HL 338 Galveston Jetty, Texas 2006 Release Edition size - 4,000 Galveston's harbor became an active port with ships from all over the world bringing their goods. Galveston prospered and grew over the next several decades. But all that came to a halt on September 8, 1900. With little warning a great hurricane storm with winds exceeding 120 miles per hour and tidal surge devastated the island and killed more than 6,000 people. One-third of the city was completely destroyed, more than 3,600 buildings. A storm wall was built to protect the harbor and assure that another storm would not devastate the town. However, the narrow entrance to the harbor would easily silt up and so, long jetty walls were built out into the Gulf of Mexico to abate the silting. This storm wall was never fully tested until Hurricane Katrina last summer, though they did not have a direct hit, the Jetty with stood the test. the Galveston Jetty Lighthouse was first lit in 1918, standing on a steel skeleton at the end of the south jetty. Built of concrete and steel, the 84-foot tall cylindrical tower held a third-order Fresnel lens with a focal plane of 145' above the gulf. The tower incorporated a 3-story keeper's quarters. On May 2, 2000, a thunderstorm struck the lighthouse and toppled it onto its side. While there have been some who wish to save the lighthouse and move it to a safer location, no action has yet been taken. The toppled tower remains at the end of the jetty - broken and open to continued damage from weather and storms.