Galveston Orphans Home, Renaissance Revival orphanage in Galveston, United States.
The Galveston Orphans Home at 1315 21st Street is a three-story red brick building in Renaissance Revival style, with symmetrical wings, tall windows and decorative stonework on its classical facade. It was rebuilt in 1902 after the 1900 storm destroyed the earlier Gothic Revival structure funded by Henry Rosenberg. Since 2015 it has housed The Bryan Museum.
After the devastating 1900 hurricane destroyed the original Gothic structure, the building was reconstructed in its present Renaissance Revival style. Funding from a New York charity event made this new construction possible.
The home was first called the Island City Protestant-Israelite Orphans Home, and in 1880 its board reorganised as a Protestant body chaired by Moritz Kopperl, with Hallie Patrick Jack Ballinger as director. Since June 2015 the building has housed The Bryan Museum, founded by retired oilman J.P. Bryan, who bought and restored it in 2013.
The building now houses The Bryan Museum, displaying Texas history artifacts and exhibits about the former orphanage's legacy. Plan to spend time exploring the exhibits to fully understand the site's historical story.
The 1900 storm destroyed the 1895 Gothic Revival building, so publisher William Randolph Hearst hosted a charity bazaar at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City to fund the 1902 reconstruction. The rebuilt home later became part of The Bryan Museum, opened in June 2015 after J.P. Bryan bought and restored it in 2013.
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