Architecture
Sonnentheil Home
Built in 1886-87 for German native Jacob Sonnentheil (d. 1908), this home probably was designed by prominent Galveston architect Nicholas J. Clayton. Sonnentheil served with the Confederacy during the Civil War and operated a wholesale dry goods store on The Strand in Galveston. The Sonnentheil house displays influences of Eastlake, Gothic, and Italianate architectural styling.
History
SS Selma
Steel shortages during World War I led the U.S. to build experimental concrete ships, the largest of which was the SS Selma, today partially submerged in Galveston Bay and visible from this site. It was built in Mobile, Alabama, and named to honor Selma, Alabama, for its successful wartime liberty loan drive.
History
St. George's Episcopal Church
St. George's Episcopal Church The first Episcopal worship service in Texas City took place on March 23, 1913, two years after the city incorporated and the same year the United States Army arrived as part of its coastal defense of American interests during the Mexican Revolution. The Rev. C. W.
History
St. Mary Mission Church
Beginning in the late 19th century, League City's Catholic residents gathered in homes for Mass and other services. As the population grew, so did the need for a church. J.C. League deeded land to the Diocese of Galveston, and parishioners of St. Mary Mission Church built a frame sanctuary that served them for many years after its dedication in December 1910. The Diocese appointed the Rev.
Architecture
St. Mary's Cathedral
City's oldest surviving church. Built 1847 by the most Rev. John M. Odin, C. M., Early missionary, and first bishop of Texas. Gift of half a million bricks from Antwerp, Belgium, made structure possible. Gothic cathedral is preserved in original style. After disastrous flood of 1875, tower was crowned with status of Mary, Star of the Sea, which has withstood storms ever since.
History
St. Mary's Hospital
Organized in 1866, this institution was the first private hospital established in the state. Originally known as Charity Hospital, it was founded by three French Catholic Sisters, members in the Order of Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. Constructed on this site, which had been part of Fort Scurry during the Civil War, the hospital opened for patients on April 1, 1867.
History
St. Patrick Catholic Church
Galveston Bishop C. M. Dubuis established this parish in 1870 to serve Catholics in Galveston Island's fast-growing west end district. A wood sanctuary was built at this site and the mostly Irish congregation named the church for St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. The Rev. Laurence Glynn arrived in 1871, a few days after storms had destroyed the sanctuary.
History
Stewart Property
One of the earliest known sites of occupation on the west end of Galveston Island, this ridge was at one time a campsite for the nomadic Karankawa Indians. The property was purchased in 1856 by Col. Warren D. c. Hall (1788-1867), veteran of several military expeditions and the Texas revolution. The estate was named "Mottexas" under the next owner, Galveston attorney Col. Marcus F.
History
Stringfellow Orchards
Nationally and internationally recognized horticulturist Henry Martyn Stringfellow (1839-1922) started an experimental garden and orchard at this location in 1883. In 1890 he published a treatise containing inovative organic gardening methods that were adopted by Japanese, German, and many American fruit and vegetable growers.
History
Sweeney-Royston House
James Moreau Brown (1821-1895), builder of Ashton Villa, erected this home in 1885 as a wedding gift for his daughter Matilda (1865-1926) and her husband Thomas Sweeney (d. 1905). Attributed to architect Nicholas J. Clayton, the Victorian cottage features angular dormer windows and a mariner's wheel motif in the front porch balustrade.
Architecture
T. J. and Mary Lelia Dick House
Thomas Jackson and Mary Lelia (Sherman) Dick lived on their north Galveston County "Buckhorn Ranch" for many years before hiring J. R. Beerwort and O. V. King to build this house in 1904. It is a good example of a two-story center passage plan with a double gallery accented by turned columns, latticework and balustrade. T. J.
History
Texas Bar Association
Independent lawyers and representatives from 46 Texas law firms called a meeting in 1882 to create a statewide association. They organized the Texas Bar Association at the Electric Pavilion in Galveston (south of this site) on July 15. J. H. McLeary of San Antonio served as first chairman and Thomas J. Devine, also of San Antonio, was first president.
History
Texas City
This community traces its origin to settlement by a few families along the bayshore in the mid-1800s. Completion in 1854 of the Half Moon Shoal Lighthouse, a Federal project near the present day Texas City Dike, hastened the formation of a village which in 1878 added a post office under the name Shoal Point.
History
Texas City Dike
In early efforts to develop a major port here on Galveston Bay, Texas City capitalists, acting against the advice of engineers, dug a ship channel directly through and across the Bay's natural water line. As a result, currents carried silt into the man-made channel that required constant dredging to keep the waters navigable.
History
Texas City Memorial Cemetery
On April 16 and 17, 1947, disastrous explosions aboard two ships docked at the Texas City port killed hundreds of people. In the weeks that followed, relief workers led by the American Red Cross and other volunteers labored to identify the victims. Temporary morgues were set up in the Central High school gymnasium and at Camp Wallace, a former Army post.
History
Texas City Terminal Railway Company
Minnesota investors and brothers Jacob R. and Henry H. Myers and Augustus B. Wolvin formed the Texas City improvement company in 1893 and developed a port facility and townsite here. By 1897 the company had built a rail spur line linking its port facilities with national railroad systems 4.5 miles inland.
History
Texas Revolution and Civil War, Galveston County
Following Laffite's expulsion from Galveston, settlers from the West Indies began to arrive. Within a few years, Galveston became a principal port to the Republic of Texas. Galveston was declared a port of entry in 1825 by Mexico and a customs house was established. The city served as Capital of the Republic of Texas when President David G.
History
Texas Society, Sons of the American Revolution
In 1889, during the Centennial of the inauguration of George Washington as first President of the United States, a group of Revolutionary War soldiers' descendants gathered in New York to form a society to promote awareness of the Revolutionary War period. Named the National Society, Sons of the American Revolution, the organization inspired the formation of a state society in Texas in 1896.
Architecture
The Bishop's Palace
Built, 1886-1893, by Col. Walter Gresham, civic leader and U. S. Congressman. Nicholas J. Clayton was architect. One of the most lavish and massive homes in U. S., house is a Victorian adaptation of renaissance style. Silver and onyx mantel in music room won first prize, 1886, at New Orleans Exposition. Mrs. Gresham painted murals, ceilings.
History
The Cottage
Built about 1882 by cotton buyer Bernard Roensch. Late Greek revival architecture with high Victorian detail in gingerbread trim, ornate tower, stained glass panels and transoms, slate mantels, fine staircase. Has survived many storms. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1966
History
The Cradle
Building in which in 1891 Misses Betty Ballinger and Hally Bryan founded the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, a society for historical preservation. This Victorian structure was then library of "The Oaks," family home of the founders, who were descendants of William H. Jack, a soldier in 1836 Texas victory at San Jacinto and an official of the Republic. First president (1891-1908) of D. R. T.
History
The Galveston Movement
By the late 1800s, thousands of Jews began fleeing their homes in Russia and Eastern Europe to escape anti-Semitic policies and violent pogroms. Many immigrated to the U.S., establishing communities in New York City and elsewhere along the east coast. Overcrowding in these neighborhoods coincided with growing anti-Semitic sentiment.
History
The Heidenheimer Bros. Marine Building
Built in 1876 by German immigrant Samson Heidenheimer (d. 1891), this building has housed a number of wholesale and retail businesses. According to local tradition, Heidenheimer began business in Galveston prior to the Civil War as a street vendor, and during the war built up a lucrative business by dealing in cotton and blockade running.
History
The Italian Vault
Attracted by economic opportunities to be found here, a large number of Italian immigrants came to Galveston in the 19th century. In 1876, they formed the Italian Mutual Benevolent Society (Societa'Italiana di Mutuo Soccorso) to provide assistance to fellow immigrants. The society purchased a plot of land in Calvary Catholic Cemetery in 1888 and built this mausoleum, known as the Italian Vault.
History
The Maas House
A fine cypress structure with ornate woodwork, this house was built in 1886 by Maxwell (1845-1906) and Sarah Davis Maas for their family of nine children. A Galveston-born nephew of the musical composer Offenbach, Maas was a merchant and then county tax collector in 1904-06, selling the house in 1911 and scattering widely, the heirs are still represented in local civic leadership.
Elsewhere in Texas
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