Seadrift

Seadrift was small for its first two decades: in 1896 it had triweekly mail, a Baptist church, a music teacher and about 120 people, and it depended on the stage to Port Lavaca. Its boom began on May 15, 1911, when A. D. Powers offered five acres outside the city limit for every lot bought inside it. By 1914 some 1,250 people lived there. The hurricane of June 28, 1919, ended the boom, and by 1926 only 321 remained. In the 1970s and 1980s refugees from Vietnam settled here, many working at a crab-picking plant.

What the plaque says

Seadrift Settlement here began in the 1840s when German immigrants disembarking at Indianola stayed in the vicinity. A post office was granted in 1888, its name inspired by debris that collected on the shore blown in by heavy storms from the Gulf of Mexico. In 1912 A. D. Powers founded the Seadrift Townsite Company, and the city was incorporated that December. By 1914 Seadrift had 3 churches, 2 banks, 4 hotels, factories, a telephone line, and a weekly newspaper called The Seadrift Success. Despite a severe 1919 hurricane, the city survived. Processing plants were established in the area beginning in the 1950s. The village of Seadrift continues to be a popular resort and recreation spot. (1998)

Where it stands

More markers nearby

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