The post wherein Miss Havisham meets Judge Stephen W. Blount

The 1897 Judge Stephen W. Blount House in Nacogdoches
In her autobiography, A Kind of Magic (1963), Edna Ferber compared Galveston, Texas, to wealthy spinster Miss Havisham, the "gray, mournful abandoned bride of Dickens' Great Expectations."

Houston in the Jazz Age*

*aaand a couple of late 19th century churches....

Links go to each structure's Texas Historical Commission Atlas entry. I also used this extremely helpful list of the National Register of Historic Places in Harris County. A follow-up post featuring primarily Victorian architecture in Houston is coming. But now, looking at Houston through a Roaring '20s (and a little earlier) filter:

Island Relics, part 2: residential structures

There's a two-story Victorian there - can you see it?
Overwhelmed. That's the best word to describe how someone (such as myself) infatuated with turn-of-the-century Victorian architecture feels when down on Galveston. It's easy to become overwhelmed to the point of brain shutdown due to overstimulation. It is remarkable how many of the homes in the Silk Stocking District, and elsewhere, survived the 1900 Storm. After growing up on the Island, and seeing pictures such as these, I'm stunned and pleased to find so many of the old structures still around, and in many cases, renovated and restored. But as is more often the reality, these treasures end up like the Darragh House (its ghost is pictured above). So, let's celebrate those that which have, thus far, survived.

Noble design

This is a classic example of design #4 from the pattern book Cottage Souvenir #2 - Revised and Enlarged, George F. Barber, architect. This is probably the house Barber designed for K. D. Lawrence in 1899, located on Noble Street in Electric Lovelady(land), Texas. Have you ever been? Have you ever been?

Toot, toot (continued...sickening, isn't it?)

Texas Architect magazine used my picture of the First Presbyterian Church in Galveston, Texas, in its current issue. This is extra special for me, because I was born and raised on the Island, and the "First Prez" was the church of my youth, where I was baptized, went through Communicants Class, and regularly (religiously) attended until I went away to college. The photo was taken nearly a year after Hurricane Ike devastated the church, which is just now beginning to come back to life. The church was constructed between 1873 and 1883 (this means it survived the 1900 Storm) and was designed by Nicholas J. Clayton in the Norman Romanesque style.




What with this, and now this, maybe I should start charging? Kidding. And something could possibly come from an email I received just today from a reporter at the local paper, concerning an article they are writing about renovations taking place at Diedrich Rulfs's office/workshop, here in Nacogdoches. This might lead to a review of my book about Diedrich Rulfs appearing in the paper:

We are working on a piece about his office restoration. Would like a comment from you about it and need to know if you ever got any press for your Rulfs book in the Daily Sentinel. Will Godwin.

Galveston in a fog

The John Gross House, built in the Greek Revival style in 1866, expanded in 1889 in the Queen Anne/Victorian style, with among other things, a turreted ballroom by Nicholas Clayton. This was the summer home of Texas Governor Richard Coke through 1876. It survived the 1900 Storm relatively unscathed.

Located in a "rough" neighborhood where housing projects were leveled due to Hurricane Ike damage, this is the Henry Beissner House. Built in 1890-91 in a mixed Victorian (Stick, Eastlake, and Queen Anne) style, it was once known locally as "Noah's Ark" due to its use as a sanctuary during the 1900 Storm.


Trube Castle, c. 1890, Victorian, Eclectic style


These are across the street from Trube Castle, probably Art Deco.



The J.C. League House, c. 1892-93, architect, Nicholas Clayton


1709, 11 & 15 Avenue H, c. 1894, Victorian



The Beissner House, c. 1887, Eastlake Victorian style


The Joel B. Wolfe House, c. 1894, Queen Anne Victorian


House at 1701 Avenue H, c. 1880s, Victorian


"The Cottage," built 1882, late Greek Revival, high Victorian, survived many storms, including the 1900 Storm.


The M.W. Shaw House, c. 1900


The Julius Ruhl House, c. 1874, Italianate Victorian



The George Fox House, c. 1903, Queen Anne Victorian


Charming little house at 1301 Avenue J (Broadway), c. 1885, mixed (Queen Anne, Eastlake, Italianate) Victorian style


This is the former Coca-Cola factory, designed by architect Ben Milam in the late '30s or early '40s. It was a couple of different Mexican food restaurants during the time period when I was growing up in Galveston ('70s and '80s).

Victorian Texas

The Victorian style of architecture spans the period of roughly 1825-1900, essentially the reign of Queen Victoria. I include in this post five of the most recent examples I have found. More can be read about the style here and here. I have a Victorian set at flickr, and there is also my post about Nacogdoches architect Diedrich Rulfs, the Victorian style being one he is best known for using (although none of the following were designed by him).
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The Ross-Carroll House
Queen Anne form, c. 1899, Brenham


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House at 402 St. Mary Street
c. 1880s
Carthage


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The Faison House
c. around 1842
La Grange
This began as two separate rooms made from local pine wood, probably became a Greek Revival around 1855, then as the tastes changed, took on a more Victorian appearance during the 1880s.
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The Kaulbach Home
c. 1885
La Grange


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The Northcutt House
c. 1902
Longview

Ben Milam

The granddaughter of Ben Milam recently emailed me some scans of newspaper clippings and black and white photographs associated with her grandfather's architectural career. She granted me permission to post them. Milam was an architect of some acclaim who resided on Galveston Island. His period was the 1930s through early '50s, his most prevalent style appearing to have been Art Deco or Streamline Moderne.



Stephen F. Austin Junior High School, c.1939


A 1939 Houston Post article about the school


The Original Hill's Restaurant, c. 1940
I ate there a few times as a kid during the '70s. It is no longer there, I believe. Demolished by man, it once sat on Seawall Blvd.

I'd never realized this building was originally the Coca-Cola factory in Galveston. By my time, '70s/'80s, it was a series of restaurants, usually Mexican food.


"Four Apartment Building" plans


The S.S. Galveston/U.S.S. Galveston/Mayflower Hotel

Drove or rode by this place many times. Such a shame it was demolished (2006)! It had become sort of seedy by my time ('70s, '80s). It was also up on the Seawall.


Galveston Cotton Exchange, c. 1940
And a couple pictures of mine, of the 1950 circa, Pennington Buick Co.: