Memorial to Victims of the Storm of 1915

Angleton, Texas

A Category 4 hurricane slammed into the Gulf Coast of Texas in 1915. The captain of the Surfside lifesaving station, John P. Steinhart, tried to protect a band of 20 ragged survivors, but the storm was too strong and the station was destroyed. Only Steinhart and two others survived. The rest were swept out to sea, including Steinhart's wife and teenaged daughter, whose last words were, "Papa, come get me."

The town pooled its resources and erected a memorial in its cemetery in memory of the victims: a column, snapped in two as if by an unstoppable force.

Over 80 years later, the town paid to repair the monument after time and weather actually broke the simulated broken column, thus preserving its sad story for at least another generation or two.