Episode 40: Raising Galveston and Walling Off the Sea

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2 жыл бұрын

One of the greatest example of resilience in Texas, indeed United States, history was the building of the Galveston seawall and the raising of the city. After the Great Hurricane of 1900, the easiest thing to do would have been to abandon Galveston Island. But that wouldn’t be the Texan thing to do. Instead, the people of Galveston appointed three engineers to figure out how to defeat the next big hurricane. The 3-member board suggested the construction of a 3-mile seawall to protect the city against a storm surge. But they went even further. They proposed raising the city as much as 17 feet in some places, houses, buildings an all. So the citizens of Galveston went to work and created the Galveston we know today. Buildings as large as 3000 tons were raised one-half inch at a time! It worked. For over 100 years, the Galveston seawall has been a center of tourism in Texas as well as a barrier against destruction. It passed its first test in 1909 and its first big test in 1915-with flying colors. Tune in to this latest episode of Wise About Texas and get ready for hurricane season!

Пікірлер: 66

@stevenhokanson448 Жыл бұрын

My Great Grandfather arrived in Galveston from Sweden about 3 weeks after the Great Storm. Wile my Great Grandmother and Grandfather who was 2 at the time. Stayed in Sweden before my Great Grandfather sent for both of them. A little over a 1 year later. One of his first job upon arriving in Galveston. Was helping picking up dead bodies. And cleaning up around Galveston Island. He also help build the sea wall. And build back Galveston. I'm only the 2nd generation born here. My father being the 1st generation born here. I still have family that lives in Galveston. Also we have family in Houston. And I live in Pasadena Texas. 7 members of my family are buried in the old historical cemetery on Broadway street. GOD Bless Texas.

@MrEliasdl Жыл бұрын

What a cool history. God bless your Grandfather. Such a testament to human spirit.

@user-ru3ip6rh6k Жыл бұрын

My Great Grandfather was the fire chief of Galveston in 1900. my grandmother was born on the kitchen table with 3 feet of water on the floor. She was born 4 days after the hurricane. My people came from Scotland, Ireland, Czech and England to Galveston.

@stevenhokanson448 Жыл бұрын

@@user-ru3ip6rh6k that a cool family story. Our family was smart moving to Texas. Glad our families didn't move up north.

@benf1111 Ай бұрын

My great grandfather arrived in Galveston for the same morbid job.

@cathyorlowski1951 Ай бұрын

Thank you for your Gr grandfather's help and your families sacrifice during the trying time after 1900 disaster. As a native Texan all the help given to help this Great state of ours. My ancestor was at the Alamo and was amoung the children who survived.🇨🇱🇺🇲

@Texasbluestunes Жыл бұрын

100 years ago the beach extended far far out. I can remember how much beach there was in the 70’s It would help if they continue to dredge and hold off beach erosion. It’s much better today than in the 80’s and 90’s.

@leighbonner2762 Ай бұрын

When I was young we were taught that East Texas long leaf pine was the source of the wood used to build the seawall.

@thomaswayneward Ай бұрын

And the foundation for the Brookline bridge.

@benf1111 Ай бұрын

I sometimes wonder if the roles of Galveston and Houston would be reversed if it was never hit by such a devastating hurricane. I always think "what could have been" whem I visit. I feel the greatness of what once was and the lost potential whenever I visit. A nostalgic feeling.

@I-Libertine Ай бұрын

True.

@rt3box6tx74 Ай бұрын

Ive watched a youtube channel about restoring a grand Galveston mansion (League-Kempner House) where raising the island comes up from time to time. It was pure beach sand they used and hasn't been without issues. Homeowners didn't plan ahead so walks and yard fences were just buried and rebuilt. Basement windows and entries were rendered problematic places for rainwater to enter, requiring elaborate gutter and underground cisterns to hold runoff. The old grand homes were built high, but weren't as easy to lift as ordinary frame homes. The League-Kempner house has been purchased by the wife of a Houston building contractor as her life's passion project, but after a while she realized she needed to form a foundation to finish the project because she grasped she wouldn't be around to see it finished. She renovated an old Galveston apartment complex before she took on the mansion. She puts out a new video showing the progress weekly. The latest I watched was about hiring a high-end firm to remake a set of several large, curved windows.

@MrEliasdl Жыл бұрын

Texas has balls. They were like you wanna mess with us ocean? We aren't moving. We'll just raise the whole freaking island. As a Civil Engineering professional, I'm shocked I've never heard about this attempt to hold back nature in Civil Engineering classes or training. Whether good or bad there has to be something to learn.

@thomaswayneward Ай бұрын

The outside world (out of Texas) knows little of Texas. People are jealous of Texas for some reason. Texans are go getters and will get the job done.

@danneejoboislander2994 Ай бұрын

Fantastic show! I am a 4th gen BOI. My maternal great-parents were 1900 Storm survivors. My maternal grandmother was 5 years old during the 1915 Storm. She shared recollections of her experience many times during my life. My paternal great-grandfather was a captain of the dredge boat Leviathan during the grade-raising. I didn't grow up here but moved back as an adult-the Island feels like home down to my bones. Oddly, there is a certain amount of pride in being their dependent.

@aprilrrain 2 жыл бұрын

Just an amazing engineering feat!

@DonelRourke Жыл бұрын

I thoroughly enjoyed your podcast. Thank you for bringing this historic subject to light. My great great grandfather was J.M. O'Rourke. He was from Ireland, but lived in Galveston in a home on 23rd and Ave. P..

@nozrep Жыл бұрын

oh wow THE Robert of THE venerable Robert’s Rules for Order and Public Meetings book/guide/treatise!? Wow what a connection! That is so cool.

@tommysaulter9171 Ай бұрын

Raising the island was a very forward thinking goal. With today’s political climate, I think they’d try to lower the oceans…

@calvinparker9741 Ай бұрын

Lower the ocean?? Now that's forward thinking!!!! Lol

@bradhayescamoman9348 Ай бұрын

I've been through several hurricanes in Florida & all I can say is it's only a matter of when & nothing can be built to withstand a direct hit for hurricanes are far beyond what most can recognize in destructive forces..

@shable1436 Ай бұрын

Concrete structures that are anchored and tall enough to withstand a sea surge seems to be the most safest

@Rexag 2 ай бұрын

Great video... Texas has a nationalism that no other state has kept...those that are natives are loyal to Texas first as a sovereign state as all the states should be in agreement as the original Constitution defines. This makes the unique spirit Texans portray in all they do... all states for that fact. You always were introduced by state last name... John Doe of Texas... We have been challenged a lot lately by those emigrating here wishing to change us...that won't happen. You assimilate or find a place you can change.... This storm disaster showed the other states what rebuilding meant in a time with limited resources.

@shable1436 Ай бұрын

I live in swva in a place called Austinville. It is catacombed with mines over 300 feet deep you can get lost in. The area was named, and founded by Moses Austin, his son was Stephen, the same man Austin Texas is named after, he was born literally a block from my house. So Texas has always been a place for adventurers to go, and lots of natural resources like here. Texas had that independent streak in it, but forgot was founded by everyone that came from the east, then claimed after a generation that they are Texans by blood rite, but pushed Indians off the land.

@AF_1892 2 ай бұрын

Funny story about the big granite rocks. I was starting med school. My family came down to get me settled. Grandmother saw someone passed out on the rocks. "Why would anyone want to sleep on there? It looks so hard"! Haha bc they were either homeless or on drugs. The island attracts crazy types. Other TX cities in 2003 at least, were not a place to be homeless. I hope the new migrants don't crash it and destroy it.

@thomaswayneward Ай бұрын

You mean the illegals?

@suzanneforasiepi3942 2 ай бұрын

And hurricane 🌀 Ike took out the the Old Balinese room we must be careful and be prepared for anything that cones up our way

@Elainerulesutube 2 ай бұрын

What are you on about?

@suzanneforasiepi3942 2 ай бұрын

@@Elainerulesutube I went through that hurricane 🌀 and it was very brutal do you understand now 😞

@danneejoboislander2994 Ай бұрын

I shed tears over that loss. My maternal great-uncles worked for the Maceos.

@MrJRHEBERT Ай бұрын

I used to live in Santa Fe TX and took my kids into Galveston all the time because they loved the beach and the seawall and riding the ferry. It's so cool learning about these impressive feats of engineering. Great video!

@ameliamokarzel2761 29 күн бұрын

What an awesome historical video. I never knew the massive undertaking that went into the building of the seawall.

@cratecruncher4974 10 күн бұрын

10:30 Cholera could have added more misery when you think of the thousands of those little outhouses on stilts in the mud.. Bolivar Peninsula just across the inlet has the same topography as pre-seawall Galveston. In 2008 Hurricane Ike hit the bay area with a wall of water. The storm surge approached so quickly Bolivar residents that chose to stay were already being evacuated by helicopter in sunshine with a 5 mph breeze! The after photos show the entire area scraped flat with just a few overbuilt structures remaining. To me that was 1900 in a nutshell, minus the helicopter evacuations and lunatics who stayed knowing the storm was bringing a 20 foot wall of water to the area. x

@DanielWatson-vv7cd 2 ай бұрын

Cities in Florida may have to do the same.

@jmas2312 Ай бұрын

Thanks for your work on this project. This is a great coverage of this part of Galveston history. I look forward to watching your other episodes.

@model-man7802 Жыл бұрын

I saw a video on the weather Channel. Ike was approaching and the water was already at the top of the wall.

@AF_1892 2 ай бұрын

Yep, it was. Normally, you get the full seawall. That is how harsh hurricanes are.

@danneejoboislander2994 Ай бұрын

It's a scary sight

@Lovelady1225 Ай бұрын

When you made this Harvey was looming in the near future

@GHST995 Ай бұрын

Harvey was more than 2 years ago.

@Hazwaste63 Ай бұрын

@@GHST995 The video was posted 2 years ago, but he says a couple of times that it's just before June 1, 2017 in the video.

@jaym3632 Ай бұрын

My favorite is bolivar. I’d love to live there but my wife says no way😂😢

@kristinebailey6554 Ай бұрын

We used to live on Galveston and took the ferry over to Bolivar. Fun to visit but yeah, no way. Even up in Dickinson Hurricane Harvey destroyed our house with 28 inches of filthy bayou water. Three months after we had bought it and moved in. Thank God we didn't listen to the realtors and staff at the title office, we bought flood insurance. Once it was refurbed, we moved to the Rocky Mountains. No more floods for us! There are homes in our subdivision that have flooded 4 times!

@DonelRourke Жыл бұрын

J.M. O'Rourke brought the granite from Granite Mountain.

@Hotshot47753 26 күн бұрын

And Galveston still has a flooding problem.

@johnnyb3726 10 күн бұрын

Incredible! We used to be able to move the entire Earth to advance our civilization and country to benefit us all....Now, we cant get a simple telephone pole replaced without a billion miles of red tape and shenanigans involving abstract incompetency.

@guanacocruz765 9 ай бұрын

Interesting

@benf1111 Ай бұрын

Probably going to need to raise it more in the next few decades.

@kristinebailey6554 Ай бұрын

Very doubtful. smh

@user-fe1jh1yf4c Ай бұрын

You’ll never beat Mother Nature. Ask NOLA

@carlosmante Ай бұрын

Galvez town.

@MarionHubbard Ай бұрын

What happened to the canal used for the dredging?

@richarda996 Ай бұрын

It’s still in use, offloading cargo and other ship cruises to the Caribbean islands.

@thomaswayneward Ай бұрын

Yankees tried to conquer Galveston during Lincolns war, they took a wiping and left.

@laurenclark5734 Жыл бұрын

I’ve never heard why the wall was 17 feet. Why not 18 or 20 feet?

@MrEliasdl Жыл бұрын

My guess is it was based on the height of the storm surge in 1900. Also the base would have to be even wider which exponentially increases cost. From what I could dig up with hurricane Ike in 2008 the Seawall did its job. However, the water came around the island and up onto the island through the port some.

@laurenclark5734 Жыл бұрын

@@MrEliasdl that makes logical sense. Great answer. I was living in southeast Texas in 2008 when I hit and it did definitely do some damage in Galveston though.

@MrEliasdl Жыл бұрын

@@laurenclark5734 I'm a Civil Engineer. We just got back from a family 4th of July vacation staying on Seawall Blvd near the Walmart. Going into our trip I knew the storm happened in 1900 and it was big, but was bummed to find out on the last day of our trip about all that was done to fortify the island. What a tremendous feat of human Spirit and engineering. I really want to go back to explore that history more. However, we are back home in AZ. I did buy a couple books at the Elissa souvenir shop to learn some about the reconstruction.

@laurenclark5734 Жыл бұрын

@@MrEliasdl I hope you will go back. You are right about it being a feat if engineering and the human spirit. I doubt something like that would happen these days. I get so bogged down in government regulations. Galveston does not always have the prettiest beaches, but it is definitely a unique place.

@MrEliasdl Жыл бұрын

@@laurenclark5734 I enjoyed the beach alot in Galveston. For me a beach is more than just the softness of sand and color of water. I appreciated the laid-back family day at the beach vibe. Just seeing families park on the side of the road and lug a cooler down to the sand to have a whole day of fun was way cool. Reminded me of the days in the 80s when our family didn't have much in LA but could always have a cheap day of fun in Huntington Beach before it got all commercial and high end touristy. The people in Galveston were amazing. I hope it stays just the way it is We will be back God willing.