The Bolivar Ferry | A Quick History To and Fro | Galveston, Texas

📍Visit our interactive map!

Enjoy this content? Buy me a book! 📚

📱Social and other ways to explore Texas History

Tour with Spotify:
👂Listen: Ferry Ride from Galveston to Bolivar - Audio Guide to your ride

👂Listen: Rosenberg Fountains
👂Listen: East End Historical District
👂Listen: Texas Heroes Monument
👂Listen: Silk Stocking District

Interested in information covered in this episode? Dive deeper into the links below! :
History of the Bolivar Ferry:
 https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/point-bolivar#:~:text=The%20Bolivar%20ferry%2C%20which%20connects,Arthur%2DBeaumont%20by%20sixty%20miles.

History of Bolivar Peninsula:https://www.bolivarpeninsulatexas.com/About/History

Old Photos of the Rail Ferry: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gulf_and_Interstate_Railroad_train_ferry.jpg

The Galveston Port Bolivar Ferry is a free 24-hour marine transportation system provided by the Texas Department of Transportation. This ferry system was not the first to carry passengers between Galveston and Bolivar. Early settlers in this area used their own boats to cross what is now known as Bolivar Roads.

A regular ferry service was not started until the railroads needed a method to move freight between the two points. The first ferries were essentially large barges that could accommodate entire trains, including freight and passenger cars. Tugboats would then push the barges from one side to the other.

The Gulf and Interstate Railway completed a line between Port Bolivar and Beaumont in 1896. They used these rail barges to cross Bolivar Roads, completing the railroad's link to Galveston. In the early 1900s, the ferries would accommodate train, walk-on, and eventually vehicular traffic. In 1930, after the vast influx of automobiles, a private venture built two ferry boats, the Galveston and the Jefferson, to accommodate vehicles and walk on traffic.

These vessels will make six to seven daily trips initiating the ferry system as we know it. This private ferry system was eventually sold to Galveston County. Shortly after, it was taken over by the Texas Highway Department, which became the Texas Department of Transportation. The ferry system has been expanded and improved constantly since the 1930s with new and improved vessels and landings.

The Bolivar ferry is much more than a means of transportation from one point to another. It is one of Galveston's most popular free tourist attractions. While on the ferry, there is much to see, including dolphins, hungry seagulls, a sunken cement World War I ca

Support the Show.

Galveston Unscripted Digital Market