Old Velasco, a sulfur town and a fleet
Surfside Beach takes in the site of old Velasco at the mouth of the Brazos River. The Handbook of Texas says the spot was a popular resort before 1900, and that its Grand Surfside Hotel rode out the hurricanes of 1875 and 1900 only to burn down later. The town grew again in the 1940s as part of the Brazosport industrial area, incorporated as Surfside in 1975 and took the name Surfside Beach in 1988.
Freeport was a company town. The Freeport Sulphur Company founded it and dedicated it in November 1912, beside what were then the world's largest sulfur mines. Within two years it had a hotel, a bank, a church and a fish and oyster plant. Dow Chemical began building there in 1939, and in 1957 Freeport took in Velasco, one of the oldest towns in Texas.
Seafood never left the waterfront. The Handbook describes Freeport as home to one of the largest commercial shrimp trawler fleets on the Gulf, numbering more than 500 boats when that entry was written. That is the reason a pound of shrimp is never far away on this stretch of coast.
Beach rules and the jetty
Visit Houston groups Clute, Freeport, Lake Jackson, Quintana and Surfside Beach together as the Brazosport area. At Surfside you need a beach permit to drive or park on the sand. If you would rather walk, Surfside Jetty County Park has free parking and access to a pedestrian only beach.
The county has used state coastal grants to rebuild the park's footbridge, walking trail and bird observation platform beside a natural saltwater lagoon. It is an easy place to spend a morning before the afternoon heat, then head inland for a seafood lunch.
