Merimax Building
Why it's listed
Rising four stories at the southeast corner of its block in downtown Galveston, this stuccoed masonry building was constructed in 1895-96 as a telephone exchange for the Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone Company, which used it until 1938. Architect Alfred Muller designed it in a Romanesque Revival commercial manner, with round arches, stucco pilasters and grouped one-over-one windows. The entrance bay on 22nd Street rises above the cornice line to emphasize the main doorway. Originally brick, the exterior was stuccoed in the twentieth century, and some details were lost; rehabilitation plans call for restoring them, including fibreglass versions of the cornice panels. Locals long called it the Telephone Building, and it was praised as the finest telephone building in the west. It is Muller's only surviving commercial work in Galveston, a city that had the first telephone exchange in Texas and about 500 telephones by 1896. It now serves as commercial offices.
Significance in brief: It was built by and used as the Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone Company building from 1896 until 1938 and was long called the "Telephone Building." It is the only surviving commercial building in Galveston by architect Alfred Muller, a major local architect. It was claimed to be the "finest telephone building in the west," and Galveston was home to the first telephone exchange in Texas.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 85000121, listed January 24, 1985. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 521 22nd St., Galveston |
|---|---|
| County | Galveston County |
| Listed | January 24, 1985 |
| Reference number | 85000121 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Architect / builder | Alfred Muller |
| Architectural style | Romanesque Revival/Commercial |
| Areas of significance | Community Planning and Development, Architecture |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Under rehabilitation, in good condition; present use is commercial office. |
| Acreage | 0.9 |
| Coordinates | 29.31319, -94.78231 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 85000121.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikidata Q110002050
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.