The Bacliff CDP is home to the Kenneth E. Little Elementary school and Bayshore Park, created from land donated by Texas Genco.

[7] The area was developed as a seaside weekend resort,[7][8] and included parks, hotels, summer homes, and a bathhouse and open air pavilion built on a pier over the water.

[4][8] The hurricane of 1915 destroyed many of the improvements to the area, but by 1924 the bathhouse and pavilion had been restored and summer residents returned to the community.

A fire destroyed the pavilion in 1929 and it was rebuilt and hosted numerous summer concerts by both the Galveston and Houston orchestras.

Postal Service refused to allow the name Clifton-by-the-Sea to be used due to its length, and the name Clifton was already in use by another Texas town, so the residents chose the same name as the subdivision at the center of business, Bay Cliff, as a replacement.

[8] In 1964, Houston Lighting and Power began construction on two 450 MW electric generating units in Bacliff as part of the company's Project Enterprise expansion.

[10][page needed] In the 1970s and 1980s, there was a dispute over the valuation of the power plant between HL&P and the Dickinson Independent School District (DISD).

[12][13] In April 1985, residents of Bacliff, Bayview, and San Leon considered an incorporation proposal to become the City of Bayshore.

Opponents said that the tax base was too small to support municipal services including police and road and drainage improvements.

Supporters said that incorporation would establish more local control over affairs, an area police department, and the ability to pass ordinances.

Opponents said that the area's tax base could not sufficiently support municipal service, including police protection and road and drainage improvements.

Donna Maples, vice president of the Bacliff-Bayview Community Association, supported the incorporation measure.

[17] That year Bacliff and San Leon formed a nine member board to prepare the communities for incorporation.

This plant was placed in service on June 1, 2017[23] After Hurricane Ike hit Texas in September 2008, Galveston County officials offered a debris removal program to residents in unincorporated areas, including Bacliff.

[24][25] Flooding from hurricane Ike was minimized due in part to Bacliff's relatively high elevation of 16 feet.

[28] As of 2012 Bacliff, Bayview, and San Leon together make up the largest unincorporated community in the mainland portion of Galveston County by population.

[50] In 2008 Phale Cassady Le, an outreach coordinator of Boat People SOS Houston, said that in Bacliff and San Leon there were between 150 and 200 Vietnamese families with origins in crab, oyster, and shrimp fishing operations.

Nick Cenegy of The Galveston County Daily News said that the Vietnamese community in Bacliff and San Leon had a "tradition of self-reliance and wariness of outsiders.

"[51] The Vietnamese first moved into the Galveston Bay Area in the 1970s and established shrimping businesses with borrowed money.

Cindy George of the Houston Chronicle said "The gang purportedly makes money by selling powdered and crack cocaine as well as methamphetamine.

[54] In 2011 the Federal Government of the United States arrested four men from Bacliff, accusing to be a part of the gang and charging them crimes related to crack cocaine distribution.

[77] The United States Postal Service Bacliff Post Office is located at 415 Grand Avenue.

[84] The CCISD part of the community north of Bay Avenue is within the Board of Trustees District 5,[85] represented by Dee Scott as of 2014.

[86] The DISD portion is zoned to Kenneth E. Little Elementary School in the Bacliff community in unincorporated Galveston County.

[98] The Galveston County Department of Parks and Senior Services operates several recreational facilities in Bacliff.

[99] The 28-acre (110,000 m2) Bayshore Park at 5437 East Farm to Market Road 646 (FM 646) has five baseball fields, one boat ramp, one historic site, ten picnic areas, one pier, one playground, and five practice backstops.

[98] In 2014 Galveston County purchased and cleared a new 64-acre (26 ha) tract in Bacliff which will become a new park for the Bayshore area.

[106] The nearest full service marina is the Eagle Point fishing camp, located off East Bayshore Drive in San Leon.

[108] T.J. Aulds of The Galveston County Daily News said that Bacliff, San Leon, and Bayview "are known for great spots to eat seafood.

"[50] As of 1991 Bacliff, along with Kemah and Seabrook, houses pleasure boats from NASA employees due to its proximity to the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.