History of Galveston, Texas Harbor and headed for Havana, becoming the final Confederate ship to slip through the blockade from any Southern port. In the late 1890s, the Fort Crockett defenses and coastal artillery batteries were constructed in Galveston and along the Bolivar Roads. Juneteenth, which is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States, owes its origins to the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation upon the return of Union forces to Galveston in 1865. Galveston was the first city in Texas to provide a secondary school and public library for African Americans. At the end of the
Port of Galveston opened at the port. This was the result of a public-private partnership that the port entered into with Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics Vehicle Services Americas. The new site has the capacity to import 32,500 cars per year, an inventory worth more than $1.3 billion. As of 2017, Galveston is the 4th-busiest cruise ship homeport in North America and one of the top 10 homeports in the world. Over the years, the port has welcomed ships from major cruise lines including Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Disney Cruise Lines, and Norwegian Cruise Lines. In 2017, three Carnival ships