Free State of Galveston made these businesses increasingly difficult to sustain. By the end of the 1950s, this era of Galveston's history had ended. The island of Galveston, which lies on the Gulf of Mexico, held one of the first major settlements in the eastern part of what is now Texas. During the mid-to-late-19th century, it became the largest city in the state. Galveston was also an important national commercial center and one of the busiest seaports in the United States, as the Port of Galveston was able to capitalize on Texas' rapid rise in the cotton trade. Its downtown was known as the
Free State of Galveston nephew of Sam and Rose, claimed that most of the equipment was shipped to Las Vegas before authorities ever discovered it. As the vice industries crashed, so did tourism, and the rest of the Galveston economy declined with it. The economy stagnated during the 1950s, and after 1957 the "Free State" was effectively gone. Fort Crockett, which had been used as an Army recreation center following the war, was shut down in 1955. Many of the island's most important entertainment business leaders left the city and set up shop in Las Vegas. Neither the economy nor the culture of the