Rollover Fish Pass
Gilchrist, Galveston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
A strait approximately 200 feet wide, 5 feet deep and more than 1,600 feet long across Bolivar Peninsula - was opened in 1955 by the Texas Game and Fish Commission as part of its continuing program to perpetuate and improve the state's fish and wildlife resources. The commission's purposes in constructing this pass were to introduce into East Bay sufficient quantities of sea water to increase bay water salinity, and to provide additional opportunity for travel of marine fish to and from spawning and feeding areas in the bay. Lower salinity in East Bay was caused by the discharge of several fresh water streams into the area on the mainland side of the peninsula. This excessive fresh water not only limited the existence of marine fish but also restricted the growth of submerged vegetation, which provides nursery areas and forms the basis of the food cycle for marine life. Creation of Rollover Fish Pass has greatly improved salt water fishing conditions for the thousands of sportsmen who flock to East Bay throughout the year. Known as Rollover long before the Texas Game and fish Commission constructed the fish pass, this site has a history steeped in legend dating back to the days of the Spaniards and continuing through the American prohibition period. According to legend, it was first called Rollover because certain early ship captains preferring to avoid contact with the customs station at Galveston would roll barrels of imported merchandise from the gulf side of Bolivar Peninsula over to East Bay. From there the barrels were transferred to the mainland without further formality. The same rolling procedure - in reverse - also is said to have been used for selected items of export.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In 1955 the Texas Game and Fish Commission cut a narrow channel across Bolivar Peninsula, letting Gulf saltwater flow into East Bay to raise its salinity and open a path for marine fish to reach their spawning and feeding grounds. Freshwater streams draining off the mainland had been diluting the bay, choking the submerged vegetation that anchors the coastal food web. The site had long been called 'Rollover,' from a smuggler's trick of rolling barrels of goods over the thin neck of land to dodge the Galveston customs house — a practice said to reach back to Spanish days and revive during Prohibition.
Why it matters
It captures both the mid-century American faith in engineering nature for recreation and commerce, and the older coastal folklore of evading the law along the Gulf.
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Themes & tags
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