Galveston and the Great Storm of 1900

Thomas Edison's company took moving pictures of the Galveston disaster. His waterfront film depicts sailboats, moored in the harbor, torn up like matchsticks. Still pictures portray the same types of wreckage.

Ships in port at the time of the storm were stranded and needed to be relaunched. Vessels coming into port after the storm were greeted by piles of rubble and ruined boats.

The harbor, normally a safe haven for mariners, was no better than being at sea. Indeed, Galveston was effectively at sea for much of Saturday evening, September 8th. The blackness of the night would have added terror to those who surely must have known they and their families were about to die.