DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm gonna do my best to do it justice. In 1873, a man named Edward Sylvester hired W.C. Crookshank to build him a side-gabled cottage in Galveston — galleries running the full length of both the north and south sides, and a small building out back of the lot, most likely used as a kitchen.
Modest enough at the start. Sylvester and his wife Lydia lived there for several years, then sold it off. And that's when the house gets the name it carries to this day.
Powhatan and Mattie — that's Matite, Campbell by birth — Wren moved in, and the story really gets going. Powhatan Wren had come a long way to get here. Born in Powhatan County, Virginia, in 1842, he'd made his way to Galveston by 1867.
He worked for the Galveston, Houston and Harrisburg Railroad as a freight agent. Then city clerk. Then county clerk.
Then chief clerk of the U.S. Customs House. A man who kept climbing.
And by 1885, with six children to his name, he decided that modest little cottage wasn't going to cut it anymore. He brought in Robert B. Garrett to enlarge it, remodel it, and update it with Victorian details — and that's the house you'd recognize today.
Shiplap wood siding. A gallery porch. A central door with sidelights.
The house has kept that appearance ever since. Now here's where the story turns serious, because in 1900, the hurricane came. It obliterated most of the neighborhoods between Broadway and the Gulf of Mexico.
Most of them. This house survived. Then, after the city completed the first section of the seawall in 1904, workers raised the structure so fill could be pumped underneath it — lifted right up off the ground and set back down on new earth.
The Wren family held onto it until 1921. After that, the house passed through a series of owners, got divided into a duplex in the 1930s, and leaseholders started opening businesses in the lower level. It stayed rental property through many of the years that followed.
A cottage built in 1873, remodeled in 1885, battered by the worst storm in Texas history, lifted up and filled under in 1904, divided and rented and kept on going. Sitting right there in Galveston's historic East End — still wearing the Victorian details Robert B. Garrett gave it nearly a hundred and forty years ago.
Some houses just refuse to be done.
What the marker says
In 1873, Edward Sylvester paid W.C. Crookshank to build a side-gabled cottage with galleries that ran the length of the north and south sides of the house. Originally, there was a small building at the back of the lot most likely used as a kitchen. Sylvester and his wife Lydia lived in the house for several years before they sold it to Powhatan and Matite (Campbell) Wren. Powhatan Wren was born in Powhatan County, Virginia in 1842 and moved to Galveston by 1867. He worked for the Galveston, Houston & Harrisburg Railroad as a freight agent, and later as a city clerk and county clerk, and as chief clerk of the U.S. Customs House. To make his home large enough for his family, which included six children, Wren hired Robert B. Garrett in 1885 to enlarge, remodel and update the house with Victorian details to its present form. The house has kept its appearance since that time. The 1900 hurricane obliterated most of the neighborhoods between Broadway and the Gulf of Mexico, but this house survived. After the city completed construction on the first section of the seawall in 1904, workers raised the house so fill could be pumped under the structure. The house remained in the family until 1921, then passed through a series of owners and divided into a duplex in the 1930s, when leaseholders began to open businesses in the lower level. The structure remained rental property through many of the subsequent years. Located in Galveston's historic East End, the eclectic styled house features a side-gabled roof, shiplap wood siding, a gallery porch and central door with sidelights. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark – 2007