Gulf Coast Topics

• galveston hurricane of 1900
• natural magnet
• atlantic seaboard
• galveston island
• fragile ecosystems
• economic sectors
• city of new orleans
• louisiana purchase
• american civil war
• western portions
• cotton production
• shipping lanes
• texas revolution
• mississippi river
• peninsulas
• landforms
• barrier islands
• international commerce
• inlets

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Gulf Coast, Gulf Coast

Looking for Gulf Coast Of The United States?

Much of the land along the Gulf Coast is (or was) marshland. The western portions of the Gulf Coast include many barrier islands and peninsulas, including the Padre Island and Galveston Island. These landforms protect numerous bays and inlets. The central part of the Gulf Coast, from eastern Texas through Louisiana, consists primarily of marshland. Geographically it is technically part of the east coast of the US, though it is not popularly thought of as such.

The Louisiana Purchase and the Texas Revolution made the Gulf Coast a part of the United States during first half of the 19th century. As the U.S. population continued to expand its frontiers westward, the Gulf Coast was a natural magnet in the South providing access to shipping lanes and both national and international commerce. The development of sugar and cotton production (enabled by slavery) allowed the South to prosper. By the mid 19th century, the South, including the Gulf, by some standards was populated by the nation's wealthiest people. The city of New Orleans in particular, being situated as a key to commerce on the Mississippi River and in the Gulf, had become the largest U.S. city not on the Atlantic seaboard and the fourth largest in the U.S. overall.

The first was the American Civil War, which caused severe damage to some economic sectors in the South, including the Gulf Coast. The second event was the Galveston Hurricane of 1900. At the end of the 19th century Galveston was, with New Orleans, one of the most developed cities in the region. The city had the third busiest port in the U.S.

Other areas of the Gulf Coast have benefited less, though economic development fueled by tourism has greatly increased property values along the coast, and is now a severe danger to the valuable but fragile ecosystems of the Gulf Coast.

Source: Wikipedia > Gulf Coast Of The United States