The propeller of the SS High Flyer now stands in a park at the entrance to the 5.3-mile-long Texas City Dike. Nearly 16 hours after the initial explosion of the SS Grandcamp, the cargo ship exploded raining hot metal on Texas City and sending the propeller nearly a mile inland. Credit: Gerald E. McLeod

Bay Street Park in Texas City is a peaceful place filled with playgrounds, bayside trails, ballfields, and the entrance to the Texas City Dike. It is also a place of remembrance. 

At the southern end of the park is Anchor Park. Here rests a large portion of the anchor from the SS Grandcamp. It was recovered 1.62 miles away after the cargo ship exploded. 

The Texas City Disaster, the worst industrial catastrophe in the U.S., began on the Texas City docks early on April 16, 1947. A fire broke out in the ship’s hold as longshoremen were loading ammonium nitrate fertilizer. The resulting explosion destroyed a large section of town, set oil tanks on fire, and ignited the SS Highflyer, which was also carrying the volatile fertilizer.

At 1:10am the Highflyer exploded, sending her propeller more than a mile inland. It now stands at Skyline Drive and Dike Road a short distance from Anchor Park. 

In all, the explosions killed about 580 and injured over 5,000 people. 

At 9:12 am on April 16, 1947, tons of ammonia nitrate fertilizer on the SS Grandcamp in the Texas City harbor exploded killing 567 in the initial blast. Ultimately, 581 were killed in the two blasts making it the worst industrial disaster in U.S. history. One of two anchors on the Grandcamp was found 1.6 miles from the explosion site and is now a memorial in a park at Bay Street and Dike Road. Credit: Gerald E. McLeod

The story of the disaster is part of the historical display at the reconstructed Halfmoon Shoal Lighthouse on Skyline Drive. The original lighthouse was built offshore in 1854. A windblown freighter smashed the building during the 1900 hurricane that washed over Galveston Island. 

And at this corner of the city known for its petrochemical plants is the Texas City Dike, the world’s longest man-made fishing pier. Built in 1935, the 48-foot-wide spit of land juts out into Galveston Bay for 5.3 miles. Topped with a road, the structure keeps silt from filling the shipping channel. 

Edged with beaches, fishing piers, and boat ramps, the dike is free on weekdays and winter months, but charges on weekends from the first of March to the end of October.

Texas City is 10 miles northwest of Galveston and 37 miles southeast of Houston.

A copy of the Halfmoon Shoal Lighthouse serves as a history kiosk on the hiking trail running along Skyline Drive on top of the levee that protects Texas City from storm surges in Galveston Bay. The kiosk tells about the Texas City Disaster, how levees protect the low-lying city, and how lighthouses on the Texas coast operated. The original lighthouse was destroyed when a freighter came to rest on top of it during the Hurricane of 1900. Credit: Gerald E. McLeod

1,798th in a series. Everywhere is a day trip from somewhere. Follow “Day Trips & Beyond,” a travel blog, at austinchronicle.com/day-trips.

This article appears in March 20 • 2026.

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Gerald E. McLeod joined the Chronicle staff in November 1980 as a graphic designer. In April 1991 he began writing the “Day Trips” column. Besides the weekly travel column, he contributed “101 Swimming Holes,” “Guide to Central Texas Barbecue,” and “Guide to the Texas Hill Country.” His first 200 columns have been published in Day Trips Vol. I and Day Trips Vol. II.