Galena Park

Galena Park is in a highly industrialized area near the Houston Ship Channel in eastern Harris County. The site was settled by Ezekiel Thomas, who received it as part of a grant from the Mexican government and moved there with his family in 1824. When Thomas died in 1835 the land was sold to Isaac Batterson, who built a small settlement on Buffalo Bayou and named it Clinton. During its early years Clinton was a farming and ranching community, but the development of the port of Houston after 1876 changed the character of the settlement. Clinton resident Charles Morgan, owner of the Morgan Steam Ship Company, dredged Buffalo Bayou and excavated a canal opposite Morgan's Point to open a channel for the port. He also built a cotton compress and constructed a railroad from the main line in Houston to a location opposite Buffalo and Sims bayous. Clinton continued to be the terminus for much of the bayou shipping until a turning basin was constructed in later years. By the early 1880s cotton warehouses and compresses were located along the bayou and railroad, and Clinton prospered in its new role as a railroad and shipping center.

Adapted from the official Handbook of Texas, a state encyclopedia developed by the Texas State Historical Association (TSHA). It is an authoritative source of trusted historical records.