Free State of Galveston as well as the nearby city of Brazoria. The opening of the Houston Ship Channel in 1915 further challenged the port city. Houston and Texas City, as well as other ports, rapidly overtook Galveston as leading ports and commercial centers; by 1930 map makers were showing Houston as the major city on the Texas coast, instead of Galveston. Cotton shipping, which Galveston had thoroughly dominated on a worldwide level, began migrating to other ports in Texas and on the West Coast. As Galveston's traditional economy declined, Texas' oil boom began in 1901, with oil wells and refineries constructed throughout the
Port of Galveston immigration United States population. The quarantine center was based on the example set by Ellis Island, however, was not as large or efficient as the station in New York. Although known as “The Ellis Island of the West”, Galveston did not have as many immigrants enter the United States through this port as there had been through Ellis Island. At a time, Galveston was one of the largest immigration stations in the west. "Between 1906 and 1914 nearly 50,000 immigrants arrived at Galveston, including Bohemians, Moravians, Galicians, Australians, Romanians, Swiss, English, Poles Italians, Dutch, and some 10,000 Jews." Many immigrants entered