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Texas City

Texas City Field Trip: Learn about the Port and the 1947 Disaster

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In this Houston Field Trip, see the 9th largest port in the country and learn about the Texas City Disaster… the 1947 Disaster was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever. Look below for a map of the route.

Resources:

Explore Texas City:

Texas City Museum and Texas City Disaster

1. Texas City Museum – 409 6th St. North, Texas City, TX 77590

At this small museum, you can learn about the Texas City Port and the 1947 disaster.

Just from watching the movie and touring the main floor, you can get a good appreciation for how big the Port of Texas City is, how much traffic comes through each day and just how dangerous it can be.

The 1947 explosion of a ship carrying ammonium nitrate was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions ever. This explosion shattered windows all the way in Houston, flattened buildings in Texas City, caused a 15 foot tidal wave that flooded area and killed 600 people.

Seeing the artifacts, pictures and videos gives me a real respect for the people that work in the Houston area ports each day.

(I should also mention that as visceral as my reaction is to the disaster, the display was not so overwhelming that my kids were scared. They just toured and were interested, but were no worried.)

There is a small admission fee to enter the museum.

2. Texas City Dike – Dike Rd, Texas City, TX 77590

The Texas City Dike was built to protect the Texas City Channel from cross currents. It’s over 5 miles and has boat ramps, picnic shelters and beach! From here you can see lots of ships and the general location of the disaster.

Once you drive on, the long slow road has water on both sides and areas with rocks, with piers and with beach.

On weekends, there is a fee for non-residents to drive onto the dike.

(Rainbow Park is very close to the entrance to the Texas City Dike and is a great spot to play.)

3. Heritage Square Park – 109 3rd Avenue, North Texas City, TX 77590

Between the museum and the dike are historical homes in Heritage Square Park.

I’ve never done the tours, but if you are close by at the right time, you could check it out.

Park:

There is free street parking in Texas City. I would drive between stops and repark since it is easy. The Texas City Dike has parking in small lots and on the beach.

Texas City Map:

Downtown Bar and Grill… Right by the Texas City Museum and the Texas City Dike!

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Address: 7855, 513 6th St N, Texas City, TX 77590
Hours: Monday-Saturday 09:00am-02:00pm

If you are going to Texas City, you should probably stop for lunch at the Downtown Bar and Grill.

It serves American and Mediterranean food and is right next to the Texas City Museum… and just blocks from the Texas City Dike.

The restaurant is open for breakfast and lunch… and is sleek, cool and clean. You order at the counter and the food comes to you.

The menu has a whole lot of options… from giant hamburgers and baked potatoes to kabobs and gyros. Kids meals are not listed, but the staff approached us and told us we could order smaller plates with chicken strips or hamburgers. We ordered them, but I wouldn’t say they were small. Check out the kids hamburger below:

I had the kabob and the kids had the hamburger and chicken. The food was great!

The staff was very friendly and as I told my toddler that I would grab her a clean plate, one magically appeared because the waitress had read my mind.

Take a look at the picture and stop by when you are in Texas City!

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The Texas City Museum is Awesome

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Address:  409 6th St. North, Texas City, TX 77590

The Texas City Museum is awesome. The kids I took with me are a little silly… but the museum is awesome.

Just look at the picture. There is a cool kids room around the corner, but they are determined to stick their heads in the cannon.

At this small museum, you can learn a whole lot about Texas City and a lot about the 1947 disaster. Watch the 3 short movies on the first floor and you get a great history lesson (even if you tour with the kind of kids that put their heads in cannons).

Stop to read about the artifacts and you will learn even more. And, of course, swing by the interactive kids room!

On Saturdays, you can see the The Galveston County Model Railroad Club Exhibit that is very very well done. (In 11 years of motherhood I’ve seen a lot of model train displays… and this might be the best.)

Learn even more in our last post HERE… and after you go to the museum, eat next door at the Downtown Bar and Grill and then swing by the Texas City Dike for shell collecting!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Beach, Shells, Fishing & Boating at the Texas City Dike!

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The Texas City Dike was built to protect the Texas City Channel from cross currents. It’s over 5 miles and has boat ramps, picnic shelters and beach!

After visiting the Texas City Museum, we always drive over a few blocks to find shells on the beach. We pay the $5 cash (because we are not Texas City residents) and drive out past fishermen, boaters and families. The long slow road has water on both sides and areas with rocks, with piers and with beach.

What we like about the dike is that we get to see a whole lot of cargo ships up close… and they push a lot of water onto the beach, leaving behind lots of shells, hermit crabs, and often, jellyfish.

What we’ve learned on our past visits is to not park to close to the water… and to wear shoes.

The Texas City Dike has drive-on beaches, with packed sand so any vehicle can do it. Last year we backed up to the water… and thought we were a good distance away… until a giant ship pushed the water up way past our car! Now we decide where to park and add 15 feet to it!

Also, the ships seem to push up a lot of jellyfish, so when we are searching for shells, we’ve learned to wear shoes!

In Texas City, we always find a lot of shells and tons of hermit crabs. We’ve even found full sized crabs! We return the live animals to the water and collect the rest for our favorite Swap Shop!

Other families do splash in the water, but we are scared of the jellyfish and just spend our time looking for treasure!

If you plan to go, know that there are only portapotties along the street. Also, this year there seemed to be a whole lot of mosquitoes along the street… but the area by the water was fine.

There is a lot of room to park (or to park on the beach) and there are picnic tables to use all along the dike. Check out the pictures!

 

 

 

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Right by the Water… Rainbow Park in Texas City

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Address: 800 Bay St N, Texas City, TX 77590

Someone told me there was nothing to do in Texas City and so I went there to prove them wrong. And then I went back again and again to be sure I’d seen it all.

We’ve now written about the Texas City Museum (which I really liked), the Texas City Dike (which had some huge waves because of the passing container ships) and some parks and pools. We also found Rainbow Park… right at the entrance of the Dike!

Rainbow Park has a great playground, walking trails and ball fields. There is also a splashpad, but it was closed when we visited.

The whole park is nicely done, but the playground is the star. There is a lot of unique equipment that my kids approved. There is an all abilities play structure, an all abilities swing, lots of monkey bars, teeter totter, climbing walls and so much more.

We played like crazy before heading over to the Texas City Dike. Parking is free in the lot and there was a little foot traffic in the area. I’d have preferred more traffic in the area… so as always, do your own safety check before getting out of the car.

Check out the pictures below and swing by the next time you are at the Texas City Museum or the Dike!

(And thanks to Nancy for recommending this park!)

 

 

 

 

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Check Out the Baseball Splashpad at Godard Park in Texas City

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Address: Loop 197 North (25th Avenue North) and 23rd Street North, Texas City, Texas 77590

We love baseball and we love the Astros playing in the post season… and this week’s park has a baseball themed splashpad! It’s Godard Park in Texas City!

This park has baseball fields, basketball court, a cool playground and great baseball splashpad. (It’s all in the sun… so bring the sunscreen.)

As much as we loved the splashpad, the playground really had some great ninja features… curved climbing walls, wheel monkey bars, broken bridges and more!

Google has this park listed ask Goddard Park, but I’m pretty certain it’s Godard Park… but if you know, you can tell us.

Also, we went just before Harvey… so if anything has changed, please also tell us. (As far as I see online, it’s open and okay.)

Check out the pictures and check out the park next time you are around Texas City!

 

 

 

 

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Texas City Water Park… Nessler Park

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Texas City Water Park

Not far from the Texas City Museum are giant waterslides and a beach entry pool at the Nessler Park Family Aquatic Center.  It’s a small Texas City water park!

This pool has 2 big slides (for kids 48″ and over), a small river, a beach entry pool and a water play structure for little kids.

Residents and non-residents can use the pool for a fee.

Texas City Water Park

We went to the small Texas City water park on a weekday afternoon and found lots of shaded seating and plenty of room to play. (Check before you go, because at the end of the summer, hours change to weekends only.)

I had never been here, so I wasn’t sure what to expect… but the equipment was very new and nice, the locker rooms were clean, the patrons were nice and all the kids looked to be supervised. One lifeguard was a little moody at the end of the big slides… but it did not seem to be an issue with the whole group.

The pool closed for about 20 minutes due to lightning, but we got back in afterwards.

No outside food is allowed at this Texas City water park but there is a reasonably priced concession stand. Also, there are lockers for a quarter.

Our visit to the Nessler Aquatic Center was like a mini waterpark… but for only $18 total for the family. It’s obviously not Schlitterbahn, but we weren’t looking for a big waterpark experience!

If you are near Texas City, check it out!

Texas City Water Park:

Address: 1700 5th Ave N, Texas City, TX 77590

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The Really Big Tide & Lots of Shells at Texas City Dike

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What in the world is the Texas City Dike and why is there a sign off I45?

I’ve been asking this on every trip to Galveston, so we went to find out.

Well, now I know that the Texas City Dike was built to protect the Texas City Channel from cross currents. It’s over 5 miles and has boat ramps, picnic shelters and beach.

We went on a weekday afternoon and just drove up, paid $5 for our day pass (because we are not Texas City residents) and asked for some tips.

We learned that the beach is at about mile 3, not to park too close to the water if we drove on the beach… and when we went, we were told there were a lot of jellyfish.

As we drove out, we saw a whole bunch of boats, a whole bunch of fishermen and, in the distance, a lot of cargo ships.

At about mile 4, we pulled on to the beach with just a few other cars. Here we found a lot of room to play and a whole to of shells (and a crab!) for our favorite Swap Shop!

We did not plan to swim because of the jelly fish, but there were other families splashing in the water. And as we were digging a giant hole and ignoring the water, the wildest thing happened… and my kids have been talking about it for days.

As we were digging and the baby was crawling, we heard the people next door squealing and a big wave crashing. We turned around to see the tide rushing up to us.

We were parked at least 20 feet from the wet sand, but the tide came well past the car. I had been able to grab the baby and get the kids out of the way… but it was memorable!

Just before this happened, two cargo ships were passing, so I suspect this had something to do with the tide. (And if you know, tell me!)

After this, we moved the car to the very farthest point from the water and went back to look for shells… and found a ton. (But there were also new jelly fish on the beach, so we wore shoes and stuck together.)

We did not stay more than an hour, but the kids have been talking about that tide ever since. If we went back, I would park far far away from the water and stay on the sand. It was a fun place for finding shells and the Texas City Museum is very close by!

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I Really Like the Texas City Museum

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Address: 409 6th St. North, Texas City, TX 77590

This is the museum visit we keep on talking about.

It’s a small place but we learned a whole lot at the Texas City Museum. The admission fee is small ($5 for adults, $2 for kids over 6), there is a fun kids room and an amazing model train display… but I really keep thinking about the port and the 1947 disaster.

Just from watching the movie and touring the main floor, I got a really good appreciation for how big the Port of Texas City is, how much traffic comes through each day and just how dangerous it can be.

I saw a giant piece of shrapnel from the 1947 explosion of a ship carrying ammonium nitrate. This explosion shattered windows all the way in Houston, flattened buildings in Texas City, caused a 15 foot tidal wave that flooded area and killed 600 people.

Seeing the artifacts, pictures and videos gave me a real respect for the people that work in the Houston area ports each day.

I should also mention that as visceral as my reaction was to the disaster, the display was not so overwhelming that my kids were scared. They just toured and were interested, but spend the majority of their time in the Children’s Discovery Room.

This room as quite big with interactive displays and lots of games to play.

There is also The Galveston County Model Railroad Club Exhibit… which is only open on Saturdays… but we were lucky enough to get a sneak peak because some maintenance was being done.

Now, I would not have predicted this 15 years ago, but I’ve become somewhat of a model train aficionado. I don’t claim to know a ton about the hobby, but with my kids and my father-in-law, I have toured a whole lot of model train displays in all the cities we’ve visited.

Well, I can tell you that the one at the Texas City Museum is really really well done. The detail is amazing, the scale of all the buildings is spot on and there is so much to observe in every single square foot of this display. I mean, at first you see the train, and then you see the houses, and then you see the kids actually swinging next to the house and then you notice that super man is flying over the city… and that is just a tiny part of it.

It’s a great train display and I recommend going, pushing the interactive buttons and then looking really close at each part of the display.

Actually, I recommend the entire museum. If you are headed south towards Galveston, check out the Texas City Museum!

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Play on Trains at Noble Park in Texas City!

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Address: 1100 9th Avenue North, Texas City, TX 77590

Trains! We were not planning at stopping at a park in Texas City, but as we drove down 9th Avenue North the kids spotted trains and we did a quick turn into Noble Park!

This park has a a big train playground, a small train playground, depot, train tracks, basketball court and lots of room to run.

We love trains so we found a spot in the small lot and ran from the play structure to the depot and to the tracks. We did not know that this park used to have a big caboose, so we were perfectly happy being train engineers with what we found at Noble Park.

Now that I look on the Texas City website, I see the cool caboose… but also that the play structure has since been made much nicer with the new play structure.

See the pictures below!

 

 

 

 

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