Isabella Offenbach Maas Residence

Duane's take

Here's how the marker tells it, and here's how I'll tell it to you. In 1886, on the island city of Galveston, a residence went up that would shelter more than one life, more than one chapter, and more than one generation before all was said and done. They built it in that Queen Anne derivative style, with Eastlake detail worked into the wood, a front double gallery stretching out like open arms, milled detail all along, and shingled and mill-detail gable ends capping the whole thing off.

A house, in other words, that meant to be noticed. And it was. The woman who made it home first was Isabella O.

Maas, and she did not live there quietly. She was active in civic and charitable organizations, a woman who showed up, who gave her time, who mattered to the life of her community. Sharing the residence with her were her daughter Rosana and son-in-law Nathan Redlich, and together they filled those rooms.

Mrs. Maas lived there until her death in 1891, and the house, as houses do, kept standing. It kept welcoming.

Because that very same year, 1891, a Dr. W. C.

Fisher, the city health officer of Galveston, moved in. And he was not just passing through. Dr.

Fisher occupied that home from 1891 all the way until 1928. Decades of a city health officer coming and going through those front gallery doors, under those fine gable ends, tending to a city and returning to that house. One address in Galveston, two very different lives inside it.

That double gallery has seen some things, friend. That's the story the marker holds.

What the marker says

Built in 1886, this residence was shared by Isabella O. Maas and her daughter and son-in-law, Rosana and Nathan Redlich. Active in civic and charitable organizations, Mrs. Maas lived here until her death in 1891. Dr. W. C. Fisher, city health officer, occupied the home from 1891 until 1928. The house, of a Queen Anne derivative style with Eastlake detail, features a front double gallery, milled detail, and shingled and mill-detail gable ends. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1986