The Great Galveston Disaster

A collection of photographs and stories chronicling Galveston's catastrophic hurricane in 1900, its aftermath—and the lives of those caught in the storm.

“Massive buildings were crushed like egg shells, great timbers were carried through the air as though they were of no weight, and the winds and the waves swept everything before them until their appetite for destruction was satiated and their force spent.” —From the foreword by Richard Spillane, editor of the Galveston Tribune

More than 6,000 people lost their lives in the hurricane that struck Galveston, Texas on September 8, 1900. The many personal tragedies and triumphs of those who survived come to light in this full and thrilling account that is made even more evocative and jolting by its profusion of photographs taken immediately after the disaster.

S. W. Clinton lost his wife and six children, including two sons he could not save from drowning before his very eyes. Long engaged, Ernest A. Mayo and Bessie Roberts decided it was better to face the daunting tasks ahead of them together, and were married a mere five days after the flood.

Their stories, and the stories of all who survived the great Galveston Hurricane of 1900, attest to humanity's ability to overcome even the most horrific of disasters.