Souvenir Chronicles: TEXAS: GALVESTON, PART I -- A MOVIE, A BOOK, AND TWO MUSEUMS

November 27, 2021

I have to confess that whenever I hear "Galveston," the first thing that comes to mind is this song by Glen Campbell:

The next thing I think of is the book Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson, one of my favorite authors. This book tells the story of the monster hurricane that hit Galveston on September 8, 1900. It was the deadliest natural disaster in United States history. (More on the hurricane later.)

The book tells the story of Isaac Cline, the meteorologist who severely underestimated the power of the approaching storm. His wife Cora, who was pregnant with their fourth child, died in the disaster, and Cline himself and his other three children barely escaped alive.

On our first day in Galveston, we went to a small movie theater at Pier 21 that shows a documentary entitled The Great Storm. In addition to this book, the film was a great way to be introduced to the event that completely altered the history of this city, which prior to 1900 was the Wall Street/financial center of the United States.

We also discovered "Old Galveston," the beautiful historic homes and buildings that survived the storm or were rebuilt/restored. Our first exposure to these homes was the Dealey Children's Home, built by a local businessman in 1894-1895 as an orphanage. Sadly, it was destroyed in the storm of 1900. However, newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst hosted a charity bazaar at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City to raise funds for rebuilding, and the current building was completed in 1902. It now houses the Bryan Museum of Texas history.

If you are interested in Texas history, there are lots of fun artifacts here.

Um, I'm not sure what this elf is doing in the ship.

The influence of the Spanish conquistadors and later settlers is highlighted.

And of course, Stephen Austin and Sam Houston have to put in an appearance.

Another elf?

There is a very detailed re-creation of the Battle of San Jacinto (1836), the final and decisive battle of the Texas Revolution in which Sam Houston led the Texas Army to defeat General Santa Ana, the President of Mexico.

Maybe my favorite things in the museum were these three portraits by Andy Warhol of Geronimo, Annie Oakley, and General Custer, all created in 1986.

Hey, I know these guys! It's Ronald Reagan and John Wayne! The artist is Lawrence Ludtke, a Texan, although I'm pretty sure he didn't include that elf on John's hat.

The ink drawing of Don Quixote below is my new favorite rendition of the famous Spanish traveler. The artist, Texan José Cisneros, also created Emperor Montezuma and Los Novios (The Couple) below. We had seen other artworks by Cisneros in the Mexic-Arte Museum in Austin earlier in the year.

Here's an unusual display. I'm sure I think of Eisenhower as a cowboy, do you?

I wonder if this beautiful room also existed as a library in the original orphanage. I hope so.

On the following day, November 28, we visited another grand building now known as Bishop's Palace (but also called Gresham's Castle). A Victorian adaptation of the Renaissance style, the mansion was built in 1886-1893 by Col. Walter Gresham, a U.S. Congressman from Galveston. At the time of its construction, it was considered one of the most lavish and massive homes in the United States. The Greshams had nine children, so they "needed" this home's 19,000 square feet, which cost $250,000 to build, a tidy sum in the late 19th century.

Front view:

Side view:

This 1887 picture only shows seven children. The last two must have been born later.

Unlike the Dealey Children's Home above, the Bishop's Palace survived the 1900 Galveston hurricane.

So why is it called Bishop's Palace? In 1923 the Roman Catholic Diocese of Galveston purchased the house, conveniently located across the street from the Sacred Heart Church, and it served as the residence for then Bishop Christopher Byrne. Eventually the diocese offices were moved to Houston, and the mansion was opened to the public in 1963, with proceeds from tickets donated to the UT medical school.

I love doors, and the Bishop's Palace has beautiful ones.

The house was ready for Christmas, which was just four weeks away. I counted at least seven different Christmas trees. If I had a home with19,000 square feet, I would want multiple Christmas trees too. Bob would hate that. He's not a fan of the putting up/taking down process.

Murals on the ceilings throughout the house were painted by Mrs. Gresham. I wonder if she did it lying on her back on scaffolding, a la Michelangelo?

This silver and onyx mantel in the music room won first prize in the 1886 New Orleans Exposition.

Beautiful stained glass windows line the stairwells. I think they were lit from behind rather than by natural light.

Bedrooms and bathrooms were relatively modest, but maybe that's furniture from the Catholic bishop era.

A few rooms in the house are dedicated to telling the story of the 1900 hurricane:

One placard gave the following information:

On September 8, 1900, a hurricane of terrific proportions hit Galveston Island. At the time, the city of 37,000 people stood only 8.7 feet above sea level at the highest point. As a result, the citizens occasionally experienced "overflows," but it had been many years since they experienced a severe hurricane.

That day, winds of 140 mph and a storm surge of over 15 feet bore down on the city covering the whole island with rising water. The storm devastated Galveston from Broadway to the beach, from the eastern tip to the west of 35th Street, destroying an estimated 3,600 buildings. Remains of broken houses turned into battering rams knocking against other houses until they fell down, drowning the people who sought refuge inside. Between 6,000-12,000 people died in the city of Galveston, with another 2,000 perishing outside of the city proper and on the mainland.

It is still considered one of the deadliest natural disasters in United States History.

What is really amazing is that the Gresham home survived largely unscathed, although the church across the street was almost totally demolished.

Mr. Gresham was in New York when the storm hit.

Note the Gresham home on the far right:

After the storm, the Greshams opened up their home to hundreds of homeless survivors and helped them get back on their feet.

My favorite part of the house was the chapel. I thought we were told that the very devout Gresham family built it, but sources I've looked at since said that when the Catholic church took possession of the home in 1923, one of the bedrooms was converted into this beautiful chapel.