Texas City disaster area, 1949 post-explosion photographs
Date
circa 1949Description
Photographs taken from the air. Photographer unknown.
Citation
Abstract
Photographs of the Texas City, Texas waterfront which was devastated by the April 16, 1947 disaster which occurred when a French ship carrying fertilizer on Galveston Bay caught fire and exploded. The nearby Monsanto styrene plant and other petroleum refineries, homes, warehouses, ships and buildings were largely destroyed. At least 576 were killed and 4,000 injured, with the town being almost completely destroyed.