The Great Galveston Disaster / Containing a Full and Thrilling Account of the Most Appalling Calamity of Modern Times Including Vivid Descriptions of the Hurricane and Terrible Rush of Waters; Immense Destruction of Dwellings, Business Houses, Churches, and Loss of Thousands of Human Lives; Thrilling Tales of Heroic Deeds; Panic-Stricken Multitudes and Heart-Rending Scenes of Agony; Frantic Efforts to Escape a Horrible Fate; Separation of Loved Ones, etc., etc.; Narrow Escapes from the Jaws of Death; Terrible Sufferings of the Survivors; Vandals Plundering Bodies of the Dead; Wonderful Exhibitions of Popular Sympathy; Millions of Dollars Sent for the Relief of the Stricken Sufferers

by Paul Lester

RISES TO A HEIGHT OF SIXTY FEET.

Fort Point lighthouse is situated two miles from the city. It is a six-sided iron structure rising above the water to a height of about sixty feet. It stands about 300 feet south of the jetty, and the water up to the time of the storm was never over two feet in depth around the house. At times it was dry, but usually only a few inches of water played around the iron screw piles, which were screwed into the sand about eighteen feet, and upon which the iron superstructure is supported. The metal framework supporting the lighthouse proper and the light tower rises about thirty-five feet from the base.

Then comes the living apartments of the keeper, Colonel C. A. Anderson, and his wife. On top is the light tower, a six-sided glass house, with iron framework. A gallery encircles the living apartments, and another the light tower. About ten feet beneath the living apartments and about twenty-five feet above the base a wooden platform served the dual purpose of basement and back yard to the isolated habitation. On this platform two large tanks furnished fresh water for the household, a shed held the wood supply and another shed was used as a storehouse for a several months’ supply of kerosene oil for the light.

From the jetty a steel bridge led to the lighthouse, and from the bridge a stairway extended to the basement and living apartments. In the rear an iron ladder leading from the gallery of the keeper’s home communicated with the “back yard” and basement, and also with the boat house and a platform extending from the rear of the structure to the bridge in front.

When the wind had subsided and the sea receded the naked metal frame supporting the house was all that was left of the lower structure. Wrapped around the iron pillars and braces were steel railroad tracks, which the wind and sea had wrenched from the jetty railroad and twisted around the lighthouse supports. The bridge had fallen an easy victim to the storm, and the water supply, wood, oil, lifeboat and stairway were torn from their fastenings and carried to sea. The jetty, with its huge rocks, weighing tons, had suffered many a breach, and a large opening was in front of the lighthouse. Through this break the waters of the gulf and bay rushed like a mill race, and a new channel connecting the bay and gulf was cut in a night. The isolation of the lighthouse was most complete.