From colonialism to cruise ships, Galveston has a long and tumultuous history. And in 1900, a single hurricane made sure that there would be lingering haunts to match.

Galveston Island was first settled by Europeans in 1816, though some scholars say that Spanish explorer Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca made a pit stop here in 1537 before traveling across the U.S. Southwest. Famous privateer Jean Lafitte soon settled on the island from Louisiana and used the island as a base for piracy and slave smuggling, though he was forced to leave in 1821 by the U.S. Navy after he attacked an American ship. It changed hands several times during the Mexican Revolution, the Texas Revolution, and the American Civil War, but it remained a major port in the Gulf of Mexico.

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