Greetings from Galveston, Texas.
Galveston was one of the earliest settlements in what eventually became Texas. The main commercial street in town is known as the Strand.
The first buildings were built out of wood, but it became apparent that with the frequent hurricanes that hit Galveston that more sturdy buildings were called for, hence by the 1870s the entire street was built of iron and brick.
Old Galveston Square dates from 1859, with recent repairs complete due to yet another hurricane that did damage to the building.
While Galveston is a city of 50,000, and part of the massive Houston Metro area, the street feels more like a smaller Midwest town.
The Peanut Butter Warehouse dates from 1912, where it served for nearly 100 years as a grocery warehouse. Today it has been converted into condos.
At one time the street was known as the ‘Wall Street of the South’.
Most of the doors on the buildings are huge – nearly 10′ high.
The Hutchings Building is one of the earliest examples of a steel frame building in Texas.
A few of the classic buildings are in the surrounding blocks.
While not as old, but second to none, the former Santa Fe Railroad Station now serves as a museum on the 1st floor, and offices above.
Built in the art deco style, it has the requisite stylish mailbox.
By the time we reached this building the museum was closed for the day, but could still be viewed through some windows.
Our home for the night was the Tremont Hotel, and classic old building. When I asked if the building was always a hotel the desk clerk said ‘no, it was a store, and a warehouse among other things. In fact during the terrible storm of 1900 (which caused more deaths than any other event in American history – over 8000 people) they used the building to store the bodies.
It turns out this hotel has quite the history for being haunted, but we didn’t have any unexpected visitors during our stay.
The stylish arch over the street was placed there over the street in 1985 for Mardi Gras They liked it so much they left it.
RDZ Photography 