Denver Court Historic District

The Denver Court Historic District encompasses one of Galveston's most intact early-to-mid-twentieth-century neighborhoods. The grand houses built during the first few years of the district's development document the prosperity of Galveston in the 1920s as well as set the tone for the neighborhood. The continuous building through the Great Depression and the conspicuous absence of buildings during WWII also record Galveston's relationship to the events that shaped the 20th century. The stylistic progression seen in the neighborhood marks the changing taste of affluent Galveston from the history-laden Revival Styles before the Second World War to the bold new forms of post-war modernism. Truly, the development of Denver Court is inextricably related to technology; without the engineering feat of the Galveston Seawall and subsequent grade raising, Galveston's westward expansion could have not taken place. The subtle break from the urban grid sets Denver Court apart from contemporaneous development in the city and links the district to national trends of suburban development and planning. With 389 out of 496 properties classified as contributing, the district retains a very high degree of integrity and is nominated to the National Register under Criterion A in the area of Community Development and Planning and Criterion C in the area of Architecture at the local level of significance.

Settlement

Initially populated by the Karankawa Indians, who lived seasonally on the island from October through February, Galveston Island was discovered by Spanish explorers in the 1500s. Several expeditions attempted to populate the island but it was not until privateer Jean Lafitte established his settlement of Campeachy that any significant inhabitation occurred. Lafitte had control of the island from 1817-1821 and built his combination residence, warehouse, and fort "Maison Rouge." The house is believed to have been located on the bay front of the island on Harborside between 11th and 15th Streets, just north of the East End Historic District. After Lafitte was forced to leave the island, Galveston's development stagnated during the early years of Texas' fight for independence. No permanent settlements were established although custom houses and forts were located on the island. It was not until Michel B. Menard organized the Galveston City Company in 1836 that any important developments occurred.

Menard, a French-Canadian, realized the potential of the island as a significant port with its natural deepwater harbor. Because Galveston Island was part of the Republic of Mexico, only Mexican-born citizens could purchase tracts of land. Menard had his acquaintance, Juan N. Seguin, apply for the rights to the land. Acting as Seguin's attorney, Menard located the headright on the eastern end of the island and Isaac N. Moreland conducted an initial survey. In 1836, after the War for Texas Independence, Menard finally received title to the land through a complicated series of financial transactions. Menard, with nine other business partners, petitioned the Republic of Texas with their claim to the land. Authorities granted the claim on December 9, 1836, in exchange for $50,000 cash or acceptable materials. The land agent, David White, who was also one of Menard's associates in the Galveston development project, acknowledged receipt of the amount without any actual exchange of money.

Creation of a New Town

Planning for the new city of Galveston began immediately and in 1837, John D. Groesbeck was hired by the Galveston City Company to survey the eastern portion of the island, which he divided into lots. The grid pattern he designed ran east-west in rectangular blocks with fourteen narrow lots. These lots measure 42'10" by 120' with seven lots to each street side. Streets that run east-west, parallel to the Gulf of Mexico and Galveston Bay, were given alphabetical names and were referred to as avenues; the north-south streets were given numerical names. Alleys approximately 20' wide run east-west, splitting the blocks. Groesbeck's map was completed in early 1838 and the Galveston City Company ordered the first sale of lots on April 20, 1838. At the end of the first year, seven hundred lots had been sold at approximately $400 per lot.

Galveston was incorporated in 1839 and elected its first mayor, John M. Allen, a hero of the Battle of San Jacinto. Some citizens were dissatisfied with the original city charter and a new incorporation followed in 1840. The new charter resulted in the election of a new mayor, John Walton, with a new board of aldermans. However, the new charter required that voters have real estate ownership of at least $500 value - which eliminated one-half of the electorate. Allen refused to give up his office and argued he still had one year left of his term. Taking the city archives, Allen barricaded himself within his home and did not relinquish the papers until the court system decided in favor of Walton. However, four years later, the city charter was again re-written, removing the property qualification for voters.'

The shipping trade quickly became the primary form of commerce and development followed rapidly. Although setbacks occurred, including several yellow fever epidemics, Galveston became prominent in the transport of cotton and foreign trade by 1840. The first cotton compress in Texas was built in Galveston in 1842 and the Galveston News also began that year. By 1844, duties collected in Galveston for the first quarter of the year equaled those of the entire Republic of Texas for the preceding year.

Galveston and the Civil War

After Texas' annexation to the United States in 1845, Galveston continued to develop its cotton trade and became the port of entry for European immigrants. During this period before the Civil War, Galveston's rivalry with Houston intensified. The two cities were in constant competition for commercial dominance on the Gulf Coast of Texas. The cities, however, were also dependent upon each other: Galveston provided the seaport for Houston and Houston provided the surrounding market on the mainland for Galveston. In 1860, The Galveston, Houston, and Henderson Railroad was the first to reach the island, on the eve of the Civil War.

Galveston residents, who included a population of approximately one thousand slaves, were strongly opposed to abolitionists and, although returning to the status of an independent republic was preferred, islanders supported the cause of the Confederacy. However, Galveston was soon occupied by Federal troops, and the population of the island diminished by 50 percent. The Battle of Galveston on New Year's Day 1863 was the only military action that took place in the city during the Civil War. After the Civil War, merchants returned to Galveston to re-establish trade and shipping.

By the spring of 1866, a construction boom was underway. It was reported that more than a hundred large buildings were under construction. At the start of the Civil War, Galveston's population was almost 6,500, but by 1873, the population had risen to 13,800. At the end of the Reconstruction period, Galveston was the wealthiest city per capita in Texas and one of the richest in the South.

Galveston and Reconstruction

The late 1800s were a period of significant growth and development for Galveston. The Strand (Avenue B), which is filled with large financial institutions as well as brokerage and insurance firms, became known as the "Wall Street of the Southwest". During the late nineteenth century, Galveston was also the site of many Texas "firsts" including the first gas and electric lights, the first hospital, the first opera house, the first telephone, and the first medical college. Continuing to rely heavily on the cotton trade, the city opened the first cotton exchange in Texas in 1872. Galveston was third in the nation for cotton exports by 1878. The city continued to focus on the expansion of shipping commerce and waterways rather than industrial growth and land-based transportation. Wealthy Galveston residents built large houses, most significantly on Broadway (Avenue J), Tremont (23rd Street), and in the East End area, which bordered the commercial district of the city. By 1880, Galveston was the largest city in the state of Texas with a population of 22,000.
The flow of immigrants through Galveston continued steadily after the Civil War and provided the city with a diverse mix of cultures.

The average number of immigrants arriving through Galveston's port was four thousand a year. However, in January 1871, the number of immigrants swelled to 4,673 for the month. Some immigrants remained on the island but more frequently they moved to towns in the interior of the state or joined relatives elsewhere in the region. The most important, and largest, group of immigrants were German, who greatly influenced the development of not only Galveston but also the state of Texas. Germans who remained on the island founded a Turner Association and military unit, held an annual May Day celebration, and maintained a landscaped park and pavilion called Garten Verein." By 1899, the population of Galveston was predominantly of European extraction. Forty percent of the islanders traced their ancestry to England, Germany, Ireland, or France. African-Americans made up about twenty percent of the residents and the remaining population was composed of Italians, eastern Europeans, and people of Hispanic descent.

By the 1890s, Galveston was struggling to maintain its preeminence in Texas; San Antonio and Dallas had surpassed the city in population and Houston's port received increasing numbers of ships due to shoaling near the Galveston harbor. Galveston was a third-class harbor, allowing ships drawing less than twenty feet at low tide, but it was the best harbor between New Orleans and Vera Cruz." Citizens organized a "Committee on Deep Water" (later known as the Deep Water Commission) in 1881 to direct an effort to deepen the harbor to over twenty-five feet, making it a first-class harbor. The United States Senate finally approved the Galveston Harbor Bill in 1890 at a project cost of $8.7 million and work began soon afterward. The project was a great success. In 1885, Galveston shipped only 22 percent of the Texas cotton crop; by the end of the century, it was the leading cotton port of the nation. The city was moving forward into the next century with great optimism, not realizing that their precarious location on a barrier island would soon change the course of the city.

Significant Events

The Great Storm is the most defining event in Galveston's history. On September 8, 1900, a hurricane swept in from the Gulf that resulted in the mass destruction of more than 1500 acres in Galveston. Over 6000 people were killed; the largest number of deaths caused by any natural disaster in the United States. The ocean had cleared the land of all structures on the Gulf side of the island; a strip extending the full length of the city and approximately eleven blocks deep. Approximately 4,000 structures in the city were demolished - nearly two-thirds of the total before the storm. The debris was piled into a six-foot-tall, ten-foot thick wall of compressed building materials, household items, and corpses." This wall of debris created a barrier during the storm, preventing the force of the waves from extending further inland. The clean-up effort began immediately, with aid eventually pouring in from across the United States and Europe. Clara Barton, president of the American Red Cross, personally came to Galveston to oversee the organization's relief effort.

Seawall & Island Grade Raising

The other significant development in Galveston was the decision to build a seawall to buffer the Gulf of Mexico from Galveston and to "raise" the grade of the city. For many years prior to the Storm, the issue of creating a seawall to protect the city had been discussed but never realized. With the devastation of this hurricane, there was only one choice: to protect the city from future disasters. Engineers were hired to design the Galveston Seawall and in a report from January 1902, they concluded that: "protection from storms is not only required for the preservation of life and property but also...to give confidence to the people of Galveston and to others who may be drawn here by business interests, in the absolute safety of the city against the recurrence of such catastrophes as the one of 1900." The seawall was originally planned to be seventeen feet above mean low tide, with a base fifteen feet thick that narrowed to five feet at the top. This height was determined by raising the wall "1.3 feet higher than the highest point reached by the water in the storm of 1900. In October 1902, construction began. Built over a period of several years, the seawall now stretches over 10 miles in length.

Following the construction of the seawall, it became imperative to raise the grade of the city. With the seawall at seventeen feet high, various portions of Galveston had to be raised. Dredge material was taken from Galveston Bay by self-loading and discharging hopper dredges that would then stream through a distribution channel "to pipeline stations and discharge their loads through pipes running down the streets and avenues." The grade of the island was to be sloped away from the seawall: Avenue J/Broadway was set at 12' above sea level and the bay side of the island at Ave A was set at 8' above sea level." This was accomplished in twelve-block sections, beginning in the East End of town and extending west. All buildings and structures in these sections had to be raised, including outbuildings and, in some cases, fences. Although Galveston houses were typically built on piers due to previous flooding problems, most buildings had to be raised to accommodate the new grade. North of Broadway, buildings were raised only a few feet, as this had been the highest natural elevation on the island. During grade raising, Galvestonians lived in a city on stilts with raised walkways connected to individual buildings. In 1910, when the original grade-raising contract was completed, 10.6 million cubic yards of sand had been used to raise the land extending west to 45th Street.

Early 20th Century Galveston

With the seawall in place, Galveston began anew, regaining the confidence that it once had. The first real test of the new technology occurred in 1915 when a powerful hurricane struck the island. The seawall was a success and Galveston survived with greatly reduced property damage compared to storms of the past. However, this new protection from the Gulf was not enough to propel Galveston back into prominence. The economy in Texas was rapidly changing. The Spindletop oil discovery in Beaumont had launched Texas into an oil rush and Galveston's old rival Houston was at the center of the new developing economy. Houston's rise to power over Galveston was cemented with the construction of the Houston ship channel in 1914. Houston no longer needed Galveston's deepwater port.

Galveston was unable to invest in the burgeoning oil industry because most of its capital was tied up in developing defenses against the sea. Instead, Galveston became "the sin city of the Gulf Coast, based upon a triad of prostitution, gambling, and drinking."

Galveston has always been a city of contrasts and certainly, a bawdy element has always been a part of its character. Prostitution was illegal in Texas, but authorities in Galveston used considerable interpretation in enforcing the law. Gambling and bootleg liquor went hand-in-hand, and in the back rooms of popular nightclubs along the seawall, illegal activities were commonplace. From time to time the US Army would scold the city for its houses of ill repute because of soldiers stationed at Fort Crockett contracting venereal disease. During WWII officials warned the City that its prostitutes threatened national defense, and the red light district was shut down for the duration of the war. However, Galveston continued its relaxed enforcement of the law for nearly two more decades. Finally, in 1957 state authorities shut down the gambling operations at the Balinese Room, Galveston's most famous pleasure pier, and the era of "free living" was over.