Trueheart-Adriance Building
212 22nd St., Galveston, TXOutstanding among the many fine nineteenth-century commercial structures in the Strand District in Galveston, Texas, is the small Victorian building designed by Nicholas J. Clayton for the Trueheart-Adriance real estate firm in 1881. The style is opulent, vernacular, and eclectic, executed with high confidence. The building has been restored and its brisk red and white facade and strong cornice are symbolic of the prosperous era of Galveston.
The firm grew out of a real estate company established by John O. Trueheart, a Princeton-educated lawyer who had come to Texas from Virginia. His son Henry Martyne Trueheart, who had been appointed Assessor and Collector of Taxes for Galveston County by 1857, joined his father in the business after fighting for the South in the Civil War. H. M. Trueheart acquired the real estate firm organized by A. J. James in 1857. In 1872 John Adriance joined the firm, and from 1884 until his death in the 1900 hurricane, Lucian Minor was a partner. After Trueheart's death, the firm name was changed to John Adriance & Sons. The company was one of the oldest and largest real estate firms in Texas during the 19th century and the building is significant as an example of the work of Galveston's most prominent architect, Nicholas J. Clayton.
The building and the bank building next door have been bought by the Junior League of Galveston, for an educational museum and for their offices. The building has been carefully restored and a shop selling high-quality items for interior decoration is now open on the first floor.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.