Galveston Historic Homes: Sealy Avenue

Here's another installment of historic houses in Galveston. One street north of Broadway is Sealy. While the homes on this street are not as elegant or as big as those on Broadway, they are no less historically significant.

1122 Sealy Avenue: Best-Lucas House. The house was built in 1866 on a lot purchased by Catherine Best. In 1871, the house was sold to Thomas Lucas and his wife Catherine. Lucas was a bricklayer. He built several houses in a row that were called Lucas Row. Unfortunately, those homes were lost in the storm of 1900. He used the ruble to build the Lucas Apartments at Broadway and 14th street. They are currently called Casa Familia.

1318 Sealy Avenue: William and Adele Skinner House. The house was built in 1896 by William Cooke Skinner. Skinner was a banker. At the time of his death in 1953, he was an auditor for the Stewart Title Company. The house has 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and 3,900 sqft.

1417 Sealy Avenue: Thomas Chubb House. The house was built in 1859 for Commodore Thomas Chubb. He was the harbor master for Galveston Harbor from 1882 to 1886. Thomas Chubb (1811 - 1886) was from Massachusetts and was employed by the US Navy when he was seven. That's right, I said seven! In 1836, he arrived in Galveston to accept an appointment as Admiral in the Texas Navy. He remained in Galveston until 1861 when he became a Commander in the Confederate Navy. He married Phoebe Briggs in 1828 and they had eight kids. When she died in 1867, he married Mrs. Martha Sturgis that same year and sold this house. Other owners were John Wallis and Walter Gresham (of Bishop's palace fame).

1428 Sealy Avenue: Julius H. Ruhl Residence. Julius Ruhl came to Galveston in 1872. Her served as a cashier/clerk for the mercantile firm of Kauffman and Runge until his death in 1882. Ruhl had this home built in 1874 and it remained in his family until 1962. It has five bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms and 4,852 sqft.

1627 Sealy Avenue: Trube Castle. John Clement Trube came from Denmark and was a real estate agent. In 1860, he married Veronica Durst and they had 10 children. This house was built for him in 1890 and it survived the 1900 storm. It has 30 rooms, 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms and is 7,039 square feet. There are two ground level apartments that have their own entry. I wonder if they were added later or if they were for servants. Trube died in 1925.

1727 Sealy Avenue: Isabella Offenbach Maas House. Isabella Offenbach was an opera singer. She was singing in Cologne Germany when Samuel Maas heard her. They married in 1844 and he brought her back to Galveston and they had four children. She continued singing. She and Samuel eventually separated and she moved into this house with her daughter and her son-in-law. She lived here until 1891 when she passed away. The house was then occupied by WC Fisher who was a county health officer. He and his family occupied the house until 1928.

1728 Sealy Avenue: Clarke-Jockusch Home. This house is a 1900 storm survivor! Captain Clarke starting stevedoring (stevedores are manual laborers that work on the docks loading and unloading ships) business. In 1885, he formed the Charles Clarke and Company along with Robert Clarke. The company contracted to do dredging, jetty building and harbor improvements. Clarke was also a city of Galveston Alderman. When Clarke passed away, Julius Jockusch purchased the home in 1928. Julius was a grain exporter and was a Consul of Belgium and Germany. Now this house

1802 Sealy Avenue: The Maas House. This house was built in 1886 by Maxwell and Sarah Davis Maas. Maxwell was the son of Isabella Offenbach and Samuel Maas. Max and Sarah had nine children. Max was a merchant and, from 1904-1906, the county tax collector. They sold the house in 1911.

1817 Sealy Avenue: Homesite of Adolph Dolson. This house was built in 1907 by Morris and Rachel Cohen Wansker. Morris owned a dry goods store on Market Street. Morris died in 1921 and the Wansker family lived in the house until 1937 when they sold to Adolph Dolson. Adolph was of Norwegian descent whose parents migrated here in 1860. He was a businessman who served as Galveston's finance commissioner for four terms (1943-1950). He and his wife lived in this house until his death in 1950.

1827 Sealy Avenue: Sonnentheil Home. This home was built in 1886 by Jacob Sonnetheil. His original home burned in the Great fire of 1885. Jacob, with his brother Julius, ran a dry goods store called Sonnetheil and Lion Dry Goods on Market Street. He died in 1908. His wife stayed in the house at least until 1920. At 4,852 square feet, the house has three large bedrooms, a den, a formal dining room, a parlor, a sitting room and two elevators.

2419 Sealy Avenue: Open Gates. This house was built in 1891 by George Sealy. George moved to Texas in 1857 to work with his brother, John, at Ball, Hutchings and Company. They were bankers and dealers in wholesale dry goods. Additionally, George was the president of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad. Despite 15 feet of water in the basement, the house survived the 1900 storm and was sanctuary and shelter for over 400 people. When George's brother, John, died in 1884 leaving $50,000 for a "charitable purpose", George used the money to create the John Sealy Hospital. The house was donated to the University of Texas Medical Branch in 1969 and was used as a conference center. it would appear the conference center is closed. Hopefully, they will open the house for tours.

Those are all the houses that I found on Sealy Avenue (aka Avenue I). I can't help but wonder what it would have been like to live in any of these homes.