GALVESTON: A 19TH-CENTURY ISLAND CITY
Illustrations: map of Galveston photo of The Bishop's Palace
ROBERT REINHOLD is a national correspondent for The Times, based in Texas.
T here is something about cities on islands that sets them apart from other places, temperamentally as well as geographically. They are insular, inbred and - fortunately, in many ways - resistant to the homogenizing social and economic forces that have blended most other modern cities into one undifferentiated mass.
It is only 45 miles down the Gulf Freeway from the glittery metropolis that is the new Houston to old Galveston, but it might as well be on another planet. The causeway that leads across Galveston Bay to the long narrow barrier island is like a time machine transporting the visitor into a 19th-century world of light and airy Victorian, Gothic and Greek Revival buildings and homes.
Many of these have now been lovingly restored, preening for visitors. The centerpiece is the Strand, once the commercial focus of the city, which has found a new economic life as the site of shops and restaurants. There are also several magnificent old houses to visit, particularly the Bishop's Palace and the Ashton Villa. Beyond the architecture, the surrounding waters offer swimming and deep-sea fishing, as well as the ingredients for some respectable seafood restaurants.
Late autumn is a good time to visit. By mid-October the summer crowds are gone and the ubiquitous oleanders and hibiscus are still in bloom. Cool, moist breezes waft in off the Gulf, and the sky is often gray and brooding. Then the sun emerges suddenly, washing the fine old brick and granite buildings with a soft hue of puce.
Galveston is one of the rare Texas cities that can be profitably explored on foot. The first stop should be the Visitors Center run by the Galveston Historical Foundation at 2016 Strand, in the fine Greek Revival Hendley Building, barely saved from the wrecker's ball in 1966. There, Ann Ferguson is a font of information.
The Strand, between 20th and 25th Streets, was once the Wall Street of the West, with five of Texas's largest banks, eight newspapers and numerous cotton merchants. Architectural critics consider it one of the finest commercial ensembles in America. ''The Strand never achieved the urban quality of the Avenue de l'Opera with its continuous cornice; however it came as close to this sense of city as anything in Texas and, probably as anything in the West,'' wrote Howard Barnstone in his 1963 book, ''The Galveston That Was.''
The Galveston that was lost its chance to be a great city through the forces of nature and human frailty. Much of what the hurricanes and heavy salt air have not destroyed has been done in by previous generations of Galvestonians, careless of their heritage.
Listen to Edna Ferber speak of Galveston in ''A Kind of Magic'': ''Yet the city had a ghostly charm. The scent of tangled gardens hung heavy on the muggy air. The houses, pock-marked by the salt mist and the sun and heat and mildew, seemed built of ashes. Here was a remnant of haunted beauty - gray, shrouded crumbling. What did they resemble? Of what did the city remind me? Miss Havisham, of course. That was it. Miss Havisham the spectral bride in Great Expectations.''
The city is less ghostly today, when what remains - and that is a lot - is finally being restored and preserved, and these efforts are beginning to breathe some new life into the formerly decaying old port.
A thumbnail history will help to understand the new-old Galveston. The city was founded in 1836 and, with its natural deep-water harbor, soon became the commercial gateway to the growing Texas region, serving the cotton, slave and other trades. But its civic-minded leaders, many of them German Jewish merchants whose descendants are still influential, also turned Galveston into a cultural and architectural showplace without equal West of New York. By the turn of the century, when people were still shooting each other in most other parts of Texas, Galveston had an opera house, a medical school and the first electric lights and the first country club and golf course in Texas.
The city, with its proximity to the oil and gas fields, might well have become the New York of the West. But then, on Sept. 12, 1900, a hurricane of a force never since equaled practically destroyed the city, killing more than 6,000 persons. A 17-foot seawall was built to prevent a repetition of the damage, but Galveston was never the same, particularly after the Houston Ship Channel was dug in 1917, bypassing the port.
Galveston thrived for a while longer as a center of gambling and prostitution, serving Texans too moral to sample such things at home. The Texas Rangers shut all that down in 1957, chucking the slot machines into the bay. From then the city slid even further into decline. Already many of its princely buildings had crumbled; scores of the best houses were torn down to reduce property taxes or to build gas stations. The Strand was virtually abandoned.
A turning point occured in 1969, when it appeared that one of the city's greatest houses, the Ashton Villa on Broadway, built by the merchant James Moreau Brown in 1859, was to be razed for a filling station. After a long struggle, the Galveston Historical Foundation bought and preserved the building, which is notable for its fine cast-iron Gothic Revival verandas. It is now open for public tours. Since then the foundation, with help from the Moody and Kempner Foundations and other benefactors, has restored 23 buildings under the leadership of Peter Brink, a Harvard-educated lawyer who arrived there nine years ago.
A major force in all this has been George Mitchell, the Galvestonborn son of a Greek immigrant, who left to make a fortune in oil and now has returned to restore and develop his birthplace. He is responsible for the restoration of the 1871 Thomas Jefferson League Building, and has plans for constructing a Victorian hotel near the Strand.
In addition, many private individuals have restored old homes in the historic districts. Though based on Victorian themes, the architecture has been uniquely adapted to the sticky climate. Ceilingheight windows, deep porches and protruding bays were meant to catch the breezes. A common form is the raised Victorian cottage, made of light-weight cypress so that it could be set on stone piers several feet above street level - in case of flooding, of course. Lacking both stone and stone masons, the early home builders translated Greek Revival and Gothic designs into wood, with intricate wooden galleries, columns, balustrades and the like.
The Visitor Center offers an audio-cassette tour of the Strand buildings with their lovely cast-iron facade decorations. There is the Renaissance W.L. Moody Building, by the famed Galveston architect Nicholas J. Clayton, which served as the headquarters of the Moody financial empire; the League Building, with its elegant iron hoods over every window, now exquisitely restored and housing the Wentletrap Restaurant; the Rosenberg Building, built by a Swiss immigrant who came to Galveston when he was 19 and amassed a fortune, which he willed to the city. Punctuating the western end of the Strand is the Art Deco Sante Fe Railroad building, since renamed the Shearn Moody Plaza. It now contains a train museum, somewhat grandiosely called the Center for Transportation and Commerce.
Galveston has too many architectural wonders to list more than a few here. But a walk through the East End Historical District will show you some of the finest old homes. The district runs from 19th Street to 11th Street, along Sealy, Ball, Winnie and Church Streets. Just across Broadway is the smaller Silk Stocking Historical District. A few blocks away, in Kempner Park, is the delightful Garten Verein, a German dancing pavilion, saved too by the restoration crowd from an ignominious fate.
Another must is the Bishop's Palace, one of Clayton's grandest creations. This granite and limestone home at 1402 Broadway was built by Col. Walter Gresham, a lawyer, in 1886. It was later bought by the Catholic archdiocese for its bishop. Its ornate interior, with woodwork of rare mahogany and satinwood and crystal chandeliers, can be viewed on daily public tours.
All this has not come cheaply. One of the most magnificent restorations was of the Carpenter Gothic house built by Jacob Sonnentheil, at 1826 Sealy. It was literally collapsing when it was purchased in 1976 by Lee Trentham, a wealthy Houston chemical engineer and businessman. He has since poured in $275,000, restoring every possible detail, down to the Victorian brass fixtures, to their original condition. That was a mere pittance compared to the $375,000 he spent restoring a neo-classical mansion at 1502 Broadway, only to have his wife, Marge, get tired of it. Now the couple has restored a raised cottage on Broadway as a public showcase for their rare doll collection.
Like many Galvestonians, Lee Trentham likes it best in winter, when, he said, ''it's rainy and stormy and cool.'' And like others here, native and newcomers, he likes its Old World character. ''The reason I finally decided to get out of Houston,'' he said. ''is that it got so big and people got so unfriendly.'' If you go Lodgings Galveston's days as a glamorous seaside resort are long past, and its efforts to revive that glory are still mostly in the planning stage. For the time being, the closest you can come to recapturing the spirit of old Galveston is Marriott's Hotel Galvez at 2100 Seawall (713-762-7721), with its high-ceilinged loggia overlooking the Gulf of Mexico. A double room (they run small) ranges from $65 to $95, depending on the view. Another possibility is the Flagship, a white-sided hotel that perches on a pier over the Gulf at 2501 Seawall (713-762-8681). Doubles range from $60 on weekdays to $66 on weekends during the winter; higher rates apply in summer. Beyond that there are numerous standard motels, mostly along the beach, offering double rooms for as low $35. The Galveston Convention and Visitors Bureau at 2106 Seawall, Galveston, Texas 77550, can provide a list. Dining Stick to seafood, which is plentiful. The landmark seafood restaurant is Gaido's, at 3828 Seawall (713-762-0155). It is an enormous place with such dishes as stuffed flounder and fresh oysters; main dishes are in the $10 to $15 range. Another popular seafood spot is Clary's, whose prices are about the same as Gaido's. Its carefully prepared dishes include Oysters Monterrey. It is hard to find at 8509 Teichman Road; call 713-740-0771 for reservations and directions. Something of a favorite with residents is John's Oyster Resort at 7711 Broadway (713-744-1617). The food is not as good as elsewhere but many like its lower prices and more relaxed atmosphere. The most chic place to eat in Galveston now is the new Wentletrap Restaurant in the newly restored Thomas Jefferson League Building at 2301 Strand (713-765-5545). The menu lists seafood salads and wellprepared trout, red snapper and other fresh fish. Prices are high - a simple lunch can run $20 or more a person, including drinks and tip. For a less expensive meal, try the shrimp po'boys at Hill's Pier 19 (at 20th and Wharves) or nearby at the Pier 22. Or just pick up a beer and a sandwich at the Old Strand Emporium (2112 Strand) and consume them at the tables outside. Sights The Galveston Historical Foundation's Visitors Center at 2016 the Strand (713-765-7834) has general information and brochures on Galveston attractions. Their recorded Strand walking tour lasts about 40 minutes and costs $2 a person, or $3 a couple. Open daily, 10 to 5. Ashton Villa is open from 10 to 4 on weekdays and from noon to 5 on weekends. During the winter it is closed on Tuesdays. Admission is $3 for adults, $2.50 for students, half-price for children 6 to 12. Bishop's Palace is open daily from 1 to 5; closed Tuesdays during the winter. Admission is $2.50 for adults, $1.50 for students, 50 cents for children 12 and under. The Historical Foundation also maintains a restored 200-foot square-rigger, the Elissa, an iron barque built in 1877. It has only a tenuous historical link to Galveston (it put in here once or twice) but it suggests something of what the port was once like. Open daily, except Tuesdays, 10 to 5; $3 for adults,
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