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
Galveston, Texas Triumph" in the first half of 2016 with "Carnival Breeze" and "Carnival Liberty", respectively, but replaced "Liberty" with "Carnival Valor" later in the year due to mechanical issues. "Carnival Breeze" and "Carnival Freedom" sail seven-day Caribbean cruises, and "Carnival Valor" sails four- and five-day Caribbean cruises from Galveston. Carnival plans on replacing "Breeze" with "Carnival Vista" in 2018, and "Valor" with "Carnival Dream" in 2019. Galveston is the home port to Royal Caribbean International's, MS "Liberty of the Seas", which is the largest cruise ship ever based here and one of the largest ships in the world. In September 2012