The unnamed racist police detective (Howard Picard) who orders the gang to disperse at Mr. Kool's homicide scene is/was a member of the Galveston Police Department. Det. Picard retired from the Galveston P.D. in 1988; in real life, he was an alligator wrestler at the former Sea-Arama Marineworld.
Right before the gang enters the bar where they were beaten, the former Demack's Produce building is seen in the background located at 20th and Strand. The awning seen in the film was removed in June 2009 due to saltwater corrosion damage from Hurricane Ike, which made landfall September 13, 2008. The bar which the gang enters is the former Sweet Apples Lounge.
The song playing on the transistor radio after A.P. enters the gang hideout is Say It Again by Love Unlimited, a female vocal trio for singer/composer Barry White.
In the film, there is a prostitute hangout at the corner of 27th Street and Market Street/Avenue D in Galveston. This particular location was once a department store during the turn of the 20th Century after the Galveston Storm of 1900 and during the 1970s - it became a local bar. The building sat vacant for decades and sadly, was demolished in 2002 and redeveloped. The windowed building seen in the background is owned by the Jesse Tree Ministries since 1996.
The church which held Mr. Kool's memorial service is the Trinity Missionary Baptist Church (now the Bethel Baptist Church) located at 1223 32nd Street in Galveston. It was organized back in 1890 a decade prior to the Galveston Storm of 1900.