Texas City Disaster 1947

Meant to post these on the 60th anniversary earlier this year.
My mom's uncle Norman Hamilton served with Houston FD from 1940-73 and made the call to Texas City on April 16, 1947. While there he was able to capture these images on film. The explosion and resulting fires killed nearly 600 people including 30 firemen. These pictures have never been seen by anyone other than family and friends.

Thanks for sharing Texflip....I have family down there (they've been through four generations so far) that have always reminded me about this.

Terrible tragedy, thanks for sharing y'alls personal pics

Wow! My father in law lost some family in that tragedy.

Amazing photos....thanks for sharing.....

TexFlip, my aunts have a few, nothing like that, my grandpa was there working and survived it.

That seventh picture is a pretty grizzly scene if that is what I think I am seeing. Terrible tragedy.

Yeah it's a field morgue.

Just wow

Bad times for sure. Thanks for sharing.

I've read about the explosion, very tragic. Thanks for sharing your pictures.

Incredible photos.

I was down there last week driving down through by the plants. Hard to imagine the horrors that took place back then. The potential is always there even today with all the saftey in place. I would work there knowing that,it's just the risk we take to make a living. I work in small plant currently that has had 3 fatalities within the last 30 years so it's accepted part of life.

wow

Thanks for sharing.
I grew up in TC and currently work there. I have a piece of mangled up metal that came off of the SS Grandcamp that was passed down to me from my grandfather. My grandparents had an old film reel with many photos from the disaster.

Missed the anniversary by a couple days.
Bump.

That was a very large B-O-O-M!!

Great pics of some terrible history in Texas.

all of my cousins worked and retired from the plants there mainly Union Carbide. Their father (my uncle) was working the day of the explosion there. he always said he lost a lot of good friends that day.

Wow, thanks for sharing those personal photos.

Our family was living there when it happened. My dad was an insurance salesman for Prudential; mother worked at the Monsanto plant but had stayed home that day because my little sister was sick; my older brother and I were in the elementary school. I was only 6 years old at the time, so I don't remember much. Dad took all of us to stay with relatives in Houston and then returned to T.C. to do the sad, grim work that insurance agents have to do after a tragedy. Mother and Dad lost a lot of friends that day and in the days afterward as wounded people passed away from, mostly, terrible burns. Sad day indeed.

Great pics and tell the story

I've read that the concussion of the explosion blew out windows in some of the high rises in downtown Houston, 50 miles away.

amazing photos, archives, thanks for sharing

Thanks for sharing your pictures.

Anniversary bump.

wow

May they rest in peace.

Stood as the largest loss of life for the U.S. fire service until 9/11/01.

I just retired from working 38 years in a chemical plant near Victoria and it still amazes me that people move next to a chemical plant. I would never live within a mile of a plant that has been there 60 years and has an aging infrastructure. I've seen how close things are to getting away from the operators at times and as it seems the plants want to work more and more shorthanded forcing guys at my former plant to at times work 18 hours and over 800 to 1500 hours of overtime a year, that disasters like Texas City are still very possible. After all the 30 year people like myself leave, that plant is going to be down to people with 6 months to 6 or 7 years running everything. Many in that area are in the same conditions.

Yes, disasters like that ARE still very possible. The city of West just a few years ago comes to mind.

Dang, I didn't know that. Sad deal.

73 years ago yesterday.

Love the pics. Thanks for sharing!