Greek Revival houses and 19th-century streets fill the East End Historic District, the residential quarter of eastern Galveston you are walking through. The district is roughly bounded by Broadway to the south, Market Street to the north, 19th Street to the west, and 9th Street to the east. Here you are among one of the best-preserved and largest concentrations of 19th-century residential architecture in Texas, developed mainly at a time when Galveston was the state’s preeminent port.
Galveston’s history as a port began in 1830, when Mexico established a custom house on the island. After the Texas Republic was established in 1836, the island was developed as the republic’s principal port and its street network was platted in 1838. By 1850 it had become the second largest port on the Gulf Coast, after New Orleans. That early growth brought Greek Revival houses to this eastern end of the island, and some of those early houses still stand. The city experienced significant growth after the American Civil War.
You can feel the weight of those layered eras here: the 19th-century homes and Greek Revival houses, the 19th-century streets, and the civic recognitions that followed — local designation in 1970, National Register listing in 1975, and National Historic Landmark status in 1976. Some of those early Greek Revival houses still face these streets.