The unprecedented natural disaster caused 60 deaths and cost an estimated $166 million in damages
Modeled after an image taken by Lowcountry photographer George LaGrange Cook, this illustration from the November 12, 1887, edition of Harper’s Weekly shows a Charleston street decorated with flags and banners to celebrate having recovered from the devastating 1886 earthquake. Cook documented the destruction of residences and other buildings after the unprecedented trembler, which caused 60 deaths and cost an estimated $166 million in damages, in a series of photos titled “Cook’s Earthquake Views of Charleston and Vicinity,” many of which are in the Gibbes Museum of Art’s collections.
