1915 Hurricane Tests Galveston’s New Seawall

There was still no news from Galveston on Aug. 18, 1915 two full days after a hurricane packing 125 mile-per-hour winds slammed into the island.

Texans on the mainland, including 7,000 refugees from the stricken city, could only worry and wonder whether the new seawall had saved Galveston from a repeat of the calamity of 1900.

Two hurricanes in the summer of 1886, especially the August storm that finished off Indianola, got some Galvestonians to thinking again about building a barrier on the beach.  But they were, as usual, badly outnumbered by neighbors, who took it as an article of faith that the Oleander City was immune to nature’s wrath.

    This fatally flawed opinion was shared by residents from all walks of life and proudly preached by the major newspapers.  On top of that, a recognized authority on ocean tempests eliminated any possibility of a serious discussion of the seawall suggestion by declaring a “cove of safety” made the island hurricane-proof.

In September 1900, the people of Galveston paid a terrible price for their head-in-the-sand foolishness.  A monster hurricane destroyed a third of the town, killed an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 on the island alone and another 4,000 in the surrounding area.

The worst natural disaster in American history did settle once and for all the issue of a seawall.  The city hired a trio of engineers to study the problem, and in late 1901 they presented their two-part solution.

In Galveston – A History David McComb described the engineers’ recommendation:  “…a three-mile wall of solid concrete, paved on top, from the south jetty across the eastern edge of the city, and down the beach.  To prevent flooding in the city, the elevation of the land would be raised to 18 feet at the wall and then decrease at an angle of one foot every 1,500 feet to the bay.”

The price tag was a staggering $3.5 million, a mind-boggling sum in turn-of-the-century dollars.  But the money proved much easier to raise than anyone expected with Austin, Washington and Galvestonians themselves, particularly the wealthy elite, all pitching in.

A Denver-based company was awarded the contract and construction began in February 1903.  The herculean job was finished on time and on budget in less than two years.

At the dedication ceremony, one of the builders uttered these prophetic words, “I will not say anything for the wall, for if it ever has an opportunity you will find it well able to speak for itself.”

The next year, the Army Corps of Engineers came in and extended the seawall from 39th Street to 53rd Street.  This was done at government expense to protect Fort Crockett.

Raising the city was an even more humungous task.  Sixteen million cubic yards of sand were sucked out of Galveston Bay and pumped into quarter-mile sections.  The liquid evaporated leaving homes, businesses, churches, utility lines, everything — which had been raised in advance with jackscrews – on higher and dry land.

The third and final piece of the puzzle was the much-needed causeway that connected the island with the mainland.  Upon completion in 1912, the span had room enough for two railroads, the interurban (the electric trolley running between Galveston and Houston), a 30-inch water main and two lanes of automobile traffic.

Galveston was ready, or at least as ready as it would ever be, for nature’s worst.

Unlike the Great Storm a decade and a half earlier, islanders had ample warning of the hurricane of 1915.  Thousands chose to leave by train, interurban and private transportation well in advance of the big blow.

Safe and secure inside Fort Crockett, soldiers watched the towering waves break over the seawall.  They could not believe their eyes, when a three-masted schooner suddenly soared over the barrier catching its anchor on the base of the structure.

Risking their own lives to save the helpless captain and crew, the soldiers ran to the rescue.  Incredibly they succeeded in pulling all hands to safety before the ship was broken to pieces.

When the last interurban off the island lost power on the causeway, the passengers had to walk back to an inn at Virginia Point.  The hotel washed away in the middle of the night sweeping 15 terrified guests to their deaths.

At about the same time, the U.S. dredge Houston capsized and sank two miles off Texas City.  Thirty-five of the 42-man crew drowned.

Even though this hurricane was every bit as powerful as its nightmarish predecessor, fewer than 10 lives were lost in Galveston proper thanks to the seawall and higher elevation.  Nearby communities were not so fortunate as a total of 71 perished in Texas City, Anahuac and Surfside.

Bartee Haile welcomes your comments, questions and suggestions at haile@pdq.net or P.O. Box 152, Friendswood, TX 77549.  And come on by www.twith.com for a visit!