Port Of Victoria, Texas

About Us

History of the Barge Canal to Victoria

Victoria – Where the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway was Born

Victoria – its port and its canal occupy a unique place in the history of shallow draft transportation. In 1905, C.S. E. Holland, President of the Victoria Business Men's Association, called for a meeting of interested parties from Texas and Louisiana. The purpose was to discuss construction of a waterway along their coasts to facilitate the movement of trade goods. This was the birth of what we now know as the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW) and the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association. This is a waterway that stretches from Brownsville, Texas, along a 1,300-mile route to the Apalachee Bay on the Florida coast. A waterway that became part of the 26,000-mile inland network that is the very backbone of the barge distribution system in the United States.

Victoria took its place as a port in 1968 when the 35 mile Barge Canal to Victoria was completed to a navigable depth of 9 feet and a width of 100 feet. In 1995, work began to widen and deepen the canal to correspond to the GIWW parameters of 12 feet in depth and 125 feet in width. The last leg of this project was competed in March of 2002.

Timeline

On August 8, 1905, a meeting called by Victoria businessmen was held at Hauschild's Opera House. From this meeting of Texas and Louisiana businessmen came the idea for the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association.

>Enter Port of Victoria Historical Image Gallery<
style 1
style 2
style 3
style 4

1905	Formation of the Interstate Inland Waterway League of Louisiana and the Texas Canal Association. Construction of Gulf Intracoastal Waterway begins.
1923	U. S. Congress passes a bill authorizing a special survey for the canal. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers recommends the canal be constructed between New Orleans and Corpus Christi .
1926	First portion of the GIWW is complete - between Sabine River and New Orleans , LA.
1939 to 1945	The War Years. WWII reveals the importance of inland, protected water transportation to the Nation's defense.
1945	Original construction of the channel authorized by the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1945.
1946	July 8th, West Side Calhoun County Navigation District formed and approved $125,000 Bond Issue for the building of the barge canal. December 16th, Victoria County Navigation District formed.
1947	Voters in Victoria County approve a $500,000 Bond Issue to share the cost to build the barge canal.
1949	Formal completion of the Waterway. Victorian J. M. Pickering cut the ribbon for the opening of the section of the GIWW between Corpus Christi and Brownsville .
1951	Construction of the Barge Canal to Victoria begins.
1953	First 14-mile leg of the Canal to Victoria is completed. Opening ceremony held at the Union Carbide docks.
1965	Barge Canal and Turning Basin is completed.
1968	Dock at Turning Basin in Victoria complete.
1976	Petition to widen and deepen the Canal.
1984	Project submitted for Congressional approval.
1988	Water Resources Development Act of 1988 authorizes widening and deepening of the Victoria Barge Canal .
1994	The Project Cooperation Agreement between the Department of the Army, Victoria County Navigation District and West Side Calhoun County Navigation District for the enlargement of the Channel was entered into on November 17.
1995	Construction begins to widen and deepen the Channel to Victoria with the awarding of the first construction contract in September.
2002	Widening and Deepening of Victoria Barge Canal completed. Turning Basin at Victoria expanded and barge slip added.

>Enter Port of Victoria Historical Image Gallery<

Page Updated: 01/22/2007