{"nrhp_refnum":"77001443","name":"Galveston Seawall","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Seawall Blvd.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Galveston","county":"Galveston County","state":"TX","lat":29.30274025800003,"lon":-94.77440262499994,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1977-08-18","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Community Planning and Development","Conservation","Engineering","Politics/Government"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A concrete seawall along Seawall Boulevard in Galveston, Texas, built from 1902 to 1904 by J. M. O'Rourke & Co. to protect the city from Gulf hurricanes. Designed by Gen. H. M. Robert, Alfred Noble and H. C. Ripley, the original segment ran about 3.5 miles.","why_significant":"The seawall is presented as a massive engineering effort by a community responding to the 1900 hurricane, which killed about 6,000 people. It protected Galveston in the 1915 storm and allowed the city to grow. It was paired with a grade-raising project that lifted much of the city by up to 20 feet.","narrative":"Galveston's seawall is a curved concrete barrier along Seawall Boulevard, built between 1902 and 1904 after the hurricane of September 8, 1900 killed about 6,000 of the city's 38,000 residents and destroyed 3,600 homes. Engineers H. M. Robert, Alfred Noble and H. C. Ripley designed it, and J. M. O'Rourke and Company built it. The first segment ran 17,593 feet, stood 17 feet high, and measured 16 feet wide at the base and 5 feet at the top. It rests on wooden piles and has a concave seaward face that turns waves back toward the Gulf, with granite riprap at its toe. The Corps of Engineers extended it in 1918, and later work brought it to more than ten miles. A grade-raising project lifted the city, in places by as much as 20 feet, to provide solid backing for the wall. The wall helped protect the city during the 1915 storm.","period_of_significance":"1900- (specific dates October 1902-July 1904)","architect_builder":"J. M. 'Rourke & Co. (J. M. O'Rourke and Company); designed by Gen. H. M. Robert, Alfred Noble and H. C. Ripley; George Boschke, chief engineer for the city","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Condition listed as excellent and altered; occupied; owned by the City of Galveston. The wall has been extended several times and is now over 10 miles long.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:19.612118-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/60/9720/40972060/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/77001443.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001443/2137195194-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/77001443/2137195194-1600.webp","licence":"Public domain","author":"Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided","credit_html":"Unknown authorUnknown author or not provided, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:No._3,_Sea_Wall,_From_West_of_Rapid_Fire_Battery,_Fort_Crockett_-_NARA_-_278143.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40972060","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galveston_Seawall","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5519430"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/galveston-county/galveston-seawall-77001443/"}