TEXAS CITY

city, Galveston County, Texas, U.S., and part of the GalvestonTexas City complex on Galveston Bay. The city is a deepwater port on channels to the Gulf, and its industrial activities have considerably expanded since World War II; they include the production of petrochemicals, tin smelting, and oil refining. Development of the area was begun in 1893 by shippers from the Great Lakes who recognized the potential advantages of a port terminal. The city has suffered several major disasters, including a severe hurricane that swept over Galveston Island in 1915 and the explosion of the French freighter Grandcamp, loaded with ammonium nitrate fertilizer, in the harbour in 1947, which killed nearly 600. A protective seawall was completed in 1963. College of the Mainland (1966) is in Texas City. Inc. 1911. Pop. (1990) city, 40,822; GalvestonTexas City PMSA, 217,396; (1994 est.) city, 41,662; (1995 est.) GalvestonTexas City PMSA, 237,533.