DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Heidenheimer-Hunter Building, standing there in Galveston County. Now, 1878 is a good year to start a story — and Samson Heidenheimer started one right here, raising this building as a commercial venture. Heidenheimer himself wouldn't live to see the twentieth century; he died in 1891.
But the building he put up? That thing had staying power. The first tenant through the door was the George Seeligson wholesale grocery business.
Groceries. Practical as a handshake. Then in 1880, the lease passed to H.
Marwitz and Company — owned by one Hermann Marwitz — and they did double duty as ship chandlers and wholesale grocers. You've got to appreciate the ambition there: feeding the city AND supplying the ships in the harbor. Marwitz and Company kept at it until around 1900.
And right about 1900 is where the story gets a little quiet for a moment. Because Galveston folks know what 1900 means. The marker notes that an original ornamental cornice on this building was removed — possibly as a result of the 1900 Galveston storm.
Possibly. That single word carries a lot of weight in this town. Next in was Heinrich Mosle and Company — another large wholesale grocery operation, the marker calls it.
But Heinrich Mosle himself, born in 1864 and gone by 1921, was more than a grocer. He founded the United Steamship Company and established a direct trade route between Galveston and Latin America. The man was building connections across an ocean while running a warehouse on this block.
His company stayed in this building until 1919. Then, in 1920, a Galveston native named Fred F. Hunter bought the place outright.
For a few years it was leased to the C. J. Sweeney Sporting Goods Company — a bit of a detour from all those groceries and ship supplies — until 1923, when Hunter's own business moved in.
A printing and stationery firm. And that firm held its ground here all the way into the 1970s. Nearly half a century under one name, one family, one roof.
And what a roof it is — well, what a building, anyway. Three stories of Italianate-style stuccoed masonry, with hood molds and pilasters and surfaces scored to look like stone. Dressed up and serious, the way Galveston commerce used to present itself to the world.
From Heidenheimer to grocers to chandlers to a man who ran steamships to Latin America — and finally to a printer who simply stayed — this building collected a whole city's worth of ambition inside its walls. Some of the ornament got lost somewhere along the way. The building itself did not.
What the marker says
Built in 1878 as a commercial venture by Samson Heidenheimer (d. 1891), this building was first occupied by the George Seeligson wholesale grocery business. It was leased to H. Marwitz & Co. in 1880. Owned by Hermann Marwitz, the company did business as ship chandlers and wholesale grocers, and remained in operation here until about 1900. Heinrich Mosle & Company, another large wholesale grocery business, next rented the building. Heinrich Mosle (1864-1921), founder of the United Steamship Company, established a direct trade route between Galveston and Latin America. The Mosle Company occupied the building until 1919. In 1920 Galveston native Fred F. Hunter bought the building. It was leased to the C. J. Sweeney Sporting Goods Company until 1923, when Hunter's own business moved into the structure. His printing and stationery firm remained at this location until the 1970s. The Italianate style, thee-story stuccoed masonry commercial structure features Hood molds, pilasters and surfaces scored to resemble stone. An original ornamental cornice was removed, possibly as a result of the 1900 Galveston storm. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1987