thedrifter
06-05-07, 06:40 AM
Museum shows exhibit about raising Galveston
The Daily News
Published June 5, 2007
Photographs detailing life after the worst natural disaster in U.S. history will go on display Saturday.
The Galveston County Historical Museum will open its exhibit “A City on Stilts: Galveston, 1902-1912” with a reception.
Museum director Jodi Wright-Gidley said visitors would experience what Galveston was like through the 20th century.
After the 1900 Storm nearly destroyed Galveston, a plan was made to raise the entire city several feet. Residents helped build a 17-foot wall against the sea, putting the city on stilts during construction.
Around this time, Zeva Bradshaw Edworthy arrived in Galveston and photographed the life of its residents.
In 2006, Judith Wray, Edworthy’s daughter, donated more than 340 photographs to the museum. Of those, 50 made the exhibit cut. A few artifacts will accompany the exhibit.
Before Wray’s donation, the museum had just a handful of photos from this period.
Museum curator Jennifer Marines said she tried to choose a variety of images.
“We wanted to provide lots of different aspects of what was going on,” she said.
Marines said some photos show people going about their everyday business while the city was being rebuilt around them.
Because the elevation of the city was being raised, boardwalks were built so people could get around.
“It was hard to get around the city,” Wright-Gidley said.
Many of Edworthy’s photos show townspeople having fun at the beach or at The Electric Park, a recreation pier that had carnival rides and a Ferris wheel.
“There is one where people are swimming in early 1900s bathing suits, which are very different than those today,” Wright-Gidley said.
“They had you hold onto ropes strung across the beach so you wouldn’t fall off and people are waving at the camera.”
She also said there are several before-and-after pictures, such as one where a house on stilts is surrounded by trees.
“Then you’ll see a picture where it has been raised a good three feet,” she said. “It really comes across of what the grade-raising was doing.”
One such house, like several others, had extra additions after being lifted.
“If they had to do this construction, they might as well add a porch,” Wright-Gidley said.
Other houses added a second floor during the construction.
Ellie
The Daily News
Published June 5, 2007
Photographs detailing life after the worst natural disaster in U.S. history will go on display Saturday.
The Galveston County Historical Museum will open its exhibit “A City on Stilts: Galveston, 1902-1912” with a reception.
Museum director Jodi Wright-Gidley said visitors would experience what Galveston was like through the 20th century.
After the 1900 Storm nearly destroyed Galveston, a plan was made to raise the entire city several feet. Residents helped build a 17-foot wall against the sea, putting the city on stilts during construction.
Around this time, Zeva Bradshaw Edworthy arrived in Galveston and photographed the life of its residents.
In 2006, Judith Wray, Edworthy’s daughter, donated more than 340 photographs to the museum. Of those, 50 made the exhibit cut. A few artifacts will accompany the exhibit.
Before Wray’s donation, the museum had just a handful of photos from this period.
Museum curator Jennifer Marines said she tried to choose a variety of images.
“We wanted to provide lots of different aspects of what was going on,” she said.
Marines said some photos show people going about their everyday business while the city was being rebuilt around them.
Because the elevation of the city was being raised, boardwalks were built so people could get around.
“It was hard to get around the city,” Wright-Gidley said.
Many of Edworthy’s photos show townspeople having fun at the beach or at The Electric Park, a recreation pier that had carnival rides and a Ferris wheel.
“There is one where people are swimming in early 1900s bathing suits, which are very different than those today,” Wright-Gidley said.
“They had you hold onto ropes strung across the beach so you wouldn’t fall off and people are waving at the camera.”
She also said there are several before-and-after pictures, such as one where a house on stilts is surrounded by trees.
“Then you’ll see a picture where it has been raised a good three feet,” she said. “It really comes across of what the grade-raising was doing.”
One such house, like several others, had extra additions after being lifted.
“If they had to do this construction, they might as well add a porch,” Wright-Gidley said.
Other houses added a second floor during the construction.
Ellie