Galveston lost most of its prominence upon the completion of the ship channel. There's a lot of speculation about Galveston's decline, also very intersting. some contribute it to the hurricane, and some to the Houston ship channel. The majority of Galveston's decline was in the late teens, early 1920's. This is another interesting theory. Apparently the were a few families that held places of prestige in Galveston society. The fledgling oil industry originally looked to Galveston as it's base, being that Galveston had a flourishing harbor. There was the question of space though. It's an island, only so much land to go around. The politicians feared this new industry, and their places of prestige to other wealthy businessmen, so apparently there was somewhat of a conspiracy to buy up as much land as possible, thus making it impossible for the oil industry to find a suitable location to build their operation. So, the oil industry then looked to Houston, and it's newly completed ship channel. I guess Galveston's decline is something we can never be certain about. I imagine that all of these things contributed, but it really is interesting. I'm very fascinated by the city. Can you tell!