The Great Storm of 1900 — How a City Was Nearly Erased and Rebuilt Itself Against the Sea

On September 8, 1900, a storm surge topped fifteen feet over an island that sat less than nine feet above sea level. Between six thousand and twelve thousand people died — still the deadliest natural disaster in American history. What the city did next is the whole story: civil engineers designed a concrete seawall and raised the elevation of the entire island, using methods that had no real precedent. Construction began in September 1902. The wall stands seventeen feet high. After nearly a hundred years and numerous subsequent hurricanes, the record shows only minimal damage and loss of life. A bronze memorial on Seawall Boulevard marks the dead. The seawall behind it marks the answer. A city that had every reason to abandon a barrier island chose instead to remake the ground it stood on.