Heye Upping Stone - Galveston, TX
Posted by: 
jhuoni
N 29° 18.466 W 094° 46.927
15R E 326923 N 3243401
This house has survived every storm that has come across the Island since the late 1880s.
Waymark Code: WMZZJQ
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/28/2019
Views: 2
Located at 1226 Post Office Street (formerly Ave E), the house is occupied but appears to be vacant.
The upping stone (carriage block) shows signs of age as it has chips in many of the corners. It is made out of red sandstone with the surname "HEYE". It resides in the boulevard (the area between the street curb and the sidewalk that is typically planted with grass) . Once located at street level, the stone now appears oddly out of place since 13th Street has been lowered in excess of three feet over the years to prevent flooding.
From Atlas: Texas Historical Commission: Neighborhood Surveys (Atlas Number 3003001101).
Description: Two-story frame residence with shingled corner tower with candle snuffer roof and inset double gallery, ell-shaped with large early addition at the side. Carpentry ranges from Renaissance forms to Eastlake with considerable use of dentils and carving.
Significance: Gustave Heye was a Galveston cotton factor and commission merchant in the 1880s. He was born in Germany and during the Civil War worked in Mexico where he dealt in Texas Cotton shipments. Following the war, in 1869, he came to Galveston and worked with Focke-Wilkens in the cotton business. In 1875, he established Gustave Heye and Company. Frederick Kastan was an early partner, later Morris Stern. The firm later developed a wholesale grocery business along with their cotton activities. Heye erected this house sometime during the 1880s. He resided there in 1882. The building is a two-story frame with a double gallery and polygonal tower at the west front corner. The metal tower roof is notable. The building in general is an early Victorian style.