where miles of sandy beaches offer many recreational activities. The fields, bushes, trees and marshes are alive with colorful and rare species.
Crystal Beach is a family oriented beach community on Gulf Coast of Texas, 45 miles south of Houston. Situated on the Bolivar Peninsula of Texas, between Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is accessed by ferry from Galveston Island.
Most popular as a resort destination in the summer, the mild gulf climate makes it comfortable all year round. Crystal Beach and neighboring towns offer all the vacation amenities one needs. Fresh seafood abounds, that you can cook at home or enjoy in one of the many restaurants. And should you tire of the beach, the golf course is excellent.
Bolivar Peninsula
(click here or on map for live aerial mapping, satellite and directions)
 The Bolivar Peninsular, of which Crystal Beach is a part, is 27 miles long, with beach access, marshes, mud flats and a variety of sea and bird life readily accessible.
Bolivar Peninsula, named for Simón Bolívar (1783-1830), the South American hero, is a "barrier island" stretching twenty-seven miles along the Texas Gulf Coast in a northeasterly direction to form eastern Galveston County.
At its widest point between Crystal Beach and Caplen, the peninsula is three miles wide. At its narrowest point—where Rollover Passqv divides the community of Gilchrist—the peninsula is a quarter of a mile wide.
Water separates the peninsula from Galveston Island by a distance of less than three miles. The sheltered Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, which extends the length of the peninsula on the north side, is used primarily for transporting freight; at Bolivar Roads, it forms a water passageway that serves as the marine entrance from the Gulf of Mexico to Galveston Bay.
The Bolivar portion of the waterway belongs to the Galveston District and is maintained by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. Bolivar Peninsula is accessible by land from the Texas mainland only through southern Chambers County.
Towns on the peninsula, in addition to Crystal Beach (the only incorporated community), Caplen, and Gilchrist, include Port Bolivar and High Island; independent school districts serving the peninsula include Galveston and High Island.
Toll-free ferries are operated by the Texas transportation system every 20 minutes between Galveston and Port Bolivar.
Galveston Island to Port Bolivar
The Galveston-Port Bolivar ferry is the bridge between two segments of State Highway 87. South of IH-10, State Highway 87 s the only highway around Galveston Bay. The free ferry service provided by TxDOT is the only way motorists can cross the waterway between Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston Island.
The ferry service is critical to the residents of Bolivar Peninsula when a hurricane threatens. The ferries are the primary means of evacuation through Galveston to the causeway and the mainland. Ferries continue crossing the channel until high winds and tides make their mission unsafe. The boats are then secured in their moorings at the Galveston landing facility.
The 2.7 mile trip takes approximately 18 minutes to cross one of the busiest waterways in the world. Through the Bolivar Roads Channel flows the commerce of the Port of Houston, the nations largest inland port, as well as other Galveston and Trinity Bay communities. Approximately 7,000 ships visit the Port of Houston each year.
The ferry operation consists of five boats, each of which can carry approximately 70 vehicles, 500 passengers and six crewmembers. Each ferry is capable of carrying eight 18-wheel trucks weighing 80,000 pounds each. All of the boats are double-ended with a pilothouse on each end, and the Captain changes from one pilothouse to the other to go in the opposite direction
Alternate Route to avoid the Ferry thru Baytown and Winnie:
Take IH 10 east thru Baytown and to Winnie, Texas. At Winnie, turn south on Hwy 124. Head south on 124 to the beach. Turn right, (going west) for about 14 miles thru Gilchrist to Crystal Beach. You will be entering Crystal Beach at Singing Sands subdivision and on the right of the highway is the new water storage tank.
Galveston Bay
Galveston Bay is part of Harris, Galveston, and Chambers counties. It is the largest estuary on the Texas coast and the seventh largest in the United States.
It has a mud bottom and about 600 square miles of surface. Fresh water from the Trinity and the San Jacinto rivers mixes with the tidal salt water from the Gulf of Mexico through the channel between Galveston Island and the Bolivar Peninsula (Bolivar Roads).During the 1980s the bay provided nursery and spawning grounds for 30 percent of the state's total fishing products.
The Houston Ship Channel passes through Bolivar Roads, Galveston Bay, the San Jacinto River, and Buffalo Bayou to the Port of Houston, which in terms of tonnage was the third largest United States port during the 1980s. At that time around 4,700 ships traversed Galveston Bay each year to and from its principal ports: Galveston, Texas City, and Houston.
Also in the 1980s, three-quarters of the Texas coastal population lived in the counties bordering Galveston Bay, and 29 percent of all marinas on the Texas coast were on the bay.
Texas City and La Marque are part of the Mainland Texas Gulf Coast area cradled by the warm Texas sunshine and soft gulf shore breezes. With it's great weather, prime location to the gulf and bay, convenient location between Galveston Island and Houston.
The Bay Area Houston is comprised of several independent cities, including the most southeastern portion of Houston. Clear Lake City, the residential development surrounding Johnson Space Center, was annexed by the City of Houston in 1978. Five additional communities are clustered around Clear Lake and Galveston Bay: Webster, Nassau Bay, League City, Kemah and Seabrook.
Located midway between Houston and the beaches of Galveston, Texas, the Bay Area Houston is an ideal vacation spot. Big city excitement and island beaches are each just 30 minutes away from the area. Boating activities and water recreation provide hours of fun and relaxation in the presence of the water's natural beauty. Surrounded by water, the land is fertile and offers lush foliage including many evergreen trees and plants. |
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| | | | | | Pictures of Galveston - Crystal Beach area | | | |
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| | | | | | Community Information of Galveston - Crystal Beach area | | | |
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As of 2005, Galveston's population is 57,355 people. The median home cost in Galveston is $105,600. Home appreciation the last year has been up 4.38 percent.
Compared to the rest of the country, Galveston's cost of living is 18.00 % lower than the U.S. average. Galveston public schools spend $5,893 per student. The average school expenditure in the U.S. is $6,058. There are about 15 students per teacher in Galveston
Galveston Island to Port Bolivar
The Galveston-Port Bolivar ferry is the bridge between two segments of State Highway 87. South of IH-10, State Highway 87 s the only highway around Galveston Bay. The free ferry service provided by TxDOT is the only way motorists can cross the waterway between Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston Island.
 The ferry service is critical to the residents of Bolivar Peninsula when a hurricane threatens. The ferries are the primary means of evacuation through Galveston to the causeway and the mainland. Ferries continue crossing the channel until high winds and tides make their mission unsafe. The boats are then secured in their moorings at the Galveston landing facility.
The 2.7 mile trip takes approximately 18 minutes to cross one of the busiest waterways in the world. Through the Bolivar Roads Channel flows the commerce of the Port of Houston, the nations largest inland port, as well as other Galveston and Trinity Bay communities. Approximately 7,000 ships visit the Port of Houston each year.
The ferry operation consists of five boats, each of which can carry approximately 70 vehicles, 500 passengers and six crewmembers. Each ferry is capable of carrying eight 18-wheel trucks weighing 80,000 pounds each. All of the boats are double-ended with a pilothouse on each end, and the Captain changes from one pilothouse to the other to go in the opposite direction
Alternate Route to avoid the Ferry thru Baytown and Winnie
Take IH 10 east thru Baytown and to Winnie, Texas. At Winnie, turn south on Hwy 124. Head south on 124 to the beach. Turn right, (going west) for about 14 miles thru Gilchrist to Crystal Beach. You will be entering Crystal Beach at Singing Sands subdivision and on the right of the highway is the new water storage tank.
 Go Local Texas Gulf Coast, is a joint consumer health website project between the Jesse H. Jones Community Health Information Service of the Houston Academy of Medicine-Texas Medical Center Library and the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Moody Medical Library in partnership with the National Libary of Medicine. By using this resource you will be able to:
- Find up-to-date information about local health resources for 38 counties in the Texas Gulf Coast region, and
- By linking to MedlinePlus, find reliable health information about a number of diseases and conditions.
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| | | | | | Attractions in Galveston - Cyrstal Beach Area | | | |
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| | | | | | Demographics for the Galveston Area | | | |
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| GALVESTON | NATIONAL AVERAGE
| | Population of Galveston
Median Age
Median Household Income
Percentage of Single Households
Percentage of Married Households
Percentage of Households with Children
Average Household Size
Percentage College or Better
Percentage White Collar | 32700
36.7 Years
$25155
57%
43%
12.7%
2.36 People
21.4%
49.2% | 11535
37.47 Years
$42350.95
41.53%
58.46%
24.32%
2.57 People
20.14%
47.14% |
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| | | Cost of Living Index
Average Yearly Utility Cost
Avg. Household Consumer Expenditures
Avg. Household Education Expenditures
Avg. Household Entertainment Expenditures
Avg. Household Transportation Expenditures
Avg. Household Retail Expenditures
Avg. Household Non-retail Expenditures | 79
2606
$32934 Year
$335 Year
$1624 Year
$1131 Year
$15105 Year
$17829 Year | 99.52
3196.27
$41075.28 Year
$450.93 Year
$2207.08 Year
$1563.85 Year
$18600.46 Year
$22474.81 Year | 
| | | Average Winter High Temperature
Average Winter Low Temperature
Average Summer High Temperature
Average Summer Low Temperature
Average Annual Precipitation
Air Quality Index
Total Crime Index
Personal Crime Index
Culture Index | 54.9 Degrees
48 Degrees
88.3 Degrees
69 Degrees
43.9 Inches
20
7
7
107 | 41.29 Degrees
22.88 Degrees
86.56 Degrees
62.35 Degrees
38.69 Inches
44.59
3.60
3.43
93.65 |
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