Santa Fe, Texas

Everything Santa Fe is known for

4 songs mention this city 3 artists from here

Santa Fe, Texas, a city in Galveston County, is known for its small-town, rural atmosphere and tight-knit community spirit. While not widely recognized as a music hub, Santa Fe is home to artists like country singer Johnny Lee and pop group The Remote Junkies. The city is also mentioned in songs such as "santa fe" by Caleb Sam Brown and "Darkness" by Eminem.

Music in Santa Fe

Songs About Santa Fe

santa fe
caleb sam brown
78%
Darkness
Eminem
55%
"this time it is in Santa Fe, Texas"
the ballad of lavern and captain flint
guy clark
10%
Santa Fe
Jeremy Jordan
2%
"Welcome home to Santa Fe!"

Artists From Santa Fe

J
Johnny Lee
country Pop: 54
P
Phillip Craig
country Pop: 1
T
The Remote Junkies
pop Pop: 1

Rivers & Roads in Song near Santa Fe

Songs written about the waterways and highways that run near Santa Fe.

Interstate 45 2 songs FM 3005 2 songs Trinity River 8 songs Brazos River 16 songs Interstate 10 23 songs US Route 90 6 songs

History of Santa Fe

Santa Fe, TX RoadyGoat

Santa Fe is more than just another Texas town along the Gulf Coast. You can feel its history in the air, a blend of hard work and a touch of the unexpected. Founded by the railroad in the late 19th century, the town has always been tied to movement, to connection. Many folks here work in the petrochemical industry, and you see the influence of that on the landscape. But there's a deeper current, a sense of place that goes beyond the industry. They say pirate treasure is buried somewhere around the original settlement, a whisper of old legends.

Santa Fe, TX RoadyGoat

Santa Fe isn't just another dot on the map between Galveston and Houston. You see, it started with the railroad, plain and simple. The Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway came through in 1893, and that's what put it here. Being close to the Gulf means the land's flat, barely above sea level, and that proximity has always defined life here. Of course, that also means it's tied to the water in less welcome ways. Hurricane Harvey hit hard, like it did so many towns along the coast, but the spirit here is tough. These days, a lot of folks are drawn to Santa Fe for the jobs. The petrochemical industry is huge in this part of Texas, and the plants and supporting businesses offer good work. Some come for the small-town feel – Friday night football at Santa Fe High, cheering on the Indians, that sort of thing. Then there's the legend of pirate treasure buried nearby, dating back to the early settlement days – a bit of romantic lore that still gets whispered about. But if you ask a local why people *stay*, they'll likely tell you it's the community. The kind of place where everyone knows everyone, and even after something like Harvey, neighbors help neighbors rebuild. It's home.

Santa Fe, TX RoadyGoat

Santa Fe, Texas, wasn't always here. Its story truly began in 1893 when the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway laid its tracks, giving the town its name and its purpose. It’s a place born of connection, a link in the chain of industry and transport that defines so much of the Gulf Coast. The land itself is low, just a few feet above sea level, close enough to feel the pull of the Gulf tides, a constant reminder of the powerful forces that shape this region. For generations, folks here have made their living in the petrochemical industry and related businesses, building a life tied to the ebb and flow of the market and the strength of the local economy. It’s a close-knit community, the kind where everyone knows everyone, where Friday night lights shine bright on the Santa Fe High School Indians. The Astros' 2017 World Series win brought a wave of joy, a reminder of shared pride and resilience. But life here hasn't always been easy. The legend of a pirate's buried treasure hints at an older, wilder past, and the more recent devastation of Hurricane Harvey in 2017 tested the community's spirit. Yet, Santa Fe has always rebuilt, always come back stronger, a testament to the enduring strength of the people who call this place home.

Dickinson Station of the GH&H Railroad

1853

Chartered by the State of Texas on February 7, 1853, the Galveston, Houston, and Henderson Railroad was the first railroad to reach the Texas Coast. A trestle was built across Galveston Bay in 1859, and passenger and freight service was initiated between Galveston and Harrisburg. The line's earliest engines were two wood-burning locomotives named "Perseverance" and "Brazos." Known as the "Old Reliable Short Line," the Galveston, Houston, and Henderson Railroad was of military importance during the Civil War and played a vital role in the South's recapture of Galveston. Two special trains, one for Sunday excursions and one for newspaper deliveries, were operating by 1877. This depot, designed by Galveston architect George B. Stowe, was built in 1902 to replace the original 1850s structure which had burned in 1900. As Dickinson became a popular location for picnics and outings, special chartered trains brought passengers here on excursions. A nearby racetrack also attracted visitors. Dickinson became a center for fruit and vegetable production in the early 1900s, and refrigerated rail cars regularly transported the goods to market. The depot was moved here from the railroad right-of-way in 1967 and adapted for use as a museum. (1987)

Historical Marker → · 5.0 mi away

U. S. Naval Air Station (Blimp Base)

1942

(Seven-tenths mile south) In an effort to defend U. S. coasts and shipping lanes against German submarine activity during World War II, the U. S. Navy established bases to house huge lighter-than-air (LTA) craft, also known as blimps. With the ability to hover above a target, the blimps were uniquely qualified for coastal defense and observation. Because of its site on the flat Texas coastal plain, Hitchcock was chosen as the location for one of the nine new blimp bases. Construction began in 1942, and the facility was commissioned on May 22, 1943. The resulting military personnel build-up caused an economic boom in the community. The Hitchcock base consisted of forty-seven buildings, including a massive hangar to house six blimps, administration buildings, warehouses, living quarters, and recreational facilities. Aircraft from the base, in addition to their regular patrolling duties, were also used to assist with hurricane relief efforts and war bond drives. In 1944, after the blimps were no longer needed, the Hitchcock base was redesignated for other purposes. Following the war some of the buildings were used by private interests, and after hurricane damage in 1961 the blimp hangar was razed. (1989)

Historical Marker → · 3.9 mi away

Santa Fe Consolidated High School

1927

In 1927, Arcadia, Alta Loma and Algoa schools combined to form the Santa Fe Consolidated school district, named for the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe railroad which linked the towns. Architect Harry D. Payne designed a new high school for the district in 1928, to be built about halfway between Arcadia and Alta Loma. With a bond of $42,000, work on the school began. The Spanish Colonial style building features a clay tile roof, brick exterior, and decorative door surrounds. Six rooms and a combination auditorium and library were planned for 175 students. The new school opened on Oct. 22, 1928, and served as the district’s high school until 1959.

Historical Marker →

Santa Fe County

1848

Santa Fe County, established on March 15, 1848, included practically all of the area of New Mexico claimed by the Republic of Texas and later by the state of Texas. At the time it was established, the Texas Legislature passed a joint resolution laying before the United States Congress the fact that Santa Fe County was a part of Texas and authorizing the governor of Texas to issue a proclamation to organize the county. The territory was made the eleventh judicial district of Texas on March 20, 1848, and Spruce M. Baird was appointed chief justice, but he never held a court. In October 1848 citizens of the area held a mass meeting at Santa Fe to protest incorporation with Texas, partially because Texas was a slave state and partially because of long animosity between the area and the Texas government. In 1849 Governor Peter H. Bell threatened to claim the area by force, and in January 1850 Santa Fe County was subdivided into Worth, El Paso, Presidio, and Santa Fe counties. Robert S. Neighbors made an unsuccessful trip to organize the counties. On November 25, 1850, in compliance with a section of the Compromise of 1850 , Texas ceded to the United States, for $10,000,000, her claims to the upper Rio Grande area. Worth and Santa Fe counties became defunct, and El Paso and Presidio counties were reduced in area.

Tsha Handbook →

The Texas Killing Fields — I-45 Corridor, League City

1971

The twenty-five-mile stretch of Interstate Forty-Five between Houston and Galveston has a name most locals know and most visitors don't: the Killing Fields. Since the early nineteen seventies, the remains of more than thirty young women have been found in drainage ditches, caliche pits, and vacant lots running alongside the highway through League City and Dickinson. Investigators believe multiple…

Curated → · 7.5 mi away

Dickinson, TX

1899

Dickinson is a city in northwestern Galveston County within the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land metropolitan area and located on State Highway 3. It was named for John Dickinson , who in 1824 received a Mexican grant for land north of the community's present site. A settlement called Dickinson existed on Dickinson's Bayou shortly before 1850. The Galveston, Houston and Henderson Railroad, one of the earliest chartered in Texas, was built straight through Dickinson in 1857. That same year, one of the railroad's directors, Ebenezer B. Nichols , built a summer estate on Dickinson Bayou. He brought the first slaves to Dickinson. During the Civil War , Dickinson was a Confederate town. In January 1862 a hospital for Confederate soldiers was established at Camp Kirby and located in the Nolan home next to the railroad on the south side of Dickinson Bayou. Gen. John B. Magruder used the GH&H railroad for his successful retaking of Galveston in 1863. Dickinson had a post office in 1890 registered under its current name. In 1890 Fred M. Nichols, the son of E. B., and eight other businessmen organized the Dickinson Land and Improvement Association to market unoccupied land in the Dickinson area. The primary attraction was the local soil's proven suitability for growing fruit, cane, berries, figs and potatoes. Nichols converted forty acres of his estate into a public park, the Dickinson Picnic Grounds. For the next three decades, people came from Galveston to picnic and holiday on the grounds. A Texas Coast Fair was organized there by 1896, and a harness racetrack was built to attract more people to Dickinson. By 1911 the Galveston and Houston Electric Railway Company had three stops in Dickinson. For recreation, a group of wealthy Galvestonians established the Oleander Country Club on the south end of the bayou in 1912. The club increased property values and became a tourist attraction. In the late 1800s African Americans bought property which became known as Moore's Addition and settled there. In 1889 Warren Chapel, named after preacher Richard H. Warren, was founded in Dickinson and, decades later, eventually became Faith United Methodist Church. From the same era, dating back to the 1800s, is the Magnolia Cemetery, originally called Dickinson Colored Cemetery. Blacks also worked in the gambling clubs during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Dickinson was a "wide-open" town during prohibition from 1920 to 1933 and was known for illicit sale of alcohol. Another impetus for Dickinson's development came from Italian immigrants at the turn of the twentieth century. A large group from Sicily who had settled in the Bryan area in 1894, were forced out by a series of floods. The Sicilians came to Dickinson from Highbank, two miles east of the Brazos River, in June 1899, when Highbank flooded. Clemente Nicolini, owner of an import-export business in Galveston, was also the Italian Consul and helped the Sicilian Italians resettle in the Galveston area, including Dickinson, where he was a property owner. In 1905 the U. S. Italian ambassador, Baron Mayor des Planches, who found suitable places of settlement for the large number of newly-arrived Italians living in overcrowded tenements in Eastern cities, visited Dickinson. His welcome by an estimated 150 Italians at the train station convinced him that Dickinson would be an excellent place for Italian settlement. In the early twentieth century Dickinson was called the "garden of Galveston County" and became known as the Strawberry Capital of the World. John Falco was the first president of the Dickinson's Growers' Association. In 1917 Frank Emmite and John Falco started the Dickinson Ice and Fuel Company and developed a refrigeration system and a way to make ice from artesian wells and springs. Italian immigrant Joseph Peter Giacchino built a home in Dickinson's Nicholstone subdivision in 1929 and soon constructed a small seed store on his property. Next to his home was an old gas station which became

Tsha Handbook → · 5.9 mi away

Things to Do in Santa Fe

historical 11.9 mi away
NASA Johnson Space Center

Houston we have a problem. Where Mission Control guided Apollo 11 to the moon.
historical 12.5 mi away
Space Center Houston

Houston we have a problem. Every word spoken between Apollo astronauts and Earth came through Mission Control at NASAs Johnson Space Center in Houston. The…
food 16.5 mi away
Killen's Barbecue

Chef Ronnie Killen's Pearland powerhouse. A classically trained chef who chose brisket over fine dining. The beef rib is absurd.
historical 20.1 mi away
Galveston Seawall

The 1900 Galveston Hurricane killed at least eight thousand people and remains the deadliest natural disaster in American history. In response Galveston built…
spooky 20.3 mi away
Hotel Galvez Ghost Bride

The Queen of the Gulf opened in 1911 after the Great Storm. Room 501 is haunted by a jilted bride who hanged herself after falsely believing her fiance died at…
nature 24.1 mi away
Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge

More than 40,000 acres of coastal marsh and prairie on the Central Flyway — one of the top birding spots in the U.S., with 320+ recorded species. Drive the…

Everything Near Santa Fe

592 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

Explore Santa Fe on the Map
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