Galveston Island Historic Seawall and Grade Raising Historical Marker

The 1900 hurricane killed 6,000 people — still the deadliest natural disaster in American history. What came after was the work: civil engineers designed and built a concrete seawall and raised the elevation of the entire island, using pioneering materials and methods. The American Society of Civil Engineers designated it a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 2001, and the marker on Seawall Boulevard says what the record shows — that after almost 100 years and numerous hurricanes, only minimal damage and loss of life occurred. That's the whole argument for human ingenuity, right there on a slab of concrete.