History
This historical information was taken from the online resource of the Texas State History Museum, the The Handbook of Texas Online.
Bolivar Peninsula was named for Simón Bolívar, a Venezuela-born general and hero that lived from 1783-1830. He was known for his leadership in winning independence for Bolivia, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela that ultimately earned him the title "El Liberator" and the "George Washington of South America".
Bolivar peninsula has been the site of rich history, from indians, pirates and explorers to agricultural wealth and oil boom.
Indians and Pirates
Bolivar has been home to many lively characters over the centuries. It is thought that High Island is the likely site of the shipwreck of famous explorer, Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca on November 6, 1528. Indians, such as the Orcoquisas, Atakapas, and Karankawas occupied the island or roamed its prairies. A burial ground of the Orcoquisas is said to exist in Caplen where flint artifacts have been excavated. Legend also claims that the pirate Jean Laffite and his entire pirate crew, who lived in Galveston, sometimes held parties on Bolivar peninsula. Laffite's cabin boy, Charles Cronea, made his home and was buried on the peninsula.
Explorers and The Mother of Texas
In 1815, Warren Hall and Henry Perry explored the peninsula. By 1816, Privateer Louis Michel Aury was transporting slaves along the new "highway" for overland slave trade. The context for this trade was the fight for independence, in all the Americas, both north and south. During the same time, Simón Bolívar was traveling between the U.S. and South America in his fight for independence of the countries of South America.
In 1819, James Long, a doctor from Virginia, used his own money to travel to Texas and raise an army to secure Texas from Spain for the United States. He built a mud fort, Fort Las Casas, on Bolivar peninsula in what is now known as Port Bolivar where a small military community gathered. His wife, Jane Wilkinson Long, expecting their third child, stayed after the other military families left Bolivar and waited for his planned return a month later. It is here that his wife Jane spent the winter in 1821-1822 and gave birth to their third child, Mary James Long. A young slave maid named Kian helped Jane and her children stay alive while they awaited his return. Later, after the food ran out and Kian became delirious from illness, Jane, only 20 years old, delivered her own child alone. Trapped at Fort Las Casas, Jane waited for her husband, firing the canon every morning to remind the enemy (indians, pirates, and Mexicans) that the fort was still defended. Her husband was captured by Mexican forces and later died by accidental death. By summer of 1822, near starvation, Jane gave up to move inland with a family of immigrants that were headed for the San Jacinto River. It was here that she received word of her husbands death. Mary's birth was erroneously claimed to have been the first by an English-speaking woman in Texas but because of this early birth and her heroism, Jane Long came to be known as the "Mother of Texas".
The present-day Fort Travis, shown, was constructed in 1898 along with federal development of the Port of Galveston and lies in the same location as that once defended by Jane Long. Fort Green, used for Confederate Soldiers during the Civil War was used to garrison troops defending the Port of Galveston during World War I. There were 2,500 troops stationed there in 1942 and the fort operated several guns, from anti-aircraft up to 16 inch long range rifles. After the war, in 1949, Fort Travis was declared surplus, dismantled and sold. The 60-acre park acquired by the Galveston County Beach and Parks Department through a Moody Foundation grant in 1976.
Commerce
Rollover Pass, a prime fishing spot now managed by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Dept., was once used by smugglers. From the days of Spanish rule until prohibition, customs officials were avoided as whiskey and rum barrels were floated through the narrow channel.
In 1896, the Gulf and Interstate Railway began operation between Port Bolivar and Beaumont, hastening development of the area as an important freight terminal for the Santa Fe Railway. The railway's growth was inhibited by the hurricanes of 1900 and 1915 but it provided service between Port Bolivar and High Island until 1942. Ferries and barges operated between Bolivar and Galveston and in 1933, the State Highway Department began operating free public ferries between them.
Bolivar was once known as the "Breadbasket of Galveston" for its agriculture and ranching productivity and the "Watermelon Capital" of Texas. It enjoyed a brief oil boom near High Island and has been growing slowly ever since.
Today, many residents work on the peninsula while others commute to jobs in Galveston, Beaumont, Port Arthur and other cities to the east. Hundreds of vacation-home owners and summer and weekend visitors now seek recreational opportunities here, including swimming, sunbathing, fishing, hunting, and bird watching. Bolivar is quickly growing as it remains one of the few coastal areas in the United States with large, undeveloped tracts of land.