Port Bolivar, Texas

How Port Bolivar is governed

Port Bolivar appears to be an unincorporated community or a census-designated place, so it may have no city government of its own — services usually come from Galveston County and its elected officials. The chart below is a generic template; readers can correct it if Port Bolivar does have local officials.

Form of government not yet listed.

0 of 14 positions listed. Gray dashed boxes are placeholders waiting for a name.

• Mayor

  Executive

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  The city's chief elected official. Presides over the executive branch, proposes the budget and represents the city.

  • City Manager / Administrator

    Executive

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    The professional administrator who runs day-to-day operations (in some cities appointed by the council instead of the mayor).

    • Police Chief

      Administration & departments

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      Leads the police department.

    • Fire Chief

      Administration & departments

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      Leads the fire and emergency services department.

    • Public Works Director

      Administration & departments

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      Streets, water, sewer, and city buildings.

    • Finance Director

      Administration & departments

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      The budget, taxes, and city accounts.

    • Planning & Zoning Director

      Administration & departments

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      Land use, zoning, building permits.

    • Parks & Recreation Director

      Administration & departments

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      Parks, programs, and public facilities.

• City Council

  Legislative

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  The elected body that passes ordinances, sets the tax rate and approves the budget.

  • City Clerk

    Administration & departments

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    Keeps the official records, runs meeting agendas and, often, local elections.

  • City Attorney

    Administration & departments

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    The city's lawyer; advises officials and prosecutes ordinance violations.

  • Boards & Commissions

    Legislative

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    Citizen advisory bodies, such as planning, zoning appeals and library boards.

• Municipal Court

  Judicial

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  Hears traffic, ordinance and other minor cases.

  • Municipal Judge

    Judicial

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    Presides over the municipal court.

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History

In 1819, James Long based his operations in the area where Port Bolivar would eventually be located. Undeterred by the Spanish presence, Long quickly began raising money to equip a second expedition to revitalize the failed republic of Texas. He joined refugees from the first expedition on the Bolivar Peninsula in April 1820, bringing his pregnant wife Jane and 300 troops. Though Long restored elements of the former government, the expedition stalled for more than a year as men began to desert. On October 4, 1821, Long and his troops seized Presidio La Bahía, but Spanish troops forced the expedition to surrender four days later

In 1838, Samuel D Parr surveyed the land, and it was granted to him by the Republic of Texas, to be called Parrsville. It changed hands as Archibald Wynns and William Lawrence bought the land and developed it. The land was later bought by a company and renamed to Port Bolivar in 1893.

Fort Travis is on the southern shore of the Bolivar Peninsula, adjacent to Port Bolivar. Originally the site of the Confederate Fort Green, with a different Fort Travis located on Galveston Island, this Fort Travis started construction in 1898 and adopted the name from the Galveston Island fort. The new fort had its own railroad spur.

The 1915 Galveston hurricane damaged Port Bolivar, and its port was mostly not rebuilt.

Until the Second World War, the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway served the length of the peninsula, extending as far west as Port Bolivar, and provided a ferry service to Galveston for railcars. In 1942, the rail service was cut back to High Island, 28 miles (45 km) east, where the Bolivar Peninsula expands onto the full mainland. The rails on the Bolivar Peninsula were scrapped for the war effort.

After Hurricane Ike, the United States Postal Service temporarily relocated Port Bolivar post office box services to Winnie, 18 miles (29 km) north of High Island.

In 1968, filming began in Port Bolivar on the made-for-television movie, My Sweet Charlie. Starring Patty Duke and Al Freeman Jr., the film focused on the grudging friendship that develops between two fugitives; an outcast, pregnant young white woman, and a black lawyer accused of murder. The actors themselves were targeted for harassment by some local residents, and filming was plagued with problems until then-governor, John Connally, intervened and worked with local authorities to stop harassment of the production company and the actors.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

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