Saengerfest Park
Saengerfest Park is a small park located on the corner of Tremont St (23rd St) and Strand St (Avenue B) in the Strand Historic District of Galveston. Saengerfest Park was created in the early 1990's by George and Cynthia Mitchell and named after a German music festival, an homage to Mitchell’s heritage. The park is paved with gorgeous red brick, reminiscent of the street’s early years, and a stage was built on the far west side of the property. Encased by historic buildings on two sides, it created a versatile gathering space. On July 10, 1994, the park hosted its very first concert and took a monumental step in establishing Galveston’s rich tradition of live music that is still alive today.Saengerfest is most known for having a large, playable chess set. The park also features a large compass which can be used as a seat, as well as other wooden benches and old-fashioned London-style phone booth. Vendors often set up tents and booths in the park, especially during special events in Galveston. While Hurricane Rita struck in 2005, a substantial amount of damage occurred in Galveston. Among the damage to Saengerfest, the 3-story wall of Yaga's Cafe collapsed, blocking off the chess board for many months while the wall was being rebuilt.We'll start our tour of the Strand at the Trolly Stop at Saengerfest Park at 23rd and Strand.
Greenleve, Block & Company (Yaga's)
Architech Nicholas J. Clayton designed this building in 1882 for the wholesale drygoods firm of Greenleve, Block & Co. at a cost of $65,000. It was built of Philadelphia pressed brick and cut stone, with supportive and decorative iron columns from the Lee Iron Works of Galveston.Originally, the building was four stories high aggregating in height seventy-five feet, in which colored brick was used to, decorate the construction, a height equivalent today to a seven-story office building. Once there was an elaborate cornice, almost equal to the fifth story, crowned by a gilded spread-winged bird and the national ensign. In 1900, the cornice was destroyed by the great hurricane that devastated the city. In recent years, the fourth story has also been removed because of damage from Hurricane Carla in 1961, and the east and west bays have been closed in.Greenleve, Block & Co. was organized at the close of the Civil War and sold wholesale drygoods, notions and furnishings as well as boots, shoes and hats. It was one of the largest firms in Galveston, selling throughout Texas as well as Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma. In 1884, the firm was reorganized as Block, Oppenheimer & Company, with Louis Block and Leopold Oppenheimer as the principals and Elise Michael, Jacob Sonnentheil and Sylvain Lion as associates.From 1895 to 1914, the building was occupied by the Galveston Drygoods Company, with Robert Weis, originally of Halff, Weis & Co., as General Manager. Bertrand Adoue was President and Joseph Lobit was Treasurer. The two officers were partners in the Adoue & Lobit Bank, also on the Strand. The Galveston Drygoods Company continued to offer the same line of wholesale drygoods as its predecessors.Between 1915 and 1919 the building stood vacant and then was occupied from 1919 until 1986 by Flood & Calvert, ship chandlers.Today this building not only continues to fulfill its original purpose as a business office but also represents an historically important link to the opulent commercial age of colossal Victorian merchant houses which made The Strand the Wall Street of the Southwest.
