Galveston refers to both the island city and the eponymous county of which it is the seat. The county overall is comprised of the city; the Bolivar Peninsula, a narrower and almost adjacent island; and a mainland portion, closely connected to the island by two causeways. Galveston County is the southeast-most part of the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugarland metropolitan statistical area.

Galveston is an Anglicization of 'Galvez', in honor of Bernardo de Galvez (1746-1786), governor of Spanish Louisiana and Cuba and later of New Spain, a broad territory comprised of Florida; Central America; all the future contiguous American states west of the Mississippi River; the Philippines; and all other shores off and islands on the Gulf of Mexico. In another tribute, the singularly-named Hotel Galvez (est. 1911) is the city's oldest continuously operating beachfront luxury hotel.

As a semitropical island, Galveston is invariably vulnerable to hurricanes and tornadoes. As a nod, the city's high school ({George} Ball, a dry goods grocer) sports the nickname Tornados/Tors. "Galveston" (1969) is just one of many iconic hit songs by late Country Music Hall of Famer Glen Campbell; the song is not about any specific hurricane, just the general devastation thereof. High Island High School (HIHS) is at the northeast extreme of Bolivar Peninsula. Hurricane Ike wiped out HIHS's 2008 football season; the team's senior class similarly lost their freshman year to Hurricane Rita in 2005.

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