1856 Galveston and Brazos Canal
A canal from the Brazos River to Oyster (Christmas) Bay was completed in 1856 by the Galveston and Brazos Navigation Company, who charged a toll for sail and steam traffic. The canal served as a trade route between slave-worked cotton plantations in Brazoria and the Galveston Port. The canal began at the mouth of the Brazos, continued north through East Union Bayou, cut through the mainland to Oyster Creek where it turned upstream and then cut northeast through the mainland to Drum Bay, extending through Drum Bay to Rattlesnake Point.
Map source: https://historicalcharts.noaa.gov
Text source: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/dqg01
A canal from the Brazos River to Oyster (Christmas) Bay was completed in 1856 by the Galveston and Brazos Navigation Company, who charged a toll for sail and steam traffic. The canal served as a trade route between slave-worked cotton plantations in Brazoria and the Galveston Port. The canal began at the mouth of the Brazos, continued north through East Union Bayou, cut through the mainland to Oyster Creek where it turned upstream and then cut northeast through the mainland to Drum Bay, extending through Drum Bay to Rattlesnake Point.
Map source: https://historicalcharts.noaa.gov
Text source: https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/dqg01