Although Galveston Island has been occupied since the early 1500s, the city was not created until 1836, when Canadian Michel Menard purchased a league and labor of land for $50,000 from the Austin Colony. Because of the need for more money to promote the town, Menard took on nine partners, forming the Galveston City Company. The first buildings were prefabricated houses from Maine, one of which still stands today. The Republic of Texas quickly made the fledgling city a port of entry, and the Strand area filled with wholesalers, cotton agents and merchants. The city flourished.