You are here

Texas: Central, South, and Gulf Coast » Gulf Coast » Galveston (Galveston County) » Rosenberg Library

Rosenberg Library

-A A +A
1904, Eames and Young; 1971 addition, Thomas M. Price. 823 Tremont St.
  • (Photograph by Gerald Moorhead )

Henry Rosenberg, a Swiss immigrant who came to Galveston in 1843, became a dry goods commission merchant, banker, and investor in transportation enterprises. At his death in 1893, Rosenberg left substantial bequests for constructing buildings for seven charitable, religious, and civic institutions. His major bequest was for the construction and outfitting of the first purpose-built public library building in Texas, the Rosenberg Library. The trustees of Rosenberg's estate organized an invited architectural competition to choose a design, selecting an entry by St. Louis architects Eames and Young, a full-bodied rendition of Beaux-Arts classicism executed in buff brick with boldly scaled classical detail in terra-cotta. With a substantial addition by Galveston architect Price, the Rosenberg Library remains Galveston's preeminent cultural institution. In front of the library is a seated bronze figure of Henry Rosenberg of 1906 by Italian-born sculptor Louis Amateis of Washington, D.C.

Writing Credits

Author: 
Gerald Moorhead et al.
×

Data

What's Nearby

Ashton Villa
”The Open Gates”
Eaton Memorial Chapel
Texas Heroes Monument
St. Joseph's Church

Citation

Gerald Moorhead et al., "Rosenberg Library", [Galveston, Texas], SAH Archipedia, eds. Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley, Charlottesville: UVaP, 2012—, http://sah-archipedia.org/buildings/TX-01-GV13.

Print Source

Cover: Buildings of Texas

Buildings of Texas: Central, South, and Gulf Coast, Gerald Moorhead and contributors. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2013, 417-417.

If SAH Archipedia has been useful to you, please consider supporting it.

SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. But the Society of Architectural Historians, which created SAH Archipedia with University of Virginia Press, needs your support to maintain the high-caliber research, writing, photography, cartography, editing, design, and programming that make SAH Archipedia a trusted online resource available to all who value the history of place, heritage tourism, and learning.

,