| Island
visitors often comment on how close together the Victorian homes are in the East
End Historic District. But it wasn’t always that way. In
fact most of the homes had big lots like the one at 1320 Ball Avenue where I used
to live. That is they did until the famous 1900
Storm hit the island.
When the city was first platted in the early
1800s, it was decided that the houses and stores and office buildings would be
built on the north side of Broadway, and most of the land south of Broadway would
be reserved for farms and livestock.
Broadway was built to be a natural
levy, with the land being higher on the north side.
In 1886, three hurricanes
hit the island between July and October. What a mess!
But then wouldn’t
you know that thereafter year after year passed, and there were no storms.
Galvestonians
began to think there wouldn’t be any more storms. So they started building homes
south of Broadway, down there at sea level. Even the weatherman, the famous Isaac
Cline built his home almost at the water’s edge.
Sure enough, the big
1900
Storm hit, and there was mass destruction. After that, it was decided to raise
Galveston
by pumping in sand and building a seawall
on the gulf side of the island. So at the seawall level, the island would be raised
to nearly twenty feet, but instead of keeping the entire island nearly that high,
they designed the grade to cant to only about five feet above sea level at the
bay side.
But before they could start the pumping, they had to do something
with those houses that were just turned over, but could be saved.
So they
moved them over on the north side of Broadway and stuck them in wherever they’d
fit.
Now you know why in Galveston
roofs sometimes overhang roofs, and why some houses are so close together you
wonder how their walls could have been built.
But the biggest error that
was made with the island’s new land design was having no understanding of storm
surges. Consequently, there is no protection from fierce rising water and waves
on the north side of the island.
Oft times that phenomenon is more dangerous
to life and property than the hurricane itself.
And it was the occurrence
of that phenomenon that caused a huge part of Galveston Island to be all but annihilated
when Hurricane Ike came ashore on September
11, 2008.
Bill
Cherry's Galveston Memories February 4, 2009 column
Copyright William
S. Cherry. All rights reserved |
