Extra! Extra! Eyes of the World on Texas: Galveston
Hurricane of 1900
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Galveston Hurricane of 1900
The Texas port city of Galveston was a well- established population center that by 1900 had reached 37,000 people. Residents of the city were familiar with stormy weather rushing in from the Gulf of Mexico, but the destruction caused by the hurricane that came ashore on September 8, 1900, was difficult to fathom. The combination of 145 mile-per-hour winds, and rising floodwaters pouring into streets, devastated the city and remains the worst natural disaster in the country’s history. Between 8,000 and 12,000 people lost their lives. In response, the city built a sea wall for better protection and even used sand pumped from the Gulf to raise the city as much as 15 feet higher than 1900 levels.
Front page, Sept. 11, 1900. Houston Daily Post. Click or tap on image to view larger version.
Supplement to the album, Galveston: Before and After the Storm, 1901. Prints and Photographs, 1/160-109. Click or tap on image to view larger version.
Texas Secretary of State Legislative Bills and Resolutions filed, Ch.12, Aug. 20, 1901, 2-13/42. Click or tap on image to view larger version.
Signed portion of Texas Senate Bill No. 13, authorizing all counties and cities bordering the Gulf of Mexico to construct sea walls and breakwaters through bonds and taxes. The rule to read the law three times was suspended because of the emergency. Gov. Joseph Sayers signed it on Sept. 7, 1901.
Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone Company voucher for $1,000.00 for relief of sufferers from storm at Galveston, Texas, September 12, 1900 and Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone Company voucher for $500.00 for relief of sufferers from storm at Galveston, Texas, September 12, 1900. Texas Governor Joseph D. Sayers records, 301-184 and Texas Governor Joseph D. Sayers records, 301-184. Click or tap on links and images to view larger versions.
Governor Sayers’ records contain a wealth of information about the recovery efforts after the devastating storm. The pay voucher seen here is an example of how cities, businesses, and individuals sent money to Texas to help the citizens of Galveston.
Fort Worth National Bank pay voucher for $500.00.
Click or tap on image to view larger version.
The pay voucher seen here was sent to the governor from the Mayor of Fort Worth contributing $500 to the relief efforts in Galveston.
Announcement for a Mass Meeting in Columbus, Texas, to convene to consider ways to extend relief to the Galveston victims. Texas Governor Joseph D. Sayers records, 301-184. Click or tap on image to view larger version.
Cities, organizations, and citizens from all over Texas and the United States sent donations of money and supplies to the people of Galveston. This announcement from the city of Columbus, Texas, represents those efforts to help.
Telegram from President William McKinley to the governor of Texas, September 10, 1900. Texas Governor Joseph D. Sayers records, 301-183. Click or tap on image to view larger version.
President McKinley offered the support of the United States Government to help the Galveston Hurricane victims. He directed the War Department to send rations, tents, and personnel to assist with the recovery efforts.
Telegram from William Randolph Hearst of the New York Journal to the governor, September 11, 1900. Texas Governor Joseph D. Sayers records, 301-184. Click or tap on image to view larger version.
William Randolph Hearst was an American newspaper publisher known for developing the nation’s largest media company. In 1900, he sent trains of supplies to help the citizens of Galveston as the they recovered from the storm. He also hosted a charity fundraiser in New York City to benefit children orphaned by the hurricane which raised $50,000 (more than $1.5 million in today’s money).
Telegram from Clara Barton of the National Red Cross to the governor of Texas, September 10, 1900. Texas Governor Joseph D. Sayers records, 301-183. Click or tap on image to view larger version.
Offers of aid came from all over the United States including the American Red Cross, founded by Clara Barton in 1881. She arrived in Galveston within days of the hurricane bringing personnel, supplies, and relief funds. This was her last field operation as head of the Red Cross.
Big mixer at work on the sea wall, undated. William Deming Hornaday collection, 1975/070-1490. Click or tap on links and images to view larger versions.
Laying the foundation for the sea wall, undated. William Deming Hornaday collection, 1975/070-1482.
Click or tap on links and images to view larger versions.
After the devastating hurricane hit Galveston in 1900, the Texas State Legislature acted to allow for the construction of a seawall to protect the city from future storms. This collection has photographs of Galveston from the turn of the twentieth century including this concrete mixer working to fill the seawall.
The Great Galveston Disaster, Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times Including Vivid Descriptions of the Hurricane, 1900. Main Collection, 976.4139 L567. Click or tap on image to view larger version.
Both of these books, published later in the year 1900, include first-hand accounts of the disaster that befell Galveston in September 1900.
The Great Storm: the Hurricane Diary of J.T. King, Galveston, Texas, 1900. Main Collection, 813.54 R632g.
After the storm, despite the scale of the destruction, life went on, as shown by this image of a woman making her way through the rubble in order to launder clothes. Click or tap on image to view larger version.