The Great Galveston Fire of 1885 - Galveston, Texas
Galveston Unscripted | Free. Texas History. For All.
English - August 26, 2021 00:00 - 2 minutes - 1.47 MBHistory Society & Culture Places & Travel galveston texas history audio tour free island education texas history historic Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
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Interested in information covered in this episode? Dive deeper into the links below! :
Great Fire 1885: https://www.galvestonhistorycenter.org/news/the-great-galveston-fire-of-1885
Book: Galveston Burning | James Anderson
Photos & Story from Galveston Daily News:
https://www.galvnews.com/news/specialreports/free/article_a7fdf21f-96e4-5454-b3d7-b12d893e84a9.html
Most galvestonians are familiar with the 1900 storm and other major hurricanes. Another disaster you may not have heard of is the great fire of 1885, which burned over 500 homes across 40 city blocks, displacing thousands of residents. On Friday, November 13th, a fire broke out on Strand between 16th and 17th Street at the Vulcan Iron Works Foundry in the middle of the night.
The strong Northerly November winds spread the fire quickly into the East End District, burning just about every wooden structure in its path. From 16th to 19th Street and Strand to the Gulf of Mexico, brick fireplaces and chimnies were the only things left standing at most homes. Although it devastated the houses and structures, there are no recorded deaths related to the fire.
Thousands of galvestonians were left homeless. Luckily, local churches, businesses, and neighbors took in most of the homeless until their homes could be rebuilt. The recovery began almost immediately. At the time, Galveston was one of Texas's largest and most prominent cities. And the national media spread the news.
Within the first day of the word spreading, over $40,000 was raised to assist those in need. The monetary damages of this fire are estimated at around 2 million dollars, which is approximately 60 million dollars today. Although Galveston had a fire department, it was only a little over a month old at the time of the fire and had little experience and a small amount of equipment.
This devastating event led to a new and improved Galveston fire department, which all Island residents now wholeheartedly supported. If you were ever house hunting on the east end of Galveston Island and you were wondering why most of the homes were built between 1886 and 1890, more than likely that the home replaced a previous house on that lot.
One positive for Galveston is that the fire gave rise to much of the beautiful Victorian architecture you see on the island's east end today. Next time you see a fireman, be sure to thank them. We never know how quickly disaster can strike.