Model Laundry
513-523 25th St., Galveston, TXThe building represents the type of later commercial architecture not common in Galveston. Also identified with the laundry business that was considered progressive for the period. Sanborn Maps say "built in 1913" while tax records note improvements in 1914 with additional improvements in 1915. The first listing of Model Laundry and Dry Works at the address is in the 1913 City Directory; the same directory refers to "Our New Fire-Proof Home." Was the only steam laundry in Galveston at the time. Building continued in laundry-related use through the 1970 directory. Wm. A. Johnson, responsible for building the structure, was known nationally in the laundry business. He came to Galveston back in 1909 to take over Model Laundry and Dye Works, a business dating back to 1888 but in a deteriorated state. Johnson has been elected for two terms as president of the Laundryowners' National Association of the U.S. and Canada. Model Laundry was the first laundry in Texas and among the first industrial institutions to provide life insurance. for all employees.
Local significance of the building:Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1984.
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.