The Pumping Station and the Power House

The hurricane that struck Galveston, Texas, on September 8, 1900, remains one of the most destructive hurricanes to hit the United States to date. Many of the places affected were severely damaged but soon after repaired and are still standing today. Other places were destroyed altogether but were later rebuilt. Two buildings that went through the latter fate were the Galveston Water Works Pumping Station and the Galveston City Railroad Company Powerhouse.

Galveston Water Works after the Storm of 1900. Galveston Photographic Subject Files: Storm of 1900, Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas.

The Galveston Water Works Pumping Station, located on Ball St. (Avenue H) between 30th and 31st Streets, was designed and constructed by engineer J. D. Cook. After the Texas Legislature passed an act on March 29, 1887, creating the Galveston Water Works Department, the station's cornerstone was laid on November 29, 1888. The station's construction helped to accomplish one of the city's most important objectives: providing a consistent, steady source of drinking water for Galveston residents. For much of the 19th century since the city's founding, the main sources for drinking water were cisterns and reservoirs used to store rain water. During droughts, the city had to transport water from the mainland on railroad cars. Artesian wells had been sunk across the city starting in 1880 but the only water they produced was saltwater, which would be used for other purposes such as bathing and fire protection. In 1894, a suitable drinking water supply was located in Alta Loma (present-day Santa Fe, Texas) on the mainland and construction of wells and a pumping station began there in 1895. By 1897, 30 artesian wells at the Alta Loma station were pumping 6,000,000 gallons per day of drinking water to the Galveston station.

After the Galveston station was destroyed during the 1900 storm, noted architect Charles W. Bulger (1851-1922) designed and completed a replacement building on the same lot and block in 1904. In addition to the city's water pump, the 1888 building and the 1904 building also housed the electricity generator and horse-drawn fire equipment.

The Galveston City Railroad Company Powerhouse, located on Sealy St. (Avenue I) between 20th and 21st Streets, was built in 1871. Established in 1866 by Texas state legislator and abolitionist Benjamin Rush Plumly (1816-1887), the powerhouse included the first streetcars to run in the city (reportedly the first street railway line anywhere in Texas). It also included a car garage, horse stable, granary, and, starting in 1891, electrified streetcars. When the Storm hit Galveston, the powerhouse and the streetcar tracks were destroyed. In 1905, the remaining property was sold to the Galveston Electric Company, which took over operation of the street railway line and also provided electricity to much of the city. In May 1938, the Electric Company discontinued trolley service and began operating buses at the same site.

People standing on the ruins of City Railway Powerhouse after the Storm of 1900. 1900 Galveston Photographic Subject Files: Storm of 1900, Rosenberg Library, Galveston, Texas.

Photographs of both fallen buildings live on in the Galveston Photographic Subject Files on the 1900 Storm, Public Services, and Transportation. Researchers can view these and other photographs via the Archives Catalog, available at galvestonhistorycenter.org.