DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll do my best to do it justice. You're looking at a two-story Greek Revival residence, built sometime in the eighteen-fifties, and if these walls could talk, friend, they would have some stories to tell. This is the Thomas Chubb House, and Thomas Chubb himself is where we start.
Born in 1811, died in 1890 — a man who managed to squeeze a remarkable amount of history into one life. He was a veteran of the Texas Revolution, which already puts him in rare company. But the Civil War is where this house earns its place in the record.
During those years, Chubb held the rank of Commodore, and he was right here in Galveston when Union naval forces captured him on Galveston Bay. Now just sit with that a moment — captured on the very waters he knew. But here's the thing about Thomas Chubb: he came back.
Following the war, he returned to this city, and Galveston put him to work as the port's harbor master. The man who'd been taken off those waters ended up overseeing them. The house outlasted him, naturally, as good houses tend to do.
It passed to a wholesaler by the name of John C. Wallis, and later to Walter Gresham, who wore two hats — Galveston district attorney and political leader both. Three very different men, one enduring building.
That's the Thomas Chubb House, still standing in Galveston County, and still carrying the weight of every chapter it's lived through.
What the marker says
This two-story Greek revival residence was constructed in the 1850s. During the Civil War it was the home of Commodore Thomas Chubb (1811-1890), a veteran of the Texas Revolution. Captured by Union naval forces on Galveston Bay, he returned to the city following the war and served as the port's harbor master. Later owners of the house include wholesaler John C. Wallis and Galveston district attorney and political leader Walter Gresham. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1980