Pleasure Pier & Galveston's Playground Past

Long before it was famous for its mansions, Galveston was Texas's playground — the place where the whole state came to swim, sun, and ride the boardwalk. Once the seawall went up after 1900, the seafront turned into an entertainment strip of bathhouses, ballrooms, bandstands, and a great pier crowded with rides jutting out over the Gulf. This easy walk along the seawall traces that century of seaside fun: the site of the old Murdoch's bathhouse where generations rented swimsuits and changing rooms, the towering Pleasure Pier with its Ferris wheel spinning above the waves, and the grand old beachfront hotel that has watched the parade of tourists roll by since 1911. Bring your walking shoes and a sense of play — this is the sunny, saltwater side of Galveston's story, the one that put a smile on the face of the whole coast.