DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, as best as I can put it into words for you. Now, if you want to talk about a family that put down roots and refused to let go, pull up a chair, because the story of the James S. Waters House on Church Street in Galveston is exactly that kind of story.
The East End Historic District of Galveston was the place to be in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. The city's finest government men and business leaders were raising up large, architecturally significant houses just east of the Downtown Business District, and the buildin' was happening fast. Into that world stepped James Stephen Waters — a New Orleans boy, born February 13, 1854, who came to Galveston in 1872 with apparently the right instincts for a city on the rise.
By 1886, Waters had partnered with one Charles M. Mason to form a fire and marine insurance agency. Now, fire and marine insurance in a Gulf Coast city that knew a thing or two about both fire and the sea — that was not a timid business decision.
And that same year, 1886, the people of Galveston County elected Waters their treasurer. He would hold that office for the next sixteen years. Sixteen years.
During which time Galveston saw great economic growth and activity, and James Waters was right there in the middle of it, keeping the county's books. In November of 1889, Waters married Violet Hinkle. Life was arranging itself into something that needed more space.
So in January of 1891, Waters bought lot eleven on Church Street, and he did not go small. He commissioned Henry Collier Cooke of the firm Bourgeois Nitchner and Cooke to design the house in the Victorian style. Curved porches.
An inset front entrance. And — here's the detail that really tells you who James Waters was — a roof tower. A tower.
Because when you're county treasurer and your city is booming and you've got yourself a piece of the East End, you build a tower. The house had curved porches and that inset entrance because those were the popular architectural elements in Galveston at the time, and Waters was a man who understood the moment he was living in. Then, by 1899, with three sons in the picture — James Jr., William, and Fenelon — the family needed even more room, and an eastern addition went up to accommodate them.
Now, the tower. That tower on the roof would eventually be removed in the mid-twentieth century due to drainage issues — which is the kind of fate that befalls towers, apparently. But here's the thing about the Waters house: it does not let things go easily.
Based on historic photographs, that tower was restored in 2015. It came back. After all those years, it came back.
James Senior died in 1923, and after that, the house kept the family. Violet stayed. Son Fenelon and his wife Constance lived there too.
When Fenelon and Constance eventually moved on, son William Senior and his wife Haydee moved in. And when William Senior passed, Haydee stayed right there in that Victorian house on Church Street. She lived there until Hurricane Ike hit in 2008.
The property did not leave the Waters family until 2014 — more than a hundred and twenty years after James Waters bought lot eleven. The marker went up in 2016, designating it a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark, and calling it one of the best examples of Victorian architecture in the east end of Galveston. A tower that came back, a family that held on, and a house that outlasted them all — still standing on Church Street, curved porches and all.
What the marker says
The East End Historic District, which initiated development in the area immediately east of Galveston’s Downtown Business District, saw its busiest period of construction during the last two decades of the 19th century. Many of the city’s government and business leaders built large and architecturally significant houses, including county treasurer James Stephen Waters. Waters was born February 13, 1854, in New Orleans and moved to Galveston in 1872. In 1886, Waters partnered with Charles M. Mason to form a fire and marine insurance agency. That same year, Waters was elected treasurer of Galveston County, an office he held for the next 16 years – a period during which Galveston saw great economic growth and activity. In November 1889, Waters married Violet Hinkle and the couple had three sons: James Jr., William and Fenelon. In January of 1891, Waters bought lot 11 on Church Street. The house was designed in the Victorian style by Henry Collier Cooke of the firm Bourgeois Nitchner & Cooke. Curved porches and the inset front entrance were popular architectural elements in Galveston at the time. The house also featured a roof tower that was removed in the mid-20th century due to roof drainage issues and restored in 2015 based on historic photos. An eastern addition to the house was built in 1899 to accommodate the growing family. After James, Sr. died in 1923, Violet, Fenelon and his wife, Constance, lived in the house. After Fenelon and Constance moved out, William, Sr. and his wife, Haydee, moved in. After William, Sr.’s death, his widow, Haydee, lived in the house until Hurricane Ike in 2008. The property remained in the Waters family until 2014. It remains one of the best examples of Victorian architecture in the east end. RECORDED TEXAS HISTORIC LANDMARK – 2016