(Last post on Galveston, I promise.)This anchor is a reminder of the Texas City Disaster in 1947 in which 576 (or 567, or some other number, depending on the source) people were killed in a pair of explosions at the docks.
The Grandcamp caught fire on April 16 at the dock. It was carrying ammonium nitrate fertilizer: think Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, but the explosives were in a ship instead of a dinky little rental truck. The Grandcamp also carried fuel, adding more fuel to the fire.
After burning for long enough for fire fighters to respond and townsfolk to come watch, The Grandcamp exploded killing somewhere between 500 and 600 people. Early response was complicated by a phone operator strike, but within a couple hours, surrounding areas had all sent response teams.
The explosion registered seismographically as far away as Denver and blew out windows 40 miles north in Houston. The explosion carried a tugboat 100 feet inland. The resultant tsunami was 15 feet high and flooded the surrounding area.
Of course, the Grandcamp was not the only ship in port, and another nearby ship was also carrying fertilizer, sulphur, and, presumably, fuel. Efforts to steer it away from the Grandcamp were futile, and it exploded early the next day.
There are 2 stories about anchors: in one, a 5-ton anchor was found buried in the ground a half mile from the explosion. In another, a 1.5 ton anchor was found two miles away. The one in the photo above is located in Anchor Park at the base of the Texas City Dike.
This web site has amazing photographs and more of the story:
http://www.texascity-library.org/TCDisasterExhibit/index.html
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