The home was built in 1839 for Samuel May Williams, one of the founders of Galveston. The prefabricated house was shipped from Maine and constructed on 7 feet (2.1m) off the ground, raised on ten piers. The 1+1⁄2-story house was topped with a cupola, where Williams installed a telescope so that he could be one of the first to learn when interesting cargo arrived by ship. After Williams' death in 1858, the house was sold to his friend, Phillip C. Tucker, and became known as the Tucker House. The Tucker family retained possession of the house until 1953.
The house was purchased by, and became the first project of, the newly organized Galveston Historic Foundation. Restoration was partially funded by a grant from the Moody Foundation. In 2007, the executive director of the GHF, stated "I can hardly overemphasize the importance of this house, not only to Galveston and Texas history, but to the history and affections of our organization."[4] The house was opened to the public in 1959, restored to its original look in the late 1970s, and opened to regular tours in 1984. Attendance dropped from 25,000 to 1,000 visitors per year, and the museum was closed in 2007. The interiors were redesigned as part of an interior design showcase, and the house was offered for rent in 2008. It survived 2008's Hurricane Ike unscathed.
The war concluded with a Texian victory over Mexico, and the province known as Texas became an independent nation, the Republic of Texas. Between 1836 and 1838, McKinney and Williams worked with Michel B. Menard to get federal permission for the Galveston City Company to create a community on the eastern end of Galveston Island. In April 1838, Williams was named one of five directors of the company, which had permission to sell shares that could be redeemed for land or resold.[7] The new city of Galveston grew rapidly, with over 4,000 residents in 1840. The city was geographically isolated, with no fresh water. There was not a bridge to connect the island to the mainland, and water was delivered by steamer every day.[8]
Construction
In late 1838, Williams won election to the Fourth Congress. He asked McKinney to supervise the building of a home for the Williams family.[9] Like most of the wealthier residents in the city, Williams wished to live along the banks of McKinney's Bayou. His 22 acres (8.9ha) lot was located near the bayou at 35th Street and Avenue A,[8] about 2 miles (3.2km) west of the town.[9]
Williams had ordered a prefabricated house, which was shipped from Maine. It was built in the Greek Revival style, with some elements of classic Louisiana plantation architecture.[8] To allow the house to better weather storms, it was elevated 7 feet (2.1m) on ten brick piers.[10][11] The bricks used for the piers were transported to Galveston as ballast on ships.[10] The 1+1⁄2-story house was topped with a cupola and widow's walk. The first floor had long porches, and dormer windows adorned the attic.[8][11] The cupola windows could be opened, allowing cool ocean breezes to enter the house.[11] The house faces east,[4] and had a large gallery on both the south and east sides.[10]
The downstairs consisted of a parlor, dining room, central hallway, and two bedrooms. Both the parlor and the front bedroom had French doors that opened onto the porch. The upstairs had four small bedrooms, each with a dormer. Classical wood columns supported the porch roof, and a white picket fence surrounded the house. A detached brick kitchen was in the rear, and on either side of the house were 10 acres (4.0ha) garden plots. Williams estimated that the house cost $7,472.[10]
Williams family residence
For the next 20 years, Williams, his wife, and children lived in the house. Williams often lounged on the widow's walk.[11] At this time, Galveston Island had few trees or tall buildings, and from the widow's walk Williams could see the Gulf.[4] He could also watch the horse races at a nearby race track which he co-owned with McKinney.[11] He installed a telescope on the widow's walk, pointed towards the harbor. It was customary for ships to flash signals as they approached land to inform the harbormaster of the types of cargo they carried. Williams used his telescope to examine approaching ships; if one flashed the signal of an interesting cargo, Williams would rush downtown to start trading. This gave him a competitive advantage over other merchants, who did not learn of the cargo until the ship was closer to shore. Partially as a result of this tactic, the McKinney & Williams commission house "was considered one of the wealthiest and most influential establishments in Texas".[11]
As Williams' wealth grew, he made his home more comfortable. He ordered portraits painted of both himself and his wife; these were hung in the parlor of the house. In a stable behind the house he kept two horses, a carriage, and a barouche. The family had four slaves, who lived in outbuildings near the kitchen.[12]
Williams died in the house on September 13, 1858, of what his doctor called "general debility".[13] The funeral was held several days later at the house.[14]
Tucker family residence
In 1859, Williams' children sold the house to a family friend, Philip C. Tucker, and it became known as the Tucker House.[10][15] The same year, Galveston received train service to the mainland; three times a week people could travel via train to Houston.[12]
A fire in the 1890s destroyed the cupola and damaged some of the second story floors.[10] The house survived the 1900 Galveston Hurricane, which devastated the island. After the storm, it was the second-oldest surviving house on the island.[16][Notes 1] During the reconstruction of the city, the grade of the populated portion of the island was raised. Four feet (1.2m) of sand was pumped under the house, giving it the appearance of having only 3 feet (0.91m) piers.[10]
Preservation
In the 1950s, the "Free State of Galveston" collapsed as law enforcement worked to eradicate corruption and illegal activity. As the city's gambling, prostitution, and illegal drinking establishments were closed, city leaders began to look for other means to attract tourists. This prompted an increased interest in historic structures.[18] The Galveston Historic Foundation (GHF) was established in this decade, primarily to save the Williams house.[19]
To assist in preserving the house, the GHF received a grant from the Moody Foundation. The foundation had been established by Galveston resident William Lewis Moody Jr. to support educational, scientific, religious, and health institutions in Texas.[20] Its chairman, Mary Moody Northen, who was a member of the Texas Historical Commission advisory board, emphasized historic preservation.[21] The GHF restored the house, and in 1959 it opened to the public.[22] The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
After finishing the restoration, the GHF worked to restore other historical buildings in Galveston. The GHF absorbed the Galveston Historical Society shortly after, becoming one of the largest locally based groups focused on historic preservation in the United States.[19] Author Susan Wiley Hardwick wrote that "The initial work of the GHF, preservation of the Williams home, set the stage for the preservation and redevelopment of the Strand commercial district, located one block from the harbor."[19]
Museum
Initially, the house was furnished with donated items.[10] The GHF conducted extensive research in 1978 to determine the house's appearance during Williams' lifetime. The house was subsequently restored to its 1854 appearance, with a reconstructed cupola. It was reopened to the public for regular tours in 1984.[10] In the 1980s, it received up to 25,000 visitors each year.[23] For a time, the museum used innovative interpretive technology. As technology changed, however, the museum fell behind. New audiovisual systems and technology are expensive and, as with most historic house museums, a limited budget made it difficult to adapt. Jessica Foy Donnelly wrote in Interpreting historic house museums that "changing technology for audiovisual systems contributed to the failure [of the Williams house museum] to continue an exciting interpretive technique."[24]
In 2004, the house received new landscaping, donated from the Hotel Galvez. In preparation for adding a new outdoor pavilion, the Galvez uprooted hundreds of shrubs and perennials. Many of these, including oleanders, daylilies, hibiscus, plumbago, agapanthus, and bougainvillea, were relocated to the grounds around the Williams house.[25]
Attendance slowly dwindled, and in the first nine months of 2007 the museum received only 1,000 visitors, each of whom paid about $3 per ticket. These funds were not enough to cover maintenance on the house.[23] The museum closed permanently at the end of September 2007.[4]
Post-museum
After closing its doors to the public, the house was used by the Texas Gulf Coast Chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers as a showcase.[16] The home was redesigned at no cost to the GHF. Designers donated their time, and businesses and craftsmen donated an estimated $100,000 worth of materials and time.[23] The redesigned house features wood floors, stenciling in the entryway, and faux crown molding in the dining room. The color palette is now blues, roses, soft yellow, and gold colors, and the furniture is a mix of period pieces – some originally owned by the Williams family – and contemporary furniture.[16][23] The theater was converted to a kitchen, and the bathroom was upgraded with antique fixtures.[23]
After the showcase concluded, the GHF offered the house for lease. Tenants would also serve as curators and would be required to interview for the opportunity to live there. Tenants are requested to open the house or grounds occasionally. This is the first time that a group has leased a historic building with a newly redesigned interior.[23] The home suffered minimal damage during Hurricane Ike, which hit Galveston in September 2008.[26]
In early 2016 the GHF sold the house to Leah and Mariano Garcia-Blanco, who moved to Galveston from North Carolina in 2014 and who are restoring the interior of this home so important to Galveston and Texas.
Legacy
In 2007, Dwayne Jones, then executive director of the GHF, stated "I can hardly overemphasize the importance of this house, not only to Galveston and Texas history, but to the history and affections of our organization. The house inspired a generation of active, public-spirited Galvestonians to found what has grown into the largest local historic preservation group in the nation — an organization that has had a profound effect on our community."[4]
The house is reputed to be haunted by Williams. Tourists have reported feeling a cold draft and a presence outside the bedrooms of the children.[27]
A replica of the house was built in the Woodlands, a northern suburb of Houston, in the early 2000s. Homebuilder Insignia Homes chose six historic Texas houses, and built luxury replicas in a single neighborhood.[Notes 2] Although the exterior is almost identical to the original Williams house, the interiors were redesigned to be more modern.[28]
Galveston is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of 209.3 square miles (542 km2), with a population of 53,695 in 2020, is the county seat of surrounding Galveston County and second-largest municipality in the county. It is also within the Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area at its southern end on the northwestern coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
Galveston Bay is a bay in the western Gulf of Mexico along the upper coast of Texas. It is the seventh-largest estuary in the United States, and the largest of seven major estuaries along the Texas Gulf Coast. It is connected to the Gulf of Mexico and is surrounded by sub-tropical marshes and prairies on the mainland. The water in the bay is a complex mixture of sea water and fresh water, which supports a wide variety of marine life. With a maximum depth of about 10 feet (3 m) and an average depth of only 6 feet (2 m), it is unusually shallow for its size.
The Strand Historic District, also known as the Strand District, in downtown Galveston, Texas (USA), is a National Historic Landmark District of mainly Victorian era buildings that now house restaurants, antique stores, and curio shops. The area is a major tourist attraction for the island city and also plays host to two very popular seasonal festivals. It is widely considered the island's shopping and entertainment center. The district includes properties along the south side of Harborside Drive and both sides of The Strand and Mechanic Street from 20th Street westward to 26th Street.
The Bishop's Palace, also known as Gresham's Castle, is an ornate 19,082 square feet (1,772.8 m2) Victorian-style house, located on Broadway and 14th Street in the East End Historic District of Galveston, Texas.
Nicholas Joseph Clayton was a prominent Victorian era architect in Galveston, Texas. Clayton constructed many grand religious and public buildings in Galveston including the First Presbyterian Church. He is also credited as the architect of Sacred Heart Catholic Church and of the Main Building of St. Edward's University in Austin, Texas. He also designed an addition to St. Mary Cathedral in Galveston.
Henry Wiencek is an American journalist, historian and editor whose work has encompassed historically significant architecture, the Founding Fathers, various topics relating to slavery, and the Lego company. In 1999, The Hairstons: An American Family in Black and White, a biographical history which chronicles the racially intertwined Hairston clan of the noted Cooleemee Plantation House, won the National Book Critics Circle Award for biography.
The San Jacinto Battleground State Historic Site includes the location of the Battle of San Jacinto and the museum ship USS Texas. It is located off the Houston Ship Channel in unincorporated Harris County, Texas near the city of Houston. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960.
Alfred Charles Finn was an American architect. He started in the profession with no formal training in 1904 as an apprentice for Sanguinet & Staats. He worked in their offices in Dallas, Fort Worth, and Houston. His credits during his tenure residential structures, but firm was a leader in steel-frame construction of skyscrapers.
The Free State of Galveston was a whimsical name given to the coastal city of Galveston in the U.S. state of Texas during the early-to-mid-20th century. Today, the term is sometimes used to describe the culture and history of that era.
The history of Galveston, Texas, begins with the archaeological record of Native Americans who used the island. The first European settlements on the island were constructed around 1816. The Port of Galveston was established in 1825 by the Congress of Mexico following its successful revolution from Spain. The city served as the main port for the Texas Navy during the Texas Revolution. Galveston was founded in 1836 by Michel Menard, Samuel May Williams, and Thomas F. McKinney, and briefly served as the capital of the Republic of Texas. The Battle of Galveston was fought in Galveston Bay during the American Civil War when Confederate forces under Major General John B. Magruder attacked and expelled occupying Union troops from the city.
Michel Branamour Menard (1805–1856) was a Canadian-born trader and merchant, first active on the upper Mississippi River and later in Texas. He co-founded Galveston, Texas. He represented Galveston County in the Congress of the Republic of Texas.
Samuel May Williams was an American businessman, politician, and close associate of Stephen F. Austin, who was an Anglo-American colonizer of Mexican Texas. As a teenager, Williams started working in the family's mercantile business in Baltimore. He spent time in South America and New Orleans, fleeing the latter because of debts. He landed in Mexican Texas in 1822, having learned French and Spanish. Stephen F. Austin hired Williams for his colony in 1824. Williams first worked as a clerk, and later assumed the title of secretary to the ayuntamiento, a local government established for the colony by the Mexican state of Coahuila and Texas. He worked for Austin for about a decade.
The Moody Mansion, also known as the Willis-Moody Mansion, is a historic residential building in Galveston, Texas located at 2618 Broadway Street. The thirty-one room Romanesque mansion was completed in 1895. The home is named for William Lewis Moody, Jr., an American financier and entrepreneur in the cotton business who bought the home from Galveston socialite Narcissa Willis. The mansion was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 13, 1994. Tours are offered, and the facilities can be rented out for weddings and other events.
Thomas Freeman McKinney was a trader, merchant, and a co-founder of Galveston, Texas. Living with his family in the western states of Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri, he started trading in Mexico in 1823. The next year he settled in Stephen F. Austin's Colony, claiming a headright to Texas land while continuing his trading activities. He established a partnership with Samuel May Williams in 1834, and they operated a warehouse at the mouth of the Brazos River. The McKinney & Williams partnership loaned money and vessels to the cause of Texas independence. After Texas gained independence from Mexico, McKinney co-founded Galveston, Texas, and the McKinney & Williams company set up a warehouse and dock in the new town. McKinney later sold his share of the McKinney & Williams partnership and retired to Travis County, Texas.
The Menard House, also known as The Oaks, is a historic detached-home located at 1605 Thirty-Third Street in Galveston, Texas. Built in 1838, it is the oldest surviving structure in Galveston as recently as 2014 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Mathilda Wehmeyer House and German-American Kindergarten School is a two-story building located at 1616 Winnie St. in Galveston, Texas. Built in 1887, the building housed a school operated by German immigrant Mathilda Wehmeyer between 1891 and 1898.
Henry Howell Williams was an American merchant.
Santiago del Valle was a Mexican hacendado and government official for Coahuila y Tejas during the Texas Revolution. Del Valle obtained a land grant from the Mexican government, which led to the founding of Galveston, Texas and several towns in Travis County, including Del Valle, which is named in his honor. In 1825, he served as president of the Congreso Constituyente of the state of Coahuila y Tejas, counselor to governor Victor Blanco, and as the arbitrator in a feud between the Sánchez Navarro and Elizondo families.
Margaret Louise Swett Henson was a historian, archivist, and author specializing in 19th-century Texas history.
McComb, 1David G. (1986). Galveston: a history. University of Texas Press. ISBN978-0-292-72053-4.
Wiencek, Henry; Moody, Robert L. Sr.; McLeod, E. Douglas (21 May 2010). The Moodys of Galveston and Their Mansion. Volume 13 of Sara and John Lindsey Series in the Arts and Humanities. Texas A&M University Press. ISBN978-1-60344-182-7.
Williams, Scott (2007). Haunted Texas: A Travel Guide. Globe Pequot. ISBN978-0-7627-4495-4.
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