DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Leon and H. Blum Company Building in Galveston. Now settle in, because this one starts long before that building ever cast a shadow on the island.
A young man named Leon Blum arrives in America. He's Alsatian — born in 1836 — and he's got that particular hunger that immigrants carry like a second skin. Around 1852, he joins his brother Alexander down in Richmond, Texas, and together they hang out a shingle: A.
Blum and Bro. Now, Richmond is fine, but Galveston — Galveston in 1859 is a different kind of animal altogether. That's where the ships come in, where the money moves, where the whole great sweep of commerce through the Gulf Coast announces itself.
So to Galveston they go. And then, late in 1868, something bigger takes shape. The firm of Leon and H.
Blum is founded — and notice how the family circles tight around this thing. Brothers Leon, Alexander, and Sylvain. Cousins Hyman and Joseph.
Five men, one name on the door, and ambitions that stretch well past the island's shoreline. They become Galveston's leading importer and wholesale dealer in dry goods for more than twenty years. More than twenty years.
Now, dry goods doesn't sound like the stuff of legend, but think about the territory they're serving — the southwestern United States, Indian Territory, and Mexico. They've got offices in New York, Boston, and Paris, France. Paris, France.
From Richmond, Texas, to Paris, France, inside of a couple of decades. That's not a small story. By 1880, they need a headquarters worthy of all that reach, and they build one right here.
Architect Eugene Heiner — born in 1852 — designs the building. Then in 1882, they enlarge it, and for that work they bring in Nicholas Clayton, one of Galveston's most noted architects, a man born in 1840 who would shape the look of this city for generations. But here's the thing about building an empire — the world doesn't always cooperate.
The nationwide Depression of the 1890s hits Leon and H. Blum hard. Severely, the marker says.
And in 1896, after nearly thirty years of doing business on a continental scale, the firm is dissolved. Leon Blum himself lives until 1906, long enough to watch other names move into the building he built. Mistrot and Bros.
Company runs a large retail store there until 1917. Then the building sits vacant for several years — quiet, a little hollow, the way grand things get when the original purpose is gone. Eventually, the offices of the Galveston Tribune move in.
A building that once held dry goods bound for Mexico and offices reaching to Paris, France — now holding the daily news of a single Texas city. History has a way of humbling the grandest blueprints. But the building is still standing, and Leon Blum's name is still on the marker.
That's not nothing.
What the marker says
A young Alsatian immigrant, Leon Blum (1836-1906), joined his brother Alexander in a business partnership in Richmond, Texas, about 1852. The company, A.Blum & Bro., moved to Galveston in 1859. The new firm of Leon & H. Blum was founded late in 1868, composed of brothers, Leon, Alexander, and Sylvain, and cousins Hyman and Joseph. The firm was Galveston's leading importer and wholesale dealer in dry goods for more than twenty years. Leon & H. Blum served the southwestern United States, Indian Territory, and Mexico, and had offices in New York, Boston, and Paris, France. Headquarters were established in this building in 1880. Designed for the company by Eugene Heiner (1852-1901), the Blum building was enlarged in 1882 with the input of noted Galveston architect Nicholas Clayton (1840-1916). The nationwide Depression of the 1890s severely affected the business of Leon & H. Blum, and in 1896 the firm was dissolved. Since that time, the building has housed numerous establishments. The Mistrot & Bros. Company operated a large retail store here until 1917. Vacant for several years, the building later housed offices of the "Galveston Tribune." Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986