The East End Historic District encompasses a large 19th-century residential area in eastern

Galveston, Texas Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...

. The area is roughly bounded by Broadway to the south, Market St to the north, 19th St to the west, and 9th street to the east. The area has one of the best-preserved and largest concentrations of 19th-century residential architecture in Texas. It was developed mainly at a time when Galveston was the state's preeminent port. The historic district, designated locally in 1970, was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1975 and declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

in 1976. and

Description and history

Galveston's history as a port city began in 1830, when

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

established a custom house on Galveston Island. After the Texas Republic was established in 1836, Galveston Island was developed as the republic's principal port. Its street network was platted in 1838, and by 1850 it was the second largest port on the Gulf Coast (after

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

). This early growth included the construction of a number of Greek Revival houses in the eastern end of the island, some of which still stand. The city experienced significant growth after the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, but its growth was curtailed by the growth of

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

as a competing port, and then by the

1900 Galveston hurricane The 1900 Galveston hurricane, also known as the Great Galveston hurricane and the Galveston Flood, and known regionally as the Great Storm of 1900 or the 1900 Storm, was a deadly and catastrophic Atlantic hurricane which became the List of di ...

, which devastated the city and effectively ended its significance as a major port. The eastern end of Galveston Island became its preeminent residential district, where the city's civic and business leaders built their houses. Wilbur Cherry, an early newspaper published in the city, built a house on Cherry Street in 1852 which is one of the district's oldest. The grandest mansion in the area is the so-called Bishop's Palace, completed in 1893 for politician and lawyer Walter Gresham. Most of the district's 550-plus buildings are residences that show Victorian architectural styles, although a number of relatively unaltered examples of the Greek Revival survive from its early days. The East End was protected as a local historic district in 1970. Significant and representative properties, some of which are individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) or as Recorded Texas Historic Landmarks (RTHL), include: * Bishop's Palace (NRHP
70000746
RTHL
139
, 1402 Broadway St. * George Washington Grover House (RTHL
7479
, 1520 Market St. * Isaac Heffron House (RTHL
18528
, 1509 Postoffice St. Nicholas J. Clayton, Anton Korn and other architects designed buildings in the district.

References

External links

Search on "Galveston TX" yields many photosets, some from this district
at

Historic American Buildings Survey The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

{{Galveston, Texas National Register of Historic Places in Galveston County, Texas History of Galveston, Texas Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Texas National Historic Landmarks in Texas

Description and history

See also

References

External links