 The end of the war drastically reduced military investment in the island . Increasing enforcement of gambling laws and the growth of Las Vegas , Nevada as a competitive center of gambling and entertainment put pressure on the gaming industry on the island . Finally in 1957 , Texas Attorney General Will Wilson and the Texas Rangers began a massive campaign of raids which disrupted gambling and prostitution in the city . As these vice industries crashed , so did tourism , taking the rest of the Galveston economy with it . Neither the economy nor the culture of the city was the same afterward . 
