‼️September 8, 1900‼️
This is an important date in Texas, and Pasadena, history.
🌀🌊The night of September 8, 1900, a 15-foot storm surge rolled through Galveston, Texas with estimates of killing over 8,000 people on Galveston Island and claiming several thousand more on the mainland. History proves this was the largest natural disaster in the United States and Texas.
😵People woke up to the horror of deceased bodies in the streets and more than 2,60” homes were destroyed …with the City of Galveston experiencing over 28-30 million in property loss.
😬Edward Payson, Anna Pomeroy, and their son John Edward were fortunate to have survived this tragic disaster. Those who did survive would wake up on September 9, 1900, to Galveston being completely cut off from the outside world due to the destruction of bridges and telegraph lines.
⛑️Volunteers to assist, arrived on September 10 to find the city completely in ruins and then famine, pestilence, and looting began the next day, September 11. Most survivors were left homeless and went inland to build a new life in Houston or surrounding communities. All states sent aid to Galveston ….and by September 16, plans began to rebuild Galveston were discussed.
🏠Edward, Anna, and young John arrived in what is now Pasadena and bought 1.66 acres of land from Col. Burnett and they took the wood off the property and build their first home.
⛑️Clara Barton, who was the founder of the American Red Cross, brought her team to help the Texas Gulf Coast.
🍓After she viewed all the destruction, she saw that all the farmers in this area and along the gulf coast had lost all their farms and homes. Clara Barton had over 1.5 million strawberry plants sent to this area by railway and many of the farmers began their strawberry farming businesses.
🙏This weekend we stop to remember the disaster and all who survived….and we give thanks to Edward, Anna, and young John for coming to Pasadena rebuilding their lives ….along with Clara Barton for contributing to the agriculture success of this area.
👏Without these important people in history we would not have become the vibrant city and community we are today.
