Traveling west from the Gulf of Mexico the land rises gradually and becomes Alta Loma (Spanish for high land) in this area of Galveston County. In 1893 the Alta Loma Investment and Improvement Company platted a townsite here along a Gulf, Colorado . . . — — Map (db m52466) HM
According to local oral tradition, the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad (GCSF) gained a vital right-of-way through Emily Hitchcock's property in 1875 by agreeing to establish a depot named for her deceased husband, Lent Munson Hitchcock. GCSF . . . — — Map (db m52485) HM
Oldest church in Alta Loma; second oldest Baptist church on Galveston mainland. Organized on Nov. 10, 1895, in a local hotel; 26 charter members.
Established Arcadia Baptist Church, 1945. Purchased "U. S. S. Houston" Memorial Chapel, 1946. . . . — — Map (db m52464) HM
The town of Arcadia was established on the Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Railroad in 1890. This church was organized in 1894 and represents the oldest surviving church in the community. Initial services were held by the Rev. T. Patterson in a . . . — — Map (db m137276) HM
In 1890 Henry J. Runge laid out the town of Arcadia at the site of a railroad depot on the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad near here known as Hall's Station. Sometime between 1890 and 1897, Evergreen Cemetery was established to serve the . . . — — Map (db m50113) HM
Established in 1910 through the partnership of area landowners G. C. Perkins and W. Y. Fuqua, Clifton-by-the-Sea is a reminder of the era in which prosperity returned to Galveston County following the devastating 1900 storm. Developed as a bayside . . . — — Map (db m59595) HM
Headquarters for Long's Expedition which attempted to free Texas from Spanish rule in 1819. Named in honor of Simon Bolivar (1783-1830), leader in the Spanish-American War for independence. Here Mrs. Long and a small group remained until news of her . . . — — Map (db m34880) HM
This congregation grew from the merger of two historically African-American Methodist congregations in Dickinson and League City. The first, Warren Chapel, was named for its founder, Richard H. Warren, who preached at the homes of Sophie Monroe and . . . — — Map (db m59821) HM
In 1876 a group of Methodists led by the Rev. P.E. Nicholson began meeting in private homes in the Dickinson area. In 1885 a frame building was erected for use as a church and school.
The Dickinson congregation does not appear in official . . . — — Map (db m51780) HM
In the fall of 1899, a small group of Episcopalians living in Dickinson petitioned the Rt. Rev. George H. Kinsolving, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, to send a priest to minister to them. Bishop Kinsolving sent the Rev. A.J. Burnett, . . . — — Map (db m51391) HM
Chartered by the State of Texas on February 7, 1853, the Galveston, Houston, and Henderson Railroad was the first railroad to reach the Texas Coast. A trestle was built across Galveston Bay in 1859, and passenger and freight service was initiated . . . — — Map (db m51341) HM
Designed by Houston architect Henry A. Stubee and built in 1938, this was the home of local civic, church, and business leader Cecil Brown and his wife Frances. Both were from pioneer Quaker families. Mr. Brown was prominent in the Gulf Coast fig . . . — — Map (db m53113) HM
Figs, the life's blood of Friendswood 1910 to circa 1956, were preserved and shipped from this Fig Preserving Plant. This business, opened in 1924 at this site by Quaker Cecil Brown, (son of the founder) was neither the first nor the last local . . . — — Map (db m98446) HM
Friendswood's first business a small, general merchandise store, what opened on this site in 1907 by a Quaker from Lowell, Kansas, Cyrus J. Hadley. He and his wife, Elvira, made stables available to the community. Prior to Hadley's store, folks sent . . . — — Map (db m98898) HM
The Frank J. Brown Family, along with the Thomas Hadley Lewis Family, Co-founded this Quaker Settlement in the spring of 1895. By August, Brown had hauled lumber from Alvin and was personally constructing his home on this 10-acre site for his wife . . . — — Map (db m98910) HM
In 1895, six families left the disbanded Quaker settlement of Estacado in the Lubbock area and moved to Galveston County. Here, they established the community of Friendswood, named in honor of their faith and association with the Society of Friends, . . . — — Map (db m53112) HM
This community was founded in 1895 by a group of Friends (Quakers) led by F. J. Brown and T. H. Lewis. They acquired the land from J. C. League and named the settlement Friendswood.
From the very beginning, church and school were central to . . . — — Map (db m50156) HM
In 1899 Friendswood recieved postal service. That year 22 year old widow Flora Knode was appointed postmaster, and residents picked up mail from her home. In 1904 Quaker Charles E. Hoover and family moved here from West Branch, Iowa. In 1906 he . . . — — Map (db m98450) HM
Beginning about 1910 figs were grown on thousands of acres in a nine-county area 150 miles along the Gulf Coast from Winnie to Bay City and 50 miles inland. That included Friendswood where fig orchards, 5 acres to 500 acres lined the main street and . . . — — Map (db m98896) HM
The Nathan and Mary Perry home here at 109 W. Spreading Oaks is the oldest structure remaining from the Quaker Settlement era. No photo of the house has been found. (Old timers memories were called upon to provide data for the restoration.) The . . . — — Map (db m97592) HM
As Quakers moved westward across America and the end of the 19th century, it was customary to construct an Academy to provide a site for worship and the education of their youth. Constructed by local men, using lumber they milled from trees downed . . . — — Map (db m97608) HM
Friendswood was established as a Quaker colony by Frank J. Brown and Thomas H. Lewis in 1895. Among the colony's early settlers was former Kansas farmer Nereus Stout. Stout became a highly acclaimed horticulturist and is believed to be the first . . . — — Map (db m98447) HM
Dedicated in memory of
F.M. “Ducky” Prendergast
July 31, 1908 - October 29, 2002
Native Galvestonian
Beach Entrepreneur
Lifeguard for Life
Ducky Prendergast was one of Galveston’s original professional . . . — — Map (db m90257) HM
First, and originally the only, building of University of Texas Medical Branch. Master architect Nicholas J. Clayton designed the massive Romanesque structure. It was dedicated October 5, 1891.
Although rooms were almost devoid of equipment, . . . — — Map (db m90111) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m59424) HM
After 1900 the Port of Galveston emerged as the second largest in the United States. Following completion of a deep water channel to Texas City in 1904, the mainland’s major petroleum petro-chemical plants, tin smelter and allied industries, had . . . — — Map (db m239828) HM
General Xavier Mina, hoping to establish a settlement at what is now the Galveston County mainland, arrived and set up breastworks at Virginia Point in 1816.
Between 1815 and 1817, three leaders of expeditions against Spanish Mexico, Mina, . . . — — Map (db m143811) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m127633) HM
The Strand, known as "Wall Street of the Southwest," served as the central business district of early Galveston. A fire, set in 1869 to cover a robbery at Cohn Brothers, a clothing emporium, burned a mile wide area. It began at this site, once . . . — — Map (db m65061) HM
Designed by Frank Cox of New Orleans, this Romanesque revival structure served as an opera house, hotel, and restaurant when it opened for its first season in 1895. Converted to a movie theater in the 1920s, it was restored in the 1970s and 1980s . . . — — Map (db m26968) HM
A. Wilkins Miller had this residence built by Galveston contractor R.B. Garnett in 1895. As president of Miller & Vidor Lumber Co., one of the largest in the state, Miller was responsible for the growth of the timber industry in much of southeast . . . — — Map (db m51226) HM
This house was built in 1914 for the family of businessman John Adriance, who was instrumental in Galveston's early development. It was sold in 1929 to business and civic leader Oscar Springer, whose family continued to live here until 1960. . . . — — Map (db m137983) HM
On June 19, 1865, at the close of the Civil War, U.S. Army General Gordon Granger issued an order in Galveston stating that the 1863 Emancipation Proclamation was in effect. That event, later known as "Juneteenth," marked the end of slavery in . . . — — Map (db m180037) HM
This historic house was built in 1870 by Charles Albertson in the Lost Bayou section of the current San Jacinto historical district. Albertson was a cotton buyer active in Galveston until 1900. The great storm of 1900 left the house seriously . . . — — Map (db m143621) HM
Founded in 1905 by Galveston business pioneer W. L. Moody, Jr. (1865-1954), American National opened for business on third floor of the Moody Building at 22nd and Strand streets in Galveston. At that time the home office staff numbered ten. By . . . — — Map (db m174338) HM
Within days of the devastating storm of 1900 Clara Barton, founder of the American Red Cross, arrived in Galveston with personnel, supplies, and relief funds. Assisting the relief effort, which included Galveston Island and several mainland . . . — — Map (db m153172) HM
When Galveston was founded in 1836, this entire city block was set aside for use by the Republic of Texas as the site of a customs house. Gail Borden, the inventor of condensed milk, was the first Collector of Customs for the Republic in Galveston. . . . — — Map (db m130423) HM
Mediterranean style architecture. European materials. Confederate and Federal headquarters in Civil War. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1967 — — Map (db m239830) HM
One of the oldest black congregations in Texas, this church grew from the slave membership of the First Baptist Church of Galveston, organized in 1840 by the Rev. James Huckins. By the early 1850s the blacks were worshiping in a separate building. . . . — — Map (db m163019) HM
Designed by noted Galveston architect Nicholas J. Clayton, this house was built in 1899 by Ida B. Baden on land once known as Thomas Borden's farm. West Island landowner John D. Settle sold Miss Baden the land and assisted her in the architectural . . . — — Map (db m59425) HM
Following the creation of a public free school system in Galveston in 1881, philanthropist George Ball (1817-1884) made a proposal to the city for the construction of a high school. He offered either to donate funds for the building of a school or . . . — — Map (db m180017) HM
As part of the Union blockade of the Texas coast, Commander W. B. Renshaw led his small fleet into Galveston harbor to demand the surrender of this most important Texas port on October 4, 1862. Largely unguarded, as it was considered . . . — — Map (db m231735) HM
Animals without backbones are called invertebrates. Standing on the beach, wading in the surf, or swimming in the waters, you can encounter many varieties of Gulf invertebrates such as sand dollars, jellyfish, snails, crabs, and shrimp.
Sand . . . — — Map (db m90648)
One of the earliest commercial blocks in Galveston, this row of three three-story brick buildings was constructed for John Berlocher by builder John Brown. The easternmost building, 2309 Mechanic, was erected in 1858. The westernmost, 2315 Mechanic, . . . — — Map (db m127493) HM
Virginia-born B. M. Temple served in the Confederate army during the Civil War (1861-1865), then moved west to begin a noted career in civil engineering. As Chief Engineer for the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad, 1879-1884, he . . . — — Map (db m127583) HM
Supported the American Revolution by defeating the British along the Gulf Coast. He had Texas Longhorn cattle driven to Louisiana to aid his campaign - thus giving Texas a connection with the American Revolution. — — Map (db m71154) HM
Catherine Best purchased this site in February 1866. In July of that year, sister-in-law Anne Best, wife of Louis Best, bought the improved lot from Catherine and her husband, William, a carpenter by trade. More improvements had been made by 1871, . . . — — Map (db m140049) HM
The son of German immigrants, Joseph Boddeker came to Galveston with his parents about 1850. After service in the Civil War, he worked as a riverboat pilot and purchased this lot for his family home in the 1870s. When the original Boddeker House was . . . — — Map (db m140061) HM
A man of strong principle who carried a gun in one pocket and a Bible in the other, Burnet acted as a cohesive force in the chaotic days of early Texas independence, though his dour, quick-tempered disposition kept him from ever winning wide . . . — — Map (db m127628) HM
Erected in 1905-06 by local contractor Otto Haase, this building housed the Texas Bottling Works and the family residence of C. F. and Marie Marschner. Shortly before the completion of the building, C. F. Marschner died. His widow inherited the . . . — — Map (db m55632) HM
Discover Nature at the Beach ... the Shoreline
You stand at the shoreline of a sandy 30-mile long barrier island, one of several that edge the Texas Coast and help protect the mainland from the sea. Straight ahead of you, across . . . — — Map (db m90650)
Born in Virginia. Captain of a
company at San Jacinto, 1836 and
in command of the Mier Expedition,
1842. Died in Galveston in 1845. — — Map (db m127598) HM
In 1902, Galveston was still recovering from the most devastating hurricane in recorded history. Many buildings were badly damaged, including the house at 1416 Broadway. In the early 1900s, Carl Christian Biehl immigrated to Galveston from Germany. . . . — — Map (db m138002) HM
Born in Galveston in 1887, Carmelo Bertolino was the son of Salvatore Bertolino (d.1891) and Rosalia Trapani Bertolino (d.1942), who immigrated to Texas from Palermo, Italy in the early 1880s. Salvatore Bertolino drowned in Galveston Bay when . . . — — Map (db m51271) HM
In June 1926, the Cedar Lawn Company purchased nine city blocks for residential development. Company officers were W.L. Moody, III, President, W.D. Harden, Vice-President, and Clark W. Thompson, Secretary and Treasurer. The subdivision was . . . — — Map (db m165988) HM
In early Galveston much of the waterfront activity centered around these wharves. In 1854, the Galveston wharves were consolidated under the present Wharf Company, but the first wharves were built by private citizens. Menard's Wharf at the foot of . . . — — Map (db m130425) HM
Clarke and Courts Building 2400 Mechanic
Built in 1890 Listed in the
National Register of Historic Places
by the United States Department of the Interior
— — Map (db m130426) HM
This large Victorian home was built in 1895 by Captain Charles Clarke, a prominent figure in the Galveston shipping industry.
In 1928 the house was purchased by grain exporter Julius W. Jockusch, who served as consul in Belgium and later . . . — — Map (db m57411) HM
"Lion" of Texas coastal defense during the Civil War. Commanded marine department of military district. Born in New England, went to sea at 13. By age 20 was a captain. In 1850's commanded on the Galveston to New Orleans run of Southern Mail . . . — — Map (db m36129) HM
Erected in 1870. Cultural and religious center for 85 years. Second oldest temple in Texas. Converted to Masonic Temple in 1953.
Henry Cohen, rabbi from 1888-1950, was noted advisor and beloved humanitarian to the entire city. Recorded . . . — — Map (db m201840) HM
Authorized by
The Congress of the United States
* March 4, 1854 *
Construction completed
* March 31, 1864 *
This was the first building erected
by the United States of America
for civil uses in the State of Texas
. . . — — Map (db m118965) HM
A veteran of the War of 1812, David Ayers brought his family to Texas in 1833. On behalf of the American Bible Society, they distributed bibles to new settlers. Settling first in San Patricio, Ayers moved to Washington County, where he became a . . . — — Map (db m127585) HM
During the last quarter of the 19th century Galveston Island was a major center of commerce for the Southwestern United States. Finished goods arrived at Galveston's natural deep water port from across the world, while cotton and other raw . . . — — Map (db m118997) HM
Constructed between 1866 and 1868, this house belonged to a number of significant Galveston residents. Captain John Davidson, an immigrant from Norway and early Galveston settler, built it. In 1870, two years after Davidson died in an attempt to . . . — — Map (db m140036) HM
Erected to the Soldiers and Sailors of
the
Confederate States of America
by
The Veuve Jefferson Davis Chapter No. 17,
United Daughters of the Confederacy
1911
Galveston Texas
”There has never been an armed force
which in . . . — — Map (db m118299) WM
At the request of Galveston Bishop Nicholas Aloysius Gallagher, Dominican Sister Mary Agnes and Mother Rose Lynch left their Sacred Heart Convent in Somerset, Ohio, to staff a school in Galveston in 1882. Twenty sisters including Sister Agnes and . . . — — Map (db m180069) HM
Dr. Frederick K. Fisher (1852-1920) and his wife Lucy Adelaide (Selkirk) (1856-1939) purchased this property in February 1888 and had this house built that same year. Both members of pioneer Texas families, the Fishers were active in local civic . . . — — Map (db m142759) HM
Designed by noted architect Nicholas Clayton. Gothic revival style. Dedicated as memorial in 1882 to the Rev. Benjamin Eaton, founding rector, 1841-71.
Half of funds provided by the Ladies' Parochial Society; half by financier Henry Rosenberg. . . . — — Map (db m58134) HM
The Star State Company No. 3 organized in 1859 as one of
Galveston's volunteer fire departments. The company first
operated from an engine house at 2512 Church Street. In 1885, the city began to replace the various volunteer groups with a unified . . . — — Map (db m239910) HM
The first recorded history of Galveston Island occurred in 1528 with the shipwreck of Cabeza de Vaca and his crewmen. They were survivors of Alvarez de Pineda’s ill-fated expedition to Florida and were held captive here by the Karankawa Indians. De . . . — — Map (db m239826) HM
In 1854, a congressional appropriation was secured for the erection of a government building in Galveston for the customs, post office departments, the United States Court, and the United States Marshal.
Three lots on the southeast corner . . . — — Map (db m118960) HM
The Rev. James Huckins, a visiting Baptist missionary agent, met with nine charter members in the home of Thomas Borden to organize a Baptist church in Galveston on January 30, 1840. Borden's brother Gail Borden, Jr., and sister-in-law Penelope . . . — — Map (db m180029) HM
Dedicated to the
First Navy of the Republic of Texas
Established by Governor Henry Smith
November 25th, 1835
The Fleet
Brutus • Independence
Liberty • Invincible
Commemorating the heroism of its
personnel . . . — — Map (db m65031) HM WM
Organized New Year's Day, 1840, in the "Academy," an old building on the northwest corner of this intersection. Rev. John McCullough, church organizer, became pastor.
Original building was finished 1843; present structure started 1872; . . . — — Map (db m51228) HM
In 1857 John S. Sydnor (1812-1869), former Galveston mayor, built the original two-story, eight-room structure at this site. Samson Heidenheimer (1834-1891) bought it in 1884. The German-born Heidenheimer began with a $100 loan and built a fortune . . . — — Map (db m128845) HM
The northeastern tip of Galveston Island has seen defense fortifications since the early 1800's. Crude Spanish and French forts (1816-1818) gave way to small sand forts and batteries constructed by the Republic of Texas from 1836 to 1844. In 1863 . . . — — Map (db m78508) HM
Built in 1886 to replace a house destroyed in the great Strand fire, this was the home of Robert Morris and Sarah Franklin. Robert Franklin (1839-1923) was the son of Benjamin C. Franklin, the Battle of San Jacinto veteran for whom Franklin County . . . — — Map (db m59423) HM
Galveston native and banker William John Frederich, Sr. (1852-1898), had this house built for his family in 1894. After his death, his widow Jeanne sold the home to his nephew, Frederich William Erhard, in 1909. The home remained in the Erhard . . . — — Map (db m59378) HM
Designed by Galveston architect William H. Roystone for local real estate agent Frederick William Beissner (1854-1905) and his wife Mary, this Victorian-era home was built in 1888. Its elaborate Eastlake details include turned posts, jigsawn porch . . . — — Map (db m60498) HM
Founded in 1911 as a sandwich shop at Seawall and 23rd street by Italian immigrant San Giacinto "Cinto" Gaido, in 1920 Gaido's became Galveston's first seafront restaurant open year round. Cinto's motto was "Learn what is wanted and then serve" and . . . — — Map (db m180028) HM
Site of the home 1837-1851, of Gail Borden, Jr. pioneer surveyor, newspaper editor and inventor of a process for condensing milk, which he discovered while living here in 1840. Born November 9, 1801. Died September 2, 1874. — — Map (db m239912) HM
Founded 1842 by Samuel Bangs, Texas' first printer. Published after 1843 by Willard Richardson, who put up the first 4-story building in Galveston to house the offices and printing plant.
Soon after the Civil War began in 1861, cut back from . . . — — Map (db m49843) HM
By 1840, a year after its incorporation, the city of Galveston was home to approximately 1,200 residents, the entry point for scores of immigrants and a major coastal shipping port. Ongoing tensions between the young Republic of Texas and Mexico had . . . — — Map (db m59444) HM
Founded in 1878 by George Dealey (1829-1891), the Galveston Children's Home moved to this location in 1880. Henry Rosenberg gave money to construct a massive Gothic revival building here in 1894-95. It was destroyed by the storm of 1900. Newspaper . . . — — Map (db m51269) HM
Communities of Galveston County were established as follows:
Algoa was named following the 1900 storm for a British Tanker which ran aground there.
Alta Loma was given the Spanish Name, “High Ground,” by a development company in . . . — — Map (db m239827) HM
In design of a Teutonic Club; all stockholders were of German descent. Center for city's social life, 1876-1923, complex had an octagonal dance pavilion, tennis courts, bowling and tenpin alleys, bandstand, fountains. The complex was site of . . . — — Map (db m56238) HM
In 1871, twelve men formed the Galveston Historical Society to preserve the history of Texas by collecting important documents. The group and its archive grew, but in 1880, the secretary died, telling no one where to find the collection. In 1885, . . . — — Map (db m231740) HM
Galveston was the port of entry for thousands of immigrants who settled in Texas and the southwest. Federal laws enacted in 1875 ended the unrestricted entry of immigrants into the country and led to the establishment of the area's first U.S. . . . — — Map (db m30449) HM
Galveston Island, for centuries a crossroads for Indians, privateers, Spanish and French explorers, for a time was capital of the Republic of Texas. This was during the Texas War for Independence, when Santa Anna was making his 1836 invasion. On . . . — — Map (db m36130) HM
Few spots have played a more exciting role in the life of Texas than Galveston Island.
Cabeza de Vaca, the Spanish explorer, wrote of the cannibalistic Karankawa Indians when he was shipwrecked here in 1528. The island became headquarters for . . . — — Map (db m70785) HM
First medical college in Texas and predecessor of the University of Texas Medical Branch, the school opened in 1865 as a branch of Soule University at Chappell Hill. Although equipment during the first session consisted of one skeleton, one . . . — — Map (db m87301) HM
First weather service office in Texas, and one of first in the United States; established April 19, 1871, slightly over a year after Congress passed an act in Feb. 1870 creating the Public Weather Service of the United States under the Army Signal . . . — — Map (db m56267) HM
The Island City Orphans Home of the 1870s and 1880s was created to provide refuge for Protestant and Jewish children in Galveston. The orphanage operated out of its original wooden structure for the next twelve years, narrowly escaping destruction . . . — — Map (db m103074) HM
Unregulated entry of immigrants through the Port of Galveston in the late 1830s greatly contributed to local outbreaks of yellow fever and other communicable diseases. The young city instituted quarantine measures in 1839 and in 1853 built Texas' . . . — — Map (db m127634) HM
Following the hurricane of 1900, the greatest natural disaster of U.S. history, with the loss of 6,000 lives, civil engineers designed and built a concrete seawall and raised the elevation of Galveston Island, using pioneering materials and . . . — — Map (db m90439) HM
1917 Honor Roll 1918
We with uncovered head
salute the sacred dead
who went and who return not.
McDonald, Margaret • Astal, Douglas N. • Berg, George • Bone, Albert R. • Brown, William H. • Burke, C.T. • Carrague, Michael T. • . . . — — Map (db m90705) WM
Most important Texas seaport during the Civil War. Had consulates of England, France and Spain and worldwide recognition as a cotton exporter. Set up defenses including 10 mud forts and gun batteries on beaches, at railroad depot and on Pelican . . . — — Map (db m59397) HM
From the time of the earliest documented history, the Gulf of Mexico has been the main point of entry into Texas. Some settlers of the 1820s even came by keelboat, going ashore along the way to kill game, in the same way an overland party would live . . . — — Map (db m127635) HM
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