DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just along for the ride. Now, The Strand in Galveston — if you know it, you know it's a street that does not forget a thing. And if you need proof, let's talk about what happened at this particular address back in 1869.
A fire came through and took out whatever was standing there. Whole earlier structure, gone. The Strand had itself a hole in it.
But Galveston does not sit still for long. A man named John F. Magale looked at that scorched lot and saw something worth building.
So in 1870 — one year after the fire, not even time for the ash to go cold in the memory — he put up this edifice. And he built it to house his wholesale liquor business, which tells you something about priorities, and I respect it. Now, Magale didn't just throw up four walls and call it done.
He went and used cast iron for the first floor facade and the window hood molding — this is a Victorian building, and it carries itself like one. And here's the part that's almost too satisfying: he liked the look so much, or somebody nearby did, that the very next year an adjoining structure went up with similar detailing. Same bones, same character, side by side on The Strand.
John F. Magale died in 1880, but his building kept right on living. And for the better part of a century — from 1889 all the way until the late 1960s — the place was occupied by J.
F. Smith and brother, a well-known paint and hardware store. You think about that.
A building raised to hold whiskey barrels ends up holding paint cans and hardware for eighty-some-odd years. The Strand keeps its stories close, and this one, it turns out, was built to last.
What the marker says
A fire on The Strand in 1869 destroyed an earlier structure at this site. John F. Magale (d. 1880) built this edifice in 1870 to house his wholesale liquor business. Cast iron was used for the first floor facade and window hood molding for the Victorian building. Similar detailing decorates the adjoining structure, erected the following year. From 1889 until the late 1960s, this building was occupied by J. F. Smith and brother, A well-known paint and hardware store. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1978