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Chronicling America is a searchable digital collection of historic newspaper pages through 1963 sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress.
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Also, see the Directory of U.S. Newspapers in American Libraries, a searchable index to newspapers published in the United States since 1690, which helps researchers identify what titles exist for a specific place and time, and how to access them.
"Condition of Twenty-First Street." September 15, 1900. The Houston Daily Post (Houston, TX), Image 3. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers.
The "Night of Horrors" September 8, 1900, begins as a 15-foot storm surge rolls across Galveston, Texas, killing over 8,000. Dawn breaks over a grisly scene of bodies in the streets. The Galveston flood is remembered even to this day as the deadliest natural disaster in the history of the United States. Read more about it!
The information in this guide focuses on primary source materials found in the digitized historic newspapers from the digital collection Chronicling America.
The timeline below highlights important dates related to this topic and a section of this guide provides some suggested search strategies for further research in the collection.
| September 8, 1900 | The deadliest hurricane ever to strike the United States makes landfall on the island city of Galveston, Texas. |
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| September 9, 1900 | Galveston is completely cut off from the outside due to destruction of bridges and telegraph lines. |
| September 10, 1900 | Rescuers arrived to find the city in ruins; thousands are believed to be dead. |
| September 11, 1900 | Famine, pestilence, and looting threaten the city. |
| September 13, 1900 | Thousands left homeless by the storm take refuge in Houston. |
| September 14, 1900 | All states send aid to Galveston. |
| September 16, 1900 | Plans to rebuild Galveston are discussed. |
