Free State of Galveston biggest names in the entertainment business, including Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Guy Lombardo, Jack Benny, Gene Autry, Phil Silvers, Jane Russell, George Burns, Duke Ellington, and Bob Hope. The Texas League, a baseball league, was founded in the 1800s, temporarily discontinued, and then restarted in the early 1900s evolving into a minor league. During the 1930s investors in Galveston, particularly Shearn Moody, established the Galveston Buccaneers baseball team, a successor to the former Galveston Pirates. The Buccaneers won the league championship in 1934 but the team was sold in 1937 after Moody's death. After the war, the new Gulf
Port of Galveston Galveston Wharf Company took control of the port in 1869. They built a grain elevator in 1875, leading Galveston to become a major grain exporter over the next few decades. By 1878, the port of Galveston was the nation's 3rd largest cotton exporter; they fell to 5th by 1882. Galveston's wealth and great esteem was due in large part to the port's activity. As other areas of the United States began to transition to a more industrial economy, Galveston was unable to compete. The port continued to primarily export agricultural goods. Local leaders often blamed the lack of industrial goods