1402 Broadway Avenue J
Galveston, TX 77550, USA

The Bishop's Palace: The American Castle that Survived a Killer

The Bishop's Palace: The American Castle that Survived a Killer
January 25, 2019 by Linda Bennett Pennell

At 1402 Broadway on Texas’s Galveston Island sits a castle that the American Institute of Architects has cited as among America’s 100 most important buildings. In addition to its ornate Victorian exterior replete with colored stone, intricately carved ornaments, and decorative wrought iron balustrades, the 7,500 sq. ft. interior boasts floors and wall paneling of rare woods, stained glass windows, bronze dragons, expensive sculptures, and exquisite imported fireplaces including one lined in pure silver. It is estimated to have cost $250,000 at the time of completion. Galveston’s grandest and best-known building is presently a tourist attraction, but it was once a private residence.

In the mid-1880’s, local lawyer and politician Colonel Walter Gresham hired renowned Galveston architect Nicholas Clayton to design a home worthy of a man of wealth, prominence, and position. From 1886-1892, workmen labored to construct the stunning three-story, Châteauesque style realization of the colonel’s dream. The exterior is carved limestone accented with red sandstone, red granite, and gray granite laid over and around a steel frame. The carvings on the facade feature people, animals, plants, and mythical creatures. The three-plus stories sit over a raised basement because Galveston is only 7 ft above sea level making below-ground basements impossible. Even some of the dead are above ground as can be seen in the picture to the right from photographer Andrew Morang.

Walter Gresham was born in 1841 in King and Queen County, Virginia. During his youth, he studied at Stevensville Academy and Edgehill Academy. In 1861, he left school and enlisted in W. H. F. Lee’s Rangers, the Twenty-forth Virginia Calvary, CSA. He would spend the duration of the Civil War alternating between stints with various Confederate units and semesters studying the law at the University of Virginia where he received his degree in 1863. Upon graduation, he returned for the third time to the Confederate Army where he stayed until the surrender at Appomattox in 1865. The following year he moved to Galveston and opened his law practice. In 1868, he married Isabella Mann with whom he would father nine children.

Walter was a man of ambition and talent whose star rose quickly. In 1872, he was elected district attorney for Galveston and Brazoria Counties. According to his Texas Transportation Archive biography, he moved from local politics to serve in the Texas State Legislature and on to Congress, where he secured federal appropriations that made Galveston a deep water port. Outside of politics, he was a stockholder, director, attorney, and served briefly as an officer of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway. During his life, he served on many committees that benefited both his city and his state. A man of such talent and achievement wanted a home to match his outsized accomplishments and large family. In 1893, he moved into his castle at 1402 Broadway. A mere seven years later, disaster struck Galveston Island.

In early September, the Gulf of Mexico and its coastal regions can be as hot or hotter than they are in August. So it was in September 1900. The waters of the Gulf were as warm as bathwater according to historical reports, a condition perfect for breeding intense hurricane activity. On September 3, a strong tropical storm made landfall on the southwestern coast of Cuba where it stalled and drenched the island for two days before moving offshore into the Florida Straits. It was expected to turn north and out into the Atlantic, but a region of high pressure pushed it into the Gulf of Mexico instead. Traveling over the warm water allowed the storm to intensify dramatically as it bounced it ways along the US Gulf Coast leaving Mississippi and Louisiana with damage. Due to telegraph lines being down, news of the storm’s strength did not reach Galveston from the New Orleans Weather Station. To make matters worse, the National Weather Bureau in Washington for political reasons refused to believe the reports it was receiving about the storm’s path and intensity. This left Galveston’s population vulnerable and completely unprepared for what was about to happen.

On the afternoon of September 7, Issac Cline, chief of the Galveston Weather Bureau, was ordered to raise the hurricane warning flags atop the Levy building where he had his office. Even though Washington gave the order, it still downplayed the storm’s strength by refusing to call it a hurricane and Cline felt confident that Galveston would ride out this storm as it had previous ones. By that afternoon, heavy swells began rolling in and filling the streets near the beach. Even so, the alarm was not raised sufficiently to encourage evacuation to the mainland.

At 4:00 a.m. on September 8, Cline’s brother and colleague, Joseph Cline rose from his bed and raced to his bedroom window. What he observed was a city swamped by rapidly rising water. Throughout the daylight hours of September 8, the Gulf continued to pour into the city, but the worst was yet to come.

The night of and the early morning hours of September 9 brought horrors that survivors would forever have difficulty describing. Galveston was quite literally washed and blown away by 15 ft. of water pushed by 145 miles per hour winds. The devastation was immense. Only a few buildings of the exclusive area around Bishop’s Palace, or Gresham’s Castle as it was known at the time, remained standing. The 1900 Galveston Hurricane killed an estimated 6,000-12,000 people, caused $30 million in property damage, and destroyed the city’s future as the potentially greatest port on the Gulf Coast.

For Walter Gresham, the destruction of his city prompted him to greater civic action. He served on the committee that secured state funds to help with building the present seawall and the raising of the city by 16 feet. In 1901, he served as president of the Trans-Mississippi Commercial Congress. He died in November, 1920 and is buried in Galveston’s Lakeview Cemetery.

The house that survived a killer was sold to the Diocese (now Archdiocese) of Galveston-Houston in 1923 by Walter’s daughter for $40,500. Bishop Christopher Edward Byrne resided there for many years. When the diocese moved its offices to Houston in 1963, the house was opened to the public. It has been managed as a museum by the Galveston Historical Foundation since 2007. (Visit Bishop’s Palace)

Like so many historical houses, Bishop’s Palace is supposed to be haunted. It is said that Walter Gresham still takes a serious interest in the security of his home and can be seen wandering outside checking that all is well. He becomes more active before and during storms or hurricanes. People have reported seeing an agitated man pacing the front porch before disappearing through the wooden front door. In other instances of paranormal activity, Mrs. Gresham’s prized box of travel postcards is reported to move about the house without the aid of a human hand. Husband and wife appear to have loved their home so much that they wished never to leave it.

Gresham Home Photos

Significance: This building was erected for Walter Gresham, a prominent historical figure of Galveston, a noted lawyer, Texas legislator, and representative of the 53rd Congress. The building itself is architecturally outstanding. It is complete throughout, in its original state, including most interior finish, and is an example of the Romantic Revival style of architecture characteristic of the late 19th century. Nicholas Clayton, the architect, was Texas' outstanding professional during that period.

Colonel Walter Gresham House, 1402 Broadway, Galveston, Galveston County, TX

This building was erected for Walter Gresham, a prominent historical figure of Galveston, a noted lawyer, Texas legislator and representative of the 53rd Congress. The building itself is architecturally outstanding. It is complete throughout, in original state, including most interior finish and is an example of the Romantic Revival style of architecture characteristic of the late 19th century. Nicholas Clayton, the architect, was Texas` outstanding professional during that period.