3 minute read
Welcome to La Marque
La MarquE
La marque
A growing community with an eye to the future, La Marque offers a coastal, family friendly atmosphere, ideally located on Interstate 45, just minutes from Houston and Galveston.
La Marque is the geographic center of Galveston County and is the ideal location for growing families and business expansion, with easy access to I-45, beautiful neighborhoods, parks, churches and new schools under construction. More than 17,500 people call La Marque home.
Events & Attractions
Along with seven other city parks, Mac McGaffey Highland Bayou Park offers 230 acres of family-fun activities, such as birding, basketball, soccer and horseshoes. Fishing, kayaking, paddle boarding and picnicking are also favorites among the locals and visitors.
Bayou Fest, held every October at Highland Bayou Park, is a free, familyfriendly event that draws some 20,000plus attendees, with a prestigious Galveston County Triple Crown barbecue cook-off, entertainment, concerts, food, a kids’ fishing tournament, mutton bustin’ and more.
The Big Ass Crawfish Bash, an annual crawfish cooking competition and festival, is held in the spring. The event holds the Guinness World Record for most crawfish prepared in eight hours (58,083.98 pounds).
City of La Marque offers annual community events throughout the year including La Marque Kids Fish, Beautify the Bayou, city cleanups, Wreaths Across America, Juneteenth Celebration, Hurricane Huddle, the Christmas parade and youth activities at La Marque Public Library.
Lodging
Name-brand hotels and restaurants serve, vacationers and visitors for lodging and conference-stay needs. The city’s location offers an easy commute to Galveston Island, Kemah Boardwalk, NASA Space Center and Houston. A selection of RV Resorts round out the overnight stay options.
Shopping and Dining
Shopping options? Want to grab lunch? Oh yes! Take a stroll around Gulfway Plaza. Just head 45 south and exit at Delany Road. The outdoor center offers a nice combination of national retailers, as well as locally owned and operated boutiques, shops and dining options including, Barcenas, Boot Kikkers Bingo, Dollar Tree and Serious Tackle. Texas Parks and Wildlife and the College of the Mainland 50 Plus program operate from Gulfway Plaza, too.
La Marque Renaissance District
Revitalization efforts on the city’s historic east side continue. Renovation of 401 Laurel is complete and the building is now home to Art of Coffee, a locally owned coffee and art gallery concept with several locations across Bay Area Houston.
Innovation Safety Solutions and Choice Analytical join Kin-Tek Labs as downtown La Marque continues to draw industrial support businesses and global headquarters.
Downtown La Marque, dubbed the Renaissance District, stretches down Laurel Street from Bayou Road to Yupon Drive and First Street to state Highway 3. A streetscaping project for downtown, along with Bayou Road from Texas Avenue to Main Street, is in the engineering phase and city officials hope to break ground in 2022. Beautiful blue lamp posts are being installed along the sidewalks at the intersection of First and Laurel streets.
Longtime businesses including Albrecht Construction, Alex’s Air, Benito’s and Crescent Electric continue to thrive in the Renaissance District and new businesses, including Small Events and El Lugar Event Center, are building their business downtown.
La Marque Economic Development Corporation works to attract more businesses, restaurants and beautification efforts to the area. Improving the Renaissance District is a priority for the City of La Marque, including planting trees, creating pocket parks and hosting community events.