2. Galveston, Texas
Galveston is located on Galveston Island, 2 miles off the Texas coast, and 50 SE of Houston
Galveston has been the home to Native Americans, Pirates, Revolutionary Governments and many Texas residents
The city of Galveston was begun in April of 1838 and was officially organized in 1839

5. Galveston, Texas
Mexico had used Galveston as a point of entry and used it as a port due to its naturally deep harbor.
During the 1800s Galveston was a center for Cotton shipping for Texas and the United States.
It grew to be the largest city in Texas by 1870 and remained that way through 1880 with a population of 22,248 people

6. Loading Cotton in Galveston

7. “The Wall Street of the Southwest”
During the late 1800s Galveston was Texas’ most refined city.
Beautiful architecture adorned the streets of the city, and Galveston enjoyed its role as the financial center of Texas, a true White-Collar City.
Galveston was the first Texas city to have electric lights, a telephone and baseball team

8. Ashton Villa

9. The Bishops Palace

10. The Grand 1894 Opera House

11. September 1900
By early September, 1900, citizens of Galveston had heard there was a storm in the Gulf of Mexico, but they did not know how powerful it was
Most citizens disregarded the warnings given by Isaac Cline, the city’s representative of the U.S. Weather Bureau
Limited communication was available to the citizens because of issues with telegraph wires.

12. Dr. Isaac Cline

13. September 7, 1900
Dr. Cline notices unusual swells in the gulf as he makes his rounds, but nothing signaling what’s to come.
Dr. Cline continued to receive messages from the Weather bureau as Galveston had been put under a storm warning as early as Sept 4.
Galveston’s 38,000 residents go to sleep that night unaware of the fate that awaits them

14. 1900 Storm Path

15. Hurricane Ike Path

16. September 8, 1900
Early in the day, water begins to flood homes blocks from the beach
Galveston’s highest point above sea level was only 8.7 feet and people begin to move to higher ground and into tall buildings
As the flood waters rise the bridge to mainland is destroyed by a boat that escapes its moorings

17. September 8, 1900
By the early evening, the winds began to blow the deadly storm surge onto the island
A storm surge of 15.7 feet swept over the island and completely submerged it. People fled to the second and third stories of high buildings
The wind gusts are estimated to be near 130 mph

18. September 8, 1900
As people fled the storm, many were killed by flying debris from houses that had been destroyed by wind and water
People clung to anything to keep themselves afloat.
By night time the city was in utter darkness as the gasworks for city lighting was destroyed.

19. September 8, 1900
By 11:00 pm, the winds turned from the south and the storm began to weaken
By the next morning the storm was gone and devastation was left in its wake:
6,000-8,000 people dead on the island
3,600 building destroyed
$20-30 million in damage done to the island

24. Causeway before the storm
Causeway after the storm

28. Saint Mary’s Orphanage
All 10 nuns and 90 of 93 orphans are killed in the hurricane.

29. High School and Beach Hotel

30. Tremont Hotel & Galveston Home

31. Aftermath

32. Aftermath

33. Aftermath

34. Galveston

35. Aftermath Photographs & Film

36. Aftermath Galveston had to recover
Bodies were collected to be identified and then a plan was made to dispose of them
Bodies were stacked on barges and weighted down to be sunk in the gulf. A few days later the bodies washed back onto the island.

37. Aftermath
The city officials decided to burn all the bodies, and began to stack them down on the beaches. Many African-American citizens were put in charge of burning the bodies.
Galveston asked for assistance from the governor to prevent riots in the city

39. Changes
Galveston changed its City Government to a commission system to speed up the process of recovering
A seawall was proposed to block the island from deadly storm surges and the city planned to raise it’s elevation by bringing in sand from the shipping channel (bay).

41. The Seawall
Galveston built a 17 foot sea wall that extends for over three miles of the islands coastline.
They increased the elevation of the town by 16 feet
These projects were completed by 1904, causing Galveston to miss out on the oil boom.

43. Construction of Seawall 1905

44. Galveston Seawall

46. Galveston Today
Galveston resumed its role as a port of entry for Texas immigrants after the Hurricane
However, Houston overtook Galveston as the most important port city in Texas when the Houston Ship Channel was built.

47. The Strand Historical District

48. Galveston Today Galveston’s economy today is based largely on tourism.
It is also the home of two Universities:
Texas A&M Galveston
University of Texas Medical Branch