The calm of 1926
The weatherman's own typed record of the thirty-five minutes when a city walked outside.
Listen to this place’s story in Peplos.
How the story begins
The pen on the barometer was about to run off the paper. It was just after half past five on the morning of 18 September 1926, in the Miami Weather Bureau, in this old federal building. Richard Gray, the man in charge, had raised hurricane warnings only around eleven the night before. The power had gone. He sat in the dark with a flashlight, waited for the pen to reach its mark, and moved it up by hand.
The rest is in the app. Peplos plays the full story when you reach the place. You can also listen ahead of time.
Visiting
Old US Post Office and Courthouse, 100 NE 1st Avenue, downtown Miami. See it from the sidewalk. The exhibition Caught in the Eye: Remembering the 1926 Hurricane runs at the Museum of Miami, 101 W. Flagler St., through 11 April 2027.
Sources
- Monthly Meteorological Notes, Miami, September 1926, page 1, Weather Bureau record
- Monthly Meteorological Notes, Miami, September 1926, page 2, Weather Bureau record
- Monthly Meteorological Notes, Miami, September 1926, page 3, Weather Bureau record
- The Great Miami Hurricane of 1926, National Weather Service Miami
- 1926 hurricane marker dedication, National Weather Service Miami
- Great Miami Hurricane of 1926, Florida historical marker
- Caught in the Eye revisits the 1926 hurricane, WLRN, October 2026
- Old United States Post Office and Courthouse, Wikipedia
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