Free State of Galveston An Anthology of Texas Crime Fiction" by Bill Davis, "et al". Galveston's Balinese Room was also the subject of a 1975 song by rock band ZZ Top. "Galveston, The Musical!" opened in 2003 at Galveston's Strand Theatre and in 2011 at The Hobby Center in Houston; the musical theater production centers on the arrival of the Maceo Brothers, who created their own empire that sustained Galveston during this period of the island's history. Free State of Galveston The Free State of Galveston (sometimes referred to as the Republic of Galveston Island) was a whimsical name given to the coastal city
Galveston Island would hold until nearly the end of the 19th century. Galveston for a time before the American Civil War was the largest cotton shipping port in the world and the second-largest port for immigration in the United States. In the mid-19th century, it was a major port of entry for the many Germans who entered the state. During the Civil War, the Union army seized control of the island from the South for a few months during early 1863. Confederate forces commanded by John B. Magruder expelled them from the island, and the Confederates controlled it for the remainder of