Kemah
Kemah, Galveston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Michael Gouldrich, one of Stephen F. Austin's original three hundred colonists, received a Mexican land grant here in 1824. Elizabeth S. Justice acquired a part of the property in 1853. By the early 1890s Abraham and Elizabeth (Justice) Kipp, their daughter Jane, and her husband, James Bradford, had acquired the balance of the original Gouldrich Mexican land grant. In 1898 the Texas & New Orleans Railroad extended a track through the area which prompted the Kipp and Bradford families to establish a townsite here named Evergreen. Despite its destruction by a storm in 1900, the village was rebuilt after the Kipps and Bradfords erected large family homes here in 1901. The name of the town was changed to Kemah with the granting of a post office in 1907. Gulf-related businesses such as boat building, commercial fishing, and tourism helped Kemah grow into a town of 1,300 people by 1922. Kemah was connected with Seabrook by bridge in 1929. A large shrimp fleet located here after the Clear Creek Channel opened in the 1950s. Kemah sustained major storm damage in 1961 but recovered and was formally incorporated in 1965. Marine storage facilities built in this area in the 1970s and 1980s continued to boost the local economy.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
The land beneath Kemah began as an 1824 Mexican grant to Michael Gouldrich, one of Stephen F. Austin's original three hundred colonists. By the 1890s the Kipp and Bradford families held the tract, and when the railroad pushed through in 1898 they founded a townsite called Evergreen. Rebuilt after the devastating 1900 storm and renamed Kemah when it won a post office in 1907, the little Galveston Bay town grew on boat building, commercial fishing, and tourism.
Why it matters
Kemah's story runs from Austin's earliest Anglo-American colony through railroad boom, hurricane, and the rise of a Gulf Coast fishing and resort economy—a compact history of coastal Texas itself.
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Related people
- · Michael Gouldrich
- · Stephen F. Austin
- · Abraham Kipp
- · Elizabeth Kipp
- · James Bradford
Related events
- · 1900 Galveston hurricane
Themes & tags
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