Subscribe
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Galveston District (SWG), along with the City of Galveston and Guinness World Records, observed the 125th anniversary of the Great Galveston Hurricane of 1900, during a ceremony at the Galveston Seawall, September 6, 2025.
SWG District Commander Col. David Dake, along with Galveston Mayor Dr. Craig Brown, and other local leaders joined more than 8,000 attendants—to commemorate the lives lost during the storm—along the seawall to honor the resilience of the community who rebuilt the island after experiencing the deadliest natural disaster in the history of the United States.
Guinness World Records also joined the festivities to bestow the honor of “longest walkway in the world” to Galveston’s seawall, ensuring its place in the record books.
Marty Mile, the interim CEO for the Galveston Park Board, welcomed the mass of locals, news media, and onlookers who gathered along Seawall Boulevard—built along the seawall—to celebrate another historic accolade for Galveston.
Brown briefly touched on the seawall’s history of protecting the island since its construction after the ‘Great Storm’ killed nearly a third of the city’s population, another third left the island, and the remaining third stayed to rebuild.
Dake made his remarks standing next to the Great Storm Statue, a 10-foot bronze statue made in honor of those who died during the 1900 storm.
“Galveston’s history is not just a story of survival. It is a story of leadership, innovation, and hope,” Dake said.
He went on to describe the events of September 8, 1900; the fateful day that changed the island forever.
“A massive hurricane, unannounced by the modern forecasting systems we now rely on, struck this island with ferocity. Winds reached more than 120 miles per hour, and the storm surge swallowed entire neighborhoods,” Dake said.
Within a matter of hours, as many as 8,000 lives were lost, leaving the island’s future uncertain, he continued.
“But what happened next is what truly defines Galveston—not just the tragedy, but the courage to confront it. Out of unimaginable loss, came determination. Out of devastation, came innovation. And out of despair, came one of the most ambitious engineering feats of its time,” Dake said.
As USACE engineers proposed repairing the island, they also had another ‘uplifting’ idea; quite literally raising the island.
Dake described the plan to elevate the island in stages. More than 2,000 buildings were lifted using hydraulic jacks. Sand dredged from the nearby ship channel was pumped beneath homes, churches, and other massive structures, raising the city by as much as 17 feet in some places, he said.
At about the same time, construction began on the seawall, which would serve as the island’s front line against the gulf.
“The results spoke for themselves,” Dake said. When another hurricane struck Galveston in 1915, the city suffered only a fraction of the death toll 15 years earlier. The seawall held.
“Galveston had proven that resilience, grounded in bold engineering and community determination, could save lives,” Dake said.
As the new district commander, Dake acknowledged that he and the nearly 600 employees that make up SWG are also heirs to that legacy.
“Our mission is to protect, to strengthen, and to innovate for the people we serve along the Gulf Coast … We continue the work that began more than a century ago—engineering solutions for the nation’s toughest challenges,” Dake said.
Dake shared his biggest takeaway from the history of Galveston before concluding his remarks.
“The story of Galveston reminds me that nature is all powerful, but the human spirit can rise to the occasion. That is what the people of this island did more than a century ago. Resilience is not built in a day. It is built generation by generation. And that is what we will continue to do, together, in the years ahead,” Dake said. “The spirit that lifted this island a century ago is very much still here, alive and thriving!”
Following Dake’s remarks, Guinness World Records Adjudicator and Spokesperson Michael Empric officially recognized Galveston’s seawall as the world’s longest walkway, at 10 miles and 1,584 feet.
About the Galveston Seawall
The Galveston Seawall—as mentioned above—is quite possibly the most famous and enduring of SWG’s accomplishments on the Texas coast.
SWG began constructing the seawall in September 1902. Though the initial segment was finished on July 29, 1904, the seawall would be extended several times up through 1963, extending to more than 10 miles long.
| Date Taken: | 09.06.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 09.18.2025 17:05 |
| Story ID: | 548665 |
| Location: | GALVESTON, TEXAS, US |
| Hometown: | RICHMOND HILL, GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 18 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, SWG Commemorates ‘Great Storm of 1900’, Participates in Historic, Guinness World Record Event, by LT Carlos Gomez, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
