Among Galveston’s most storied amusement landmarks now lost to time was the legendary Crystal Palace, which opened in July 1916 and quickly became one of the island’s grandest attractions. Designed by the Dallas architectural firm Orlopp & Orlopp, the massive concrete structure rose above Seawall Boulevard between 23rd and 24th Streets - where the Four Points by Sheraton and Wendy’s stand today - and was connected to the beach by a 68-foot elevated walkway built to keep pedestrians safe from traffic. 

 Constructed for $200,000 and engineered to be hurricane-resistant, the Crystal Palace offered three floors of entertainment. Its crown jewel was the first-floor swimming pool - the “large plunge” - a 50-by-140-foot indoor saltwater pool that could accommodate up to 500 bathers at a time. 

 Fresh Gulf water was pumped in throughout the week, and as many as 700 spectators could watch from the surrounding seating and balcony. 

 The first floor housed a restaurant, barbershop, pool hall, shooting gallery, soda fountain, and souvenir stands, while the second floor held more than 800 dressing rooms and 200 lockers. Few visitors owned bathing suits in those days, so the Palace rented wool suits that met the modesty standards of the era. 

 The third floor featured a roof garden, an open-air motion picture theater, and a 9,000-square-foot dance pavilion - the largest in Texas - illuminated at night by a powerful searchlight that swept across the beach. Tourists flocked to the photo gallery, penny arcade, bowling alley, and the famous walkway over the Seawall. 

 By the 1930s, the Palace’s glory had begun to fade. In 1932, the roof garden was enclosed and converted into the Crystal Palace Wrestling Arena, and in 1937 Sam Maceo purchased the property, reopening it the following spring with modest improvements. 

 But the decline continued, and by 1941 much of the building was demolished to make way for storefronts and an amusement park. Only the east wing and viaduct remained, with the original restaurant operating through World War II and boxing matches on the roof providing steady income. 

 In February 1949, Rose Maceo announced that the last two standing stories would be torn down to make way for a new one-story café and amusement parlor - marking the final chapter of a once-magnificent seaside palace that had defined an era on the Galveston coast.