{"nrhp_refnum":"98001246","name":"Melrose Apartment Building","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"2002 Post Office St.","address_restricted":false,"city":"Galveston","county":"Galveston County","state":"TX","lat":29.305500121000023,"lon":-94.79071625699999,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1998-10-14","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Architecture"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A three-story brick 2-part commercial block building at 2002 Post Office Street, on the corner of 20th Street in Galveston's Central Business District, Texas. Completed in 1914 with builder William H. Janssen, it combines ground-floor shops with upper-floor apartments.","why_significant":"The nomination argues the building is a representative local example of an early 20th century commercial/apartment building with modest Prairie School influences. It is one of the few surviving pre-Depression apartment buildings downtown. It meets Criterion C in Architecture at the local level.","narrative":"Built in 1914 at the corner of 20th and Post Office Streets in downtown Galveston, this three-story brick building was designed to earn income, with retail shops on the ground floor and 23 small apartments above. William H. Janssen, a contractor and developer, served as builder and financier. Its horizontal division between storefronts and living space is typical of the 2-part commercial block form, while geometric brickwork, diamond patterns and ceramic tile in the pediments show modest Prairie School influence. The building reflects Galveston's early 20th century growth, when soldiers and a rising population created demand for rental housing. Over the decades it served as a nightclub, fell into disrepair after Hurricane Alicia in 1983, and was rehabilitated starting in 1993. The work converted the apartments into eight lofts and returned the building to mixed commercial and residential use. It was listed for its architecture, as a representative surviving example of a pre-Depression downtown apartment building.","period_of_significance":"1914","architect_builder":"Janssen, William H. (builder)","architectural_style":"Vernacular 2-part commercial block; Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements: Prairie School","criteria":["C"],"status_note":"Rehabilitated beginning in 1993 and restored to mixed use, with ground-floor shops and a restaurant plus upper-floor loft apartments.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:54:24.157144-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/71/9691/40969171/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_TX/98001246.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98001246/4ac2f545e0-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/98001246/4ac2f545e0-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Jim Evans","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Melrose_Apartment_Building,_Galveston.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Jim Evans</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Melrose_Apartment_Building,_Galveston.jpg"},"district":{"nrhp_refnum":"70000748","name":"Strand Historic District, The","url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/districts/texas/strand-historic-district-the-70000748/"},"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/40969171","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q110002043"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/texas/galveston-county/melrose-apartment-building-98001246/"}