DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the French-Galvan House — and friend, this one's worth pulling over for. Picture Corpus Christi in 1882. A man steps off the trail, so to speak, after helping lay down the Texas-Mexican railroad, and decides this is the place.
That man was A.M. French — Asa Milton French — born in New Hampshire in 1850, a surveyor and civil engineer by trade, and apparently a man who knew a good town when he saw one. He planted roots and became an active civic leader in Corpus Christi.
And somewhere in there, between the surveying and the civic-leadering, he and his wife Frances Garrett French decided they needed a proper home. So in 1907 and 1908, they built one. Originally sitting at the corner of Waco and Comanche Streets, the French family home was a colonial revival masterpiece — two full stories, with a wraparound gallery on each floor, the kind of porch that makes you want to sit down and reconsider your whole afternoon.
The first story carried Ionic columns. The front entryway? Classical Ionic order, same idea.
And up on the hipped roof, a central dormer with a Palladian window, framed by a balustrade. This was not a modest house. This was a statement.
A.M. French lived a long life — born in 1850, died in 1936. That's eighty-six years, and he spent more than fifty of them in Corpus Christi.
Now the story doesn't end with the French family. In 1942, the home was acquired by Rafael Galvan — born in 1887, died in 1966 — and here's where the house picks up a second chapter every bit as remarkable as the first. Rafael Galvan was a Corpus Christi policeman for twenty years.
He was a founder and charter member of the League of United Latin American Citizens — LULAC. A prominent businessman as well, he opened a popular ballroom. The man was, by any measure, woven into the fabric of Corpus Christi life.
And the home he brought his family into stayed in the Galvan family for forty years. Forty years. Then, in 1983, the Corpus Christi landmark was moved — physically relocated — to this very site.
A house that survived the decades, two remarkable families, and a change of address gets to keep telling its story. The French-Galvan House stood at a corner of Waco and Comanche. It's here now.
And every column, every gallery, every Palladian window is proof that some things are worth moving.
What the marker says
Originally located at the corner of Waco and Comanche Streets, this colonial revival home was built in 1907-08 for the family of Asa Milton and Frances Garrett French. A.M. French (1850-1936), a native of New Hampshire, was a surveyor and civil engineer. He settled in Corpus Christi in 1882 after working on the construction of the Texas-Mexican railroad and became an active civic leader. The home was acquired by Rafael Galvan (1887-1966) in 1942. Galvan was a Corpus Christi policeman for 20 years and was a founder and charter member of the league of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). A prominent businessman as well, he also opened a popular ballroom. The home remained in the Galvan family for 40 years. The french galvan house is a two story structure with a wraparound gallery on each floor. The first story boasts ionic columns. The central dormer on the hipped roof features a palladian window and is surrounded by a balustrade. The classical ionic order is also featured at the front entryway. The Corpus Christi landmark was moved to this site in 1983.