Galveston: Historic Homes: Broadway/Avenue J

After visiting the Bishop's Palace a few years ago I became fascinated by the number of historic homes that are still standing, many of which survived the 1900 hurricane. I was curious about the homes and the families that built them. Some of these homes are museums and others are privately owned. While I think that would be very cool to own a historic home, I also think it could be a nightmare.

Broadway (or Avenue J) is the main street in Galveston as you enter the city from I-45. Back in the day this is where the elite families lived. Broadway was also known as "high ground" when the storms came because it was slightly elevated and the street never flooded, that is until the 1900 hurricane.

Here are some of the historic houses on this street. 

1114 Broadway: Boddeker House. Joseph Boddeker was a German immigrant that arrived here in the 1850's with his parents. He was a riverboat captain after the Civil War. The original house that Joseph built on this property back in 1870 was destroyed by the 1900 storm. So instead of rebuilding, he bought this home that was built in 1893 located at 12th and Sealy and moved it to this location. Joseph's son, James, and his wife lived here until until 1940. The house has three bedrooms and two bathrooms and has 2,191 sqft.

1402 Broadway: Bishop's Palace. The most famous house on this street was called Gresham's Castle until the Catholic churched purchased the house for the bishop's lodging. 

Walter Gresham built this house in 1893 for his wife and nine children. It was designed by Nicholas Clayton.  The house has three floors and 19,000 square feet. It survived the 1900 hurricane.

After serving in the Army of the Confederacy during the Civil War, Walter became an attorney and had a practice in Galveston. He served as the District Attorney for Galveston, in the Texas House of Representatives and in the House of Representatives. He was also the founder of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad. Walter died in 1920 and the house was sold in 1923 to the Catholic Diocese.

Josephine Mann Gresham was an artist. She painted a mural on the ceiling of the dining room. Each of the angels in the mural has a different face and are rumored to be those of her nine children. The mural is still there.

In 1923, Bishop Christopher Byrne took up residence in the house. He lived there for 82 years. The house is now a museum and well worth a visit.

1403 Broadway: Powhatan and Mattie Wren House. This house was built in 1873 for Edward Sylvester and his wife Lydia. Edward was the son of Henry Sylvester, one of the capturers of Santa Ana during the Texas Revolution. Edward was also one of the first carriers of the Daily News.

In 1885, Powhatan Wren bought the house and enlarged it to accommodate his wife, Mattie, and their six children. Powhatan was from Virginia and came to Galveston in 1867. He was a freight agent for the Galveston, Houston, Harrisburg Railroad and later became a clerk at the Galveston Customs House.

The house survived the 1900 storm and, in 1904, was raised several feet. The Wren family lived in the house until 1921. It has been divided into rentals and used for retail. Now, I believe, it is a private residence.

1416 Broadway: Carl & Hilda Biehl House. The house originally at this location survived the 1900 storm but was badly damaged. In 1915, Carl Biehl bought the house, razed it and built this house, which was completed in 1916. The house has 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms with about 4,258 sqf.

Carl Biehl came to Galveston in the early 1900's from Germany. In 1905, he founded Biehl & Company which was a shipping company that serviced Galveston prior to the opening of the Houston shipping channel.  Carl was married to Hilda Reymershoffer. Carl died in 1936, Hilda in 1946. Their daughter lived in the house until 2008.

1502 Broadway: Isaac & Henrietta Kempner House. The house was built on three lots in 1906 by Isaac Kempner. It has 8 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms and 6,986 sft.

Isaac Kempner was the eldest son of Harris Kempner. Harris had interests in many businesses in Galveston and upon his death in 1894, Isaac took over several of them. After the storm of 1900, Isaac was instrumental in rebuilding the infrastructure of the city. He was Mayor of Galveston from 1917 - 1919.

In 1924, a wing was added to the house when the lot next to the house became available. The house stayed in the Kempner family until 1970.

1509 Broadway: John and Eliza Hertford House. Land was purchased by John Hertford in 1867 and the house was completed in 1869. John died that same year prior to the completion of the house but Eliza and her children lived her until 1878.

1515 Broadway: Campbell Home. The house was built in 1871 for Archibald Campbell Sr. Upon his death in 1920, his son, Archibald Campbell Jr and his family lived in the house. The house has three bedrooms, 2.75 bathrooms and is 3,619 sqft.

Archibald Jr was the Vice President of the T.T.T. Ship agencies as well as President of the Galveston Cotton Exchange. He passed away in 1985 but the house remains in the family.

1702 Broadway: League Kempner House. The house was built in 1893 by John Charles League. The house is three stories, has 6 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms and 7,802 sqft.

John Charles League was the son of Thomas League. When Thomas passed away, John took over the management of his father's estate. He married Cornelia Ball and was quite successful in his own right. He was a real estate investor. In 1916, he had an appendectomy and never recovered. He died shortly there after.

The house was then sold to Eliza Kempner, matriarch to the Kempner family (see Isaac Kempner above). The house stayed in the Kempner family until 1972. It is now being restored and will, hopefully, be a museum.

1703 Broadway: Adriance-Springer House. This house was built in 1914 for John Adriance and his family. The house was sold to Oscar Springer in 1929 and he lived there until 1960. The house has 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms with 3.500 sqft. It is currently used by a realty company.

John was a partner in H.M. Truehart & Co, which was one of the first real estate companies in Texas. When H.M Truehart retired in 1906, John continued the company as John Adriance & Sons until 1953. (see notes about the Truehart-Adriance Building).

Oscar Springer owned a printing company that I will find out more about.

2328 Broadway: Ashton Villa. The house was built in 1859 by James Moreau Brown. It is the first brick building erected in Texas and is supposedly built with slave labor. The 3-story house became the HQ for the Confederate Army during the Civil War. On June 19, 1865, Union Major Gordon Granger enforced emancipation and reminded everyone that enslaved people were enslaved no more, hence Junteenth.

James Moreau Brown came to Galveston in 1843. He was very active during the war as the President of the Galveston, Houston & Henderson Railroad. After the war he partnered with J.W. Lang in the wholesale hardware business. In 1875, Brown bought out Lang and brought in his son, J.S. Brown. The business was renamed J.S. Brown and Company.

James was married in 1846 to Rebecca Ashton. The house was named in honor of her ancestor, Isaac Ashton. Though Brown died in 1895, his family lived in the house until 1927. The house, with its 13-inch brick walls, survived the 1900 storm.

The house was used as a business office until 1970. In danger of being demolished, it was purchased by the Galveston Historical Society. When it opened in 1974, you could tour the house. It's no longer open to the public (which makes me sad!) but you can book private events there.

2618 Broadway: Moody Mansion. The house was built in 1893 by Narcissa Willis. The house was completed in 1895. Her husband, Richard Willis, a cotton broker, didn't want to tie up his money in such a house so after he died in 1892, Narcissa had their house demolished and this one built in it's place.

The house has 4 stories with 31 rooms and 28,000 sqft. The basement contained the kitchen and the servants quarters. The first floor had the entryway, the parlor, library, ballroom, conservatory, dining room, pantry, children's dining room and a living room.  The second floor had Libbie's room (an infirmary), Mary's room, bathroom, master bedroom, nursery, William's room, Shearn's room and a sitting room.  The third floor had 4 additional guest rooms, an auditorium and storage.

Narcissa died in 1899 and her daughter put the house up for sale. Many had bid on the house but most of the bidders pulled out after the 1900 hurricane. William Moody bought the house for $20K.  The family lived in that house until 1986. The house was turned into a museum. The basement, after suffering damage from Hurricane Ike in 2008, was converted to a Children's Museum (separate from the house museum).

I haven't visited this house yet but I intend to. I can only imagine how cool the inside must be based on how amazing the outside is.

2628 Broadway: Quigg-Baulard Cottage. This house was built in 1867 by William & Josephine Quigg. In 1875, it was purchased by French immigrant Victor Baulard and was in the family until 1962 when it was purchased by the Mary Moody Northern Endowment. The house is now the administrative building for the Endowment.

Victor Baulard came to Galveston from France in 1845. He apprenticed under Joseph Rice, learning to make paint. In 1853, Victor was made partner. (see Rice-Baulard Bldg).

2217 Broadway: J. F. Smith House. The house was built in 1884 for John Francis Smith and his family. The main house has 4,477 sqft with 4 bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms. The carriage house has 1,368 sqft and also has 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms. The house remained in the family until the 1970's.

John Francis Smith was in the hardware business. His company, J.F. Smith & Bro. Hardware Company was located at 2323 Strand. He bought the business in 1873 from Jalonick Smith. Later, his brother, Edward joined the company. They moved their business to the Strand in 1889. John had four sons, Wilbur, Irving, Arthur and Robert, all of whom worked there. The last remaining brother, Wilbur, continued on until 1973, over 100 years in business.

Well, those are the homes still standing on Broadway that have historical significance, that I know of anyway. But back in the day, Broadway was packed with amazing homes. Unfortunately many of those homes were demolished to make way for parking lots, gas stations, and in one case, a Dairy Queen that is no longer there. I cringe at the loss of those amazing structures but I can only imagine the cost to maintain them. I guess they can't all be museums, though if it were up to me...

Historic Galveston - Mechanic Street

I love walking around Galveston and looking at all the historic buildings. I often wonder what they were built for and what they are used for now. Some of the buildings have historical markers but others, not so much.  So I've been digging around.

This post is about some of the historic buildings in Galveston, the companies that were in them and, potentially, what they are today, starting with those on Mechanic Street. 

1914 Mechanic Street: This is the C.F. Marschner building. Erected in 1906, it housed the Texas Bottling Works as well as the residence for the Marschner family. Unfortunately, C.F. passed away prior to the completion of the building. His wife and their sons ran the business. The Texas Bottling Works was the first company to bottle distilled water in Galveston. The company remained in business at this location until 1929 when another bottling company, Triple XXX Bottling, moved in. 

Otto, Marie's son, stayed on at Triple XXX as they continued to work from this location until the mid-1940's. According to the 1930 census, Otto and his family moved to a home on Avenue N about the time the new company took over. Afterwards, the plant was used to bottle soft drinks. In the 1990's, the top floor became living space once again while the lower floor now houses classic cars.

2300 Mechanic Street: This is the original Leon & H. Blum Building. Leon Blum, his brothers and cousins started their firm in 1868. They were importers and wholesale dealers of dry goods and were very successful. They moved their business into this building in 1880. By 1890, the depression had taken a bite out of their business and in 1896, the firm was dissolved. The Mistrot Brothers took over the business and ran it from here until 1917.

As did many of the buildings in Galveston, it housed other business, went vacant and fell into disrepair. In 1984, it was restored and redeveloped as the Tremont House Hotel.

Notably, this is the 3rd iteration of this hotel.  The first was built in 1839 on the corner of Postoffice and Tremont. In 1861, Sam Houston spoke from a gallery predicting "fire and rivers of blood" due to secession from the union.  In 1862, Governor Francis Lubbock spoke from another gallery at that hotel suggesting Galveston be laid to waste to prevent the enemy from having anything. That didn't go over very well. In 1865, while occupied by Confederate soldiers, that hotel burnt down.

The second location was built in 1872 and occupied 1/2 a city block bound by Church, Tremont and 24th street. In 1900, that hotel took in many refuges from the hurricane. Clara Barton ran the red cross from there. In November of 1928, the hotel closed and demolition began a month later. This space is now a parking lot.  

This latest incarnation of the Tremont House Hotel opened in 1985.

2309 Mechanic Street: These three buildings represent Berlocher Row. The building on the left was erected in 1858 and the others followed. 

John Berlocher was a Swiss wholesale merchant and had another building on Strand. That building was ruined by three subsequent fires and then destroyed during the Battle of Galveston during the Civil War. 

Berlocher, ruined by the continued loss of the other building, sold these buildings in 1876 to Gustave Oppermann who held them until 1909. They were then sold to the Mistrot Brothers who owned the Blum Building across the street.  These buildings today are apartments on the upper floors and retail on the first floor.

2319 Mechanic Street: The front corner portion of this building was erected in 1890 as a 4-story building. It was sold that same year to Max and Aaron Blum (Marx & Blum) who sold hats and shoes. In 1902, the property was sold to Simeon P. Mistrot who sold premade ladies clothing, shoes, etc. 

The building was damaged during the 1900 hurricane and Mistrot restored the building using materials from the top two floors to create the adjoining building. I found this photo of the damage after the hurricane. Holy moly! 

In 1927, Jake & Harry Davidson bought the building and ran a dry goods store for 30 years. Then the building was sold to the Druss family who used the building for another 40 years as a furniture warehouse. In 1994, the building was sold to the Mitchells who restored it. It is now a ballroom/meeting room for the Tremont House.

2402 Mechanic Street: The Clarke & Courts Building. Robert Clarke and George Courts were printers. They printed everything from government forms to wedding invitations to phone books. In 1890, they completed their headquarters building (designed by Nicholas Clayton).  In 1936, they moved the HQ to Houston. In the '80's, they began to lose business due to computerization. In 1989, the business closed. In 1994, this building was converted to lofts. I saw an article on the lofts that were in this building and they are super nice looking. 

2102 Mechanic Street: The Galveston Cotton Exchange. In the early part of the 19th century, the Galveston cotton brokers would buy cotton directly from the growers at an agreed upon price. Then they would turn around and sell it for a profit. As the number of cotton brokers grew and railroads started bringing cotton to the city, it was determined they needed more structure and in 1873, the Cotton Exchange was born.

The original building, erected on this spot in 1878 was 3 stories and very ornate. Damaged by the hurricane in 1900, the building was renovated and a fourth story added. In the 1930's, it was determined that a new, more modern building was needed. 

The original building was razed and in 1941, this building was erected in it's place. By the mid-twentieth century the cotton business was in decline. The Cotton Exchange closed it's doors in 1967.  The building will be converted into apartments.

2108 Mechanic Street: The Galveston News building was designed by Nicholas Clayton and erected in 1883. Called "The Old Lady of Mechanic Street", the building housed the Galveston News, founded in 1842, for 80 years.  The operation was moved from this building in 1965.

306 22nd Street: 1877 Samson Heidenheimer Building.  Technically this building faces 22nd street but you come across it as you meander down Mechanic Street. It was built in 1877 and owned by Samson Heidenheimer. 

This was the original location of the Grand Southern Hotel, which was four-stories and had 40 rooms. In 1877 a fire wiped out the better part of the Central Business District, including the Grand Southern Hotel. Heidenheimer erected this building on the foundation of that hotel. 

Herman Marwitz housed his business, H. Marwitz & Co, here. He was a dealer in whole sale groceries as well as a ship chandler (which I found out meant he sold supplies and equipment for boats). 

From 1923 - 1976, Fred F. Hunter ran his business here. He was a "Manufacturer Stationer and Printer". During that time it was known as the "Hunter Building". The building was rehabbed in the 1980's and now houses commercial businesses.

305 21st Street: Marine Building. Again, this building faces another street but you see it as you wander down Mechanic Street.

This building was erected in 1876 by Samson Heidenheimer. He was a German immigrant who started his business before the Civil War as a street merchant. During the war he was a blockade runner and a cotton dealer. Clearly he did very well. The building housed his retail/wholesale business until 1904. At that time the Suderman & Dolson Stevedores moved in and it became known as the Marine Building. After being renovated in the 1980's, the building now houses commercial businesses.

2220 Mechanic Street: Davie Building. The building was erected in 1860 and originally had 4 stories. J.P. Davie Hardware Company was housed in this building. He ran the company here until he died in 1892. At that time, his partner, Charles Angerhoffer took over the business and ran it under his name until his death in 1914.

2214 Mechanic Street: The green building was the Reymershoffer's Sons and was erected in 1877. The family was very wealthy and arrived in Galveston after the Civil War. The brothers started the Texas Star Flour Mills located on Harborside and 20th (no longer standing). They had many other business interests such as the one at this location. It was a pottery and textile wholesale business.

2212 Mechanic Street: The Antique shop next to the green building was erected in 1873 and was called the Investment Building.  I don't have any other info except that it is now an antique shop.

There are several other buildings on this street that I wonder about but haven't been able to dig out a single piece of info on other than what is housed in that building now. But don't worry, I'll keep digging.