(also known as the National Hotel Building)
2227 Market Street, Galveston, Texas
Written by Anna Mod of Michael Gaertner and Associates, April 1999
The E. S. Levy Building occupies the southeast corner of Market and 23rd (Tremont) Streets in the Galveston Central Business District. The Levy Building is located one block north of Postoffice Street, which in the late 19th and early 20th centuries was one of the city’s main retail strips. When the building was constructed in 1896, it was the first major building in downtown Galveston for architect Charles W. Bulger. Bulger is also known for the following commercial buildings in the Strand-Mechanic Landmark Historic District: 1906 Heffron Building, now known as the U.S. Appraiser’s Stores; a 1904 addition to the Clarke and Courts Building; and a 1904 reconstruction of the Marx & Blum Building (built 1890, Nicholas Clayton, architect). Bulger’s residential buildings include several new builds and remodels in the East End Landmark Historic District (NR 1975, National Landmark 1976) such as: The Victorian Inn (AKA 503 17Th. Street, built 1900); 1718 Church, 1906 Bulger remodel; 1514 Ball, built 1897; 1318 Sealy, built 1896; 1502 Broadway, built 1906. In the Silk Stocking Historic District (NR, 1997) Bulger designed and built many houses on the 1300 and 1400 blocks of 24th Street and Rosenberg.
On this site, previous to the department store, stood the Tremont Opera House, built in 1870-71 by Willard Richardson, editor and senior partner of The News. On February 25, 1871, Sheridan’s “School for Scandal” opened the New Galveston Theater, which soon changed its name to the Tremont Opera House, despite its entrance on Market Street. The late architect T. H. Adams began the project which was completed by Fred. S. Steward with Hugh Pritchard and T. F. Hollis as contractor and builder; C. Hughes Cowen and Strowensky, plasterers; Freeman & Deery, painters; McLewee & Putman, gas fitters; and Gilmartin & O’Keefe, gas fitters. Cost of construction was $150,000. The grand entrance, twenty-five feet in width, was on Market Street, and led up to a spacious lobby (twenty-two feet by thirteen feet) on the second floor. The auditorium, exclusive of the stage, took in an area of fifty-five feet eight inches by sixty-five feet. The stage, “in all its appointments an exact counterpart of Booth’s in New York,” extended the entire width of the building and was thirty nine feet nine inches deep, with a proscenium arch fifty-five feet in width.
The lower story of the building was arcuated cast iron on the north and west facades, with the exception of the Market Street grand entrance which was an elaborate, classical cast iron portico with fluted pilasters and decorative brackets and modillion blocks below the cornice. The upper floors were brick with arched windows, metal lintels and sills, an elaborate metal cornice with brackets and a mansard roof. Stylistically, the building was a mixture of Italianate and Beaux-Arts styles. Another of the features of the theater, as noted in the newspaper, was a bar which was located beneath it, on the first floor, which entertained patrons before and after performances. The Tremont Opera House, in addition to the regular theatrical performances was also the scene of the annual Momus ball, held during the carnival season. A floor for dancing was built over the downstairs seats a few days before the ball, and was torn up after the carnival was over. The last Momus ball was held in 1881.
Upon Richardson’s death in 1875, the building was owned by Houston businessmen until 1894 when it was purchased by E. S. Levy. The superstructure, with the exception of the iron portions and a small part of the rear wall, was then torn down and a building which was later acquired by the City National Bank and became known as the City National Bank building, erected on the site. The Tremont Opera House was open until 1895, and closed shortly after the when the Grand Opera House opened on January 3, of that year.
Architect C. W. Bulger’s intent was to remodel the Opera House for use as the Levy Department store. The ground floor cast iron front, presently hidden behind the modern brick and granite facade, did survive from the Opera House— Bulger incorporated these elements into his new design.
The E. S. Levy Building was built by an early Galveston business. The firm started in 1877 as a men’s and boy’s clothing and furnishings store. In 1879 the company became known as E.S. Levy & Co. and remained in business until 1979 and was owned and operated by the Levy family. The firm built E.S. Levy & Co. building in 1896 and moved to the location in 1897. When built, this structure was the “first real office building in Galveston,” according to the Tribune. The building was equipped with an elevator. The Levy store was on the first floor and there were 84 professional offices above. The building was extensively remodeled and a fifth floor added in 1899. It is believed that the storefront display windows were added at this time. Levy & Co. moved from this site to a Postoffice Street location (2227 Postoffice) in 1917 and various businesses located in the Levy building including Woolworth’s. After 1908, the Levy building was owned and occupied by various business interests of W. L. Moody, Jr., first the City National Bank and subsequently the National Hotel Company.
The U.S. Weather Bureau’s Galveston office was in the Levy building at the time of the Great Storm of 1900, still the nation’s deadliest natural disaster. Isaac Cline ran the Weather Bureau in Galveston, his fourth station since joining the service in 1882. Weather instruments were installed and monitored on the roof and hurricane-warning flags were flown there until both were whisked away by the high winds sometime on Saturday evening, September 8, 1900.
The building is identified with a leading Galveston family, and was designed by C.W. Bulger, architect of several major downtown structures; and has visually dominated this busy intersection since its construction.
mdg@mgaia.com
This page last updated on 01/04/01