DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the marker on Avenue H tells it, in my own words. Now, Galveston's East End has always had a certain character to it — a sense that the families who put down roots there put them down deep. And when German immigrants started arriving in the nineteenth century, they brought that instinct with them in full force.
Take Ferdinand Louis Juneman, born in 1833, and his wife Dorothea — born Dreier, in 1836. When it came time to plant their family in Galveston soil, they didn't just buy one lot. They bought several, right along Ball Avenue, which in those days went by the name Avenue H.
And they bought them specifically for three of their children. That's not real estate. That's a statement.
For the work of building, they turned to a noted Galveston builder by the name of William Pautsch — born 1834, and a craftsman who'd leave his mark on this city clear up until 1911. Pautsch constructed identical cottages on each lot. Identical.
Now think about that for a moment. Same design, same proportions, right there side by side. The cottages at 1709 and 1711 shared a lot, and 1721 sat on the lot right next to Dorothea's own house.
The Junemans wanted their children close, and they built that wish in wood and plank. Ferdinand didn't live to see the full picture — he died in 1874. But Dorothea held on, and she held that family together, right there on Avenue H, all the way to 1905.
And here's where the story takes its next turn. Lenora Katherine Juneman — everyone called her Lena, born in 1871 — had married a Galvestonian named William Edis Smith, born 1872. When Dorothea passed in 1905, Lena and William inherited the cottage at 1709 Avenue H.
They raised three children in that house. Three children in a cottage their grandmother had commissioned, built by a craftsman who knew what he was doing. But I need to back up just a moment — because before any of that inheritance, before Lena and William settled into that life — the Great Storm came through.
September 1900. The house was damaged. You don't live on a barrier island in 1900 and escape a storm like that without a mark.
But here's the thing. The cottage survived. William Pautsch had built it to last, Dorothea had bought it with intention, and the house at 1709 Avenue H was still standing when the world dried out again.
Some structures just refuse to let go of the families inside them.
What the marker says
German immigration in the 19th century contributed to Galveston's growing East End Community. Ties to family were important to residents Ferdinand Louis Juneman (1833-1874) and Dorothea (Dreier) Juneman (1836-1905) who bought lots along Ball Avenue, formerly Avenue H, for three of their children. Identical cottages were constructed at each lot by noted Galveston builder William Pautsch (1834- 1911), with 1709 and 1711 sharing a lot and 1721 on a lot next to Dorothea's house. Lenora Katherine "Lena" Juneman (1871-1945), and her husband Galvestonian William Edis Smith (1872-1940), inherited the house at 1709 Avenue H in 1905 after Dorothea's death. The couple raised three children in the cottage. The house was damaged during The Great Storm of September 1900 but survived. (2016)