From Corking Fees to Clara Barton: Timeless Tales from The Tremont

In this episode of Unboxing History, hosts Christine Hopkins and Jodi Wright-Gidley explore intriguing artifacts from the Tremont Hotel's past, including an 1879 menu and postcards. Special guest Kathleen Maca, a historian who authored a book on the Tremont Hotel, shares fascinating insights into the hotel's rich history, its notable guests, and its connection to Galveston's historical events like the Civil War and the 1900 Storm. Discover the transformation of the Tremont Hotel over the years and learn about the Galveston County Museum's crucial role in preserving this history.

Special thanks to the Galveston Chamber of Commerce for their ongoing support and Shawn Schoellkopf for creating and performing the theme music.

Thank you for listening to Unboxing History, presented by the Galveston County Museum. 
For more information on the Museum, visit our website.

History of the Galveston County Museum
The Galveston County Museum was formed in 1976. It was located on Market Street for many years. After Hurricane Ike damaged the HVAC and electrical systems in 2008, the unharmed artifacts were moved. Now, the museum is located in the Galveston County courthouse building at 722 Moody/21st Street in Galveston.

​Galveston County Museum is a joint project of the Galveston County Commissioners Court and Galveston County History, Inc. The museum cares for a collection of 20,000 artifacts and archives. We also maintain the Historical Commission's library. If you are interested in research or donating an artifact related to Galveston County history, please call 409.766.2340.

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Transcript

Episode 10: From Corking Fees to Clara Barton: Times Tales from The Tremont with Author Kathleen Maca

[00:00:00] 

[00:00:16] Christine Hopkins: Welcome to Unboxing History. I'm Christine Hopkins, co host of the Unboxing History podcast presented by the Galveston County Museum.

[00:00:23] Jodi Wright-Gidley: And I'm Jodi Wright-Gidley, the director of the Galveston County Museum. 

[00:00:26] Christine Hopkins: As part of Unboxing History, you'll see different artifacts that are part of the museum's collection. So, Jodi, what do we have today? 

[00:00:36] Jodi Wright-Gidley: So, today we have have items that are about the Tremont Hotel, which is a very historic hotel, and so we have a menu.

[00:00:46] Jodi Wright-Gidley: This menu is from

[00:00:51] Jodi Wright-Gidley: 1879, so food was very different back then, so I think it's really interesting to, you know, see what they were eating back then. So the menu was [00:01:00] printed by Robert Clarke. So that became Clarke and Courts, which is a huge, uh, over a hundred years that company was printing for all over the state of Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico, and Mexico.

[00:01:12] Jodi Wright-Gidley: I mean, it was a really long lasting company. So the menu was printed there and the menu has dinner and wine and appetizers. And so some of the food is really weird. So we have green turtle soup, um, we have mutton, we have all kinds of fish. Sweetbread, you know, stuff we don't really eat a lot anymore. Um, Galveston back in that day had European restaurants and so I think these are probably kind of European inspired things here to eat.

[00:01:44] Jodi Wright-Gidley: Um, there were redhead ducks and currant jelly for, uh, you could have aspic of oysters. And so I thought, what is aspic? I looked that up. It's like a jello. So, oyster jello, doesn't sound too good to me. Um, that you could have new potatoes, aspic. [00:02:00] Asparagus, cauliflower, potatoes, and tomatoes, all kinds of pastries and fruits, and that's what's on the menu.

[00:02:06] Jodi Wright-Gidley: The wine list is very large, and um, and then I thought it was really interesting, it says if you bring your own bottle of wine, they charge you 50 cents for the corking fee. 

[00:02:17] Christine Hopkins: I would love a 50 cent corking fee, that's a real bargain, and you're right, so half the menu is all of these different entrees. And then the other half is just wine.

[00:02:28] Christine Hopkins: So, you know, it's a pretty limited menu, but I mean, there's lots of wine selections in Madeira. Madeira is pretty popular back in that time. And I think it's interesting about 1879, so that just the coincidence of the building that the Tremont is in now dates to 1879. Well, we can confirm that with the expert.

[00:02:47] Christine Hopkins: But, um, you know, Clarke and Court, if you guys ever do go to the Tremont, that building is literally across the street from where the current location of the Tremont House is. So, that's pretty exciting. So, what else do you have [00:03:00] in that box? 

[00:03:01] Jodi Wright-Gidley: I have a couple of postcards, uh, of the Tremont Hotel. And we're going to get into a little bit later about the different buildings and all of that.

[00:03:08] Jodi Wright-Gidley: And so, these are showing the The same image on both. But a couple of postcards. 

[00:03:16] Christine Hopkins: And what's on the back of those? 

[00:03:17] Jodi Wright-Gidley: They actually don't have messages. 

[00:03:19] Christine Hopkins: Ah! 

[00:03:20] Christine Hopkins: I love those! I always love when they have that fun message on the back. Because it really gives you insight about what it was like to visit during that time.

[00:03:28] Christine Hopkins: So this particular postcards are from which Tremont? 

[00:03:32] Christine Hopkins: Um. That would be this one. 

[00:03:33] Christine Hopkins: The second one. 

[00:03:34] Jodi Wright-Gidley: The second one, I think, but we'll have to confirm that. 

[00:03:37] Christine Hopkins: We'll confirm with our expert. So speaking of experts, do you want to introduce who we have with us today? 

[00:03:42] Jodi Wright-Gidley: Yes, so today we have Kathleen Maca with us and she wrote the book on the Tremont history.

[00:03:46] Jodi Wright-Gidley: She also, um, she's a freelance writer, historian, researcher, and has written books on the Hotel Galvez, the cemeteries, and she'll be able to tell you more in a little bit, but she wrote the book on the Tremont history and that's why she's going to tell [00:04:00] us a whole lot more right now. 

[00:04:01] Christine Hopkins: Well, I'm excited to visit with her.

[00:04:02] Christine Hopkins: Welcome, Kathleen. 

[00:04:04] Kathleen Maca: Thanks, Christine. 

[00:04:05] Christine Hopkins: It's so fun to have you. You know, you and I and Jodi all have a passion for history.

[00:04:09] Christine Hopkins: So it really is a pleasure to have you here today. 

[00:04:12] Kathleen Maca: Thanks. 

[00:04:12] Christine Hopkins: And I I've learned a lot that I thought I knew a lot about the Tremont House, but wow, it's really interesting. When you just sent me that email about how about this and this and this, and I was like, oh, wow. 

[00:04:23] Christine Hopkins: I had no idea. 

[00:04:24] Kathleen Maca: Well, and you have a connection because you used to work for the Mitchells that had the Tremont House.

[00:04:30] Christine Hopkins: It's interesting to learn these things that I had no idea about. But, so, tell us, like, what inspired you to write this book about the Tremont House? 

[00:04:38] Kathleen Maca: Well, I had already written one about the Hotel Galvez, now the Grand Galvez, um, and I thought it was only appropriate because The Tremont's history goes back much farther and it's really the iconic hotel of Galveston.

[00:04:52] Kathleen Maca: So it was only appropriate to do their history as well. 

[00:04:56] Christine Hopkins: So was there a specific story that drew you [00:05:00] besides that, that long history or something that maybe you heard about that you're like, Oh, there's, 

[00:05:04] Christine Hopkins: I got to dig deeper into that. 

[00:05:05] Kathleen Maca: You know, one of the things that always intrigued me were, and you have pictures of them on some of the postcards is the second Tremont. It's such a stunning building. I wish we still had it. And it just makes you wonder what went on within those walls. And, you know, I heard little stories about different people who stayed there and I thought, must know more. 

[00:05:26] Christine Hopkins: So for those of you that don't know, there are several Tremont House Hotels or Tremont Hotels that have a history in Galveston.

[00:05:35] Christine Hopkins: So why don't you share a little bit about that because a lot of people think that the current building is the long standing Tremont House, which is not true. 

[00:05:43] Kathleen Maca: Right. And, um, the most commonly held perception is that there have been three Tremont Houses in Galveston. I actually found five when I was doing my research, which was kind of fun.

[00:05:55] Christine Hopkins: So I didn't know that, 

[00:05:56] Kathleen Maca: But two of them are, uh, I think they kind of absconded with the name in [00:06:00] between the big ones. So we won't really count them. We'll still say three. But the earliest one was, uh, they started constructing it in 1837, quite a while before Texas was even a state. And lo and behold, a hurricane blew it down, so they had to rebuild it.

[00:06:16] Kathleen Maca: Um, so it officially opened in 1839. Again, still several years before statehood. And, um, it was really known as one of the finest hotels in Galveston, which is kind of funny because it was a two story wooden structure, and the rooms were not fancy. If a gentleman was traveling here for work. He would often be given a room, but when he would go up to the room, it would have eight beds, two potbelly stoves, and a couple of washstands because there weren't private rooms unless you paid the big bucks.

[00:06:47] Kathleen Maca: Um, but that was also the one that Sam Houston made his last speech from. Which is really incredible. Uh, he came and tried to talk Texans into not joining the Confederacy. He was actually more in favor of us turning back into a [00:07:00] Republic and just, you know, the U. S. totally. Um, so that was a big thing.

[00:07:05] Kathleen Maca: And then, uh, during the Civil War, the Confederate soldiers stayed there. And then when the Union won, the Union soldiers stayed there. Uh, but Uh, they actually started a little campfire upstairs to keep warm, and it burnt it down in 1865. 

[00:07:24] Christine Hopkins: Oh my gosh, well that, that, that could happen. 

[00:07:26] Kathleen Maca: Yeah, yeah, in a wooden structure.

[00:07:28] Kathleen Maca: Hmm. So we lost the first one. Okay. Um, and there was, uh, It was immediately the thought, we need to have another Tremont because it was so important. Uh, so, it was finally opened in 1877, and that's the really beautiful one with the cupola. Um, yeah. 

[00:07:45] Christine Hopkins: And there's more postcards of that, but there's, there's no, I know when I did the research, um, there's no existing pictures of the, of the first incarnation, of that initial one where Sam Houston spoke. 

[00:07:57] Kathleen Maca: Not even sketches. There's a really detailed [00:08:00] description of it by a man who visited here from England and wrote a travel log, which was really humorous as to what he found in Texas. Back that far.

[00:08:07] Kathleen Maca: Um, so we have a pretty detailed description, but I wish somebody had an image, but one doesn't seem to exist. 

[00:08:16] Christine Hopkins: Well, and, um, where was the location of the first two Tremont House Hotels? 

[00:08:21] Kathleen Maca: Just a couple of blocks from where the current one is. Um, there's, um, It's just kind of a blase little block now with a one story bank on it that nothing you'd ever look twice at or know that there was a big history on that block before.

[00:08:36] Christine Hopkins: Well, I think a lot of things in Galveston, the history of the buildings in some cases really intertwine with the history of Galveston. Do you see any parallels with that with the Tremont? 

[00:08:47] Kathleen Maca: Definitely. Um, you know, obviously with the Civil War era, it tied into that, but, uh, the Civil second one really tied into the heyday of Galveston and if, uh, we, you know, we [00:09:00] had a wonderful opera house back then.

[00:09:01] Kathleen Maca: We had a series of opera houses, but even the one that we still have today. And if famous people, you know, like Anna Pavlova or Harry Houdini, they would stay at the Tremont because that was the luxury hotel and growing up as a kid, I was always a big Wild West fan, so I had heard an inkling that he had been with his Wild West show in Galveston.

[00:09:23] Kathleen Maca: Evidently, he came here about four or five times. He always stayed at the Tremont, so I wanted to, my big thing was I wanted to find his signature on a register, so that was my pet project on the side while I was doing this. But yeah, it's, it's amazing how it tied into, that's where all the business meetings were that because that was the place to meet.

[00:09:43] Kathleen Maca: It was right by the business district. Just fascinating. 

[00:09:47] Christine Hopkins: Well, again, with Galveston, we're known because of the 1900 storm. So, um, I'm interested to hear about what was happening at this hotel during the 1900 storm. 

[00:09:57] Kathleen Maca: You know, visitors were arriving as late as that afternoon. 

[00:09:59] Christine Hopkins: [00:10:00] Really? Uh huh. Sorry. Wow. 

[00:10:02] Kathleen Maca: I know.

[00:10:02] Kathleen Maca: They were coming into the railroad station and they had a They called it a car, but it was more of an enclosed wagon, a horse drawn, that would pick up the passengers and take them to the Tremont, but by the time, um, the last passengers were being taken, the water was up to the bellies of the horses. They were treading water to get to the hotel. So water was already coming into the hotel.

[00:10:29] Kathleen Maca: People were trying to make their way to the hotel because it was such a sturdy building. And there were a lot of people that took shelter there. The windows blew out. The glass dome shattered. So there was water coming in. But it was built around a rotunda. So people just sat there. stayed in the hallways around the rotunda, and that was shelter for them for days.

[00:10:50] Kathleen Maca: And in fact, um, within about three days after the storm, Clara Barton came and set up headquarters at the Tremont, um, [00:11:00] to do the aid society work. And that's where she stayed. That's where all her letters were written from. And their diaries of her group are really detailed and heartbreaking, but amazing what all went on there.

[00:11:14] Christine Hopkins: I never knew that. That's fascinating. Well, and we do here at the Galveston County Museum, there's a wonderful, wonderful exhibit on the 1900 Storm, which also talks about Clara Barton being here. And, um, so when, you know, when you make your way by the museum, make sure and look at that exhibit. It makes sense though, because there were only so many hotels at the time. So, um, but that's really interesting. You know, one thing that people may also not know is, is when the third Tremont opened, it really was important with a revival of Galveston's history. 

[00:11:47] Kathleen Maca: It was, and yet many thanks to George and Cynthia Mitchell because we wouldn't have the history saved and restored that we do today without their generosity.

[00:11:58] Kathleen Maca: One of [00:12:00] his projects was he thought it was very important to bring a Tremont back to Galveston. And, uh, but he was looking for the, just the right location. He wanted it to be a historic building. So he ended up using the Blum Brothers building, which was built in 1880. That's fairly historic. Um, but it started out as a department store.

[00:12:22] Kathleen Maca: Uh, it was expanded over time, but it was. It's kind of like an Ikea of the day. It had things for women, children. It had a luggage department, a men's department, and you would go around with a clerk and they would write down everything you'd want, and then you'd walk downstairs and the clerk would send somebody to the warehouse to go pick it up and pack it and either deliver it to your home or send it to you if you were from away.

[00:12:45] Kathleen Maca: So it's kind of like a department store Ikea ahead of his time and they weren't allowed to say they didn't have anything. They had to say, yes, we'll get it for you. 

[00:12:55] Christine Hopkins: Well, that's smart business. 

[00:12:56] Kathleen Maca: Yes, it is. 

[00:12:57] Christine Hopkins: Smart business. Wow. That's interesting. And [00:13:00] so with the building, um, that also was in conjunction with the revival of Mardi Gras.

[00:13:06] Kathleen Maca: It was. 

[00:13:06] Christine Hopkins: With the opening. 

[00:13:07] Kathleen Maca: It was. He kind of married those two together. Of course, Mardi Gras has a long history with Galveston. A lot of people don't realize that. 1850s. Um, one of our founders, uh, uh, Michel Menard had the first Mardi Gras ball at his home, which still exists. It's the oldest home on the island.

[00:13:25] Kathleen Maca: He had the first Mardi Gras ball in the 1850s. Um, so we've had it a long time. And, um, Um, Mr. Mitchell decided it would be wonderful for the grand opening to also give a rebirth to Mardi Gras. And he hired a series of architects to even design archways for some of the streets that were an homage to Saengerfest, which was a German singing festival in the 1800s and we're lucky to still have one of those. 

[00:13:52] Christine Hopkins: And we have the Sangerfest Park as well on 23rd and Strand. Well, and one thing that I saw when I was [00:14:00] involved with the Tremont, um, the old pictures of what, if you go in and see the history display, there's the picture of what it looked like when the Mitchells bought it.

[00:14:09] Christine Hopkins: And then you see they actually added a top level to the building so there would be more rooms. 

[00:14:15] Kathleen Maca: Yes. So, and that's kind of a challenge historically because you're not really allowed to alter anything. Um, but a member of GHF actually located a drawing of one of the conceptions before the Blum building was built that had a mansard roof, which is one of the sloped roofs with the little windows, so that's what they used to get permission to add a mansard roof. So they ended up with another level of rooms which is a little bit of brilliance. 

[00:14:44] Christine Hopkins: Oh, so smart. And, and I mean in the rooms are beautiful on the inside, um, you have the high ceilings, you have the original windows and, and, um, the current management's done a wonderful restoration of that hotel and again, but remember it's not the [00:15:00] original hotel, right?

[00:15:01] Christine Hopkins: It's the third, but the building is. It is, as you said, like pre 1900, I mean, just an incredible spot. 

[00:15:07] Kathleen Maca: Although part of it is an original hotel. 

[00:15:09] Christine Hopkins: Yes, that's right. 

[00:15:10] Kathleen Maca: Because the far end of it, um, has been several hotels over time, but it was best known as the Belmont Hotel. And if you go in that wing of the hotel where the Mitchell Suites and some of the suites are, it has a beautiful oval rotunda that looks up to the skylight.

[00:15:25] Kathleen Maca: It's wonderful. 

[00:15:26] Christine Hopkins: And you can still see the tile on that corner that says Royal Bar. Exactly. Because at one point it was the Royal Hotel. 

[00:15:32] Kathleen Maca: It was. Yes, it was.

[00:15:34] Christine Hopkins: I mean, it really is. That's an interesting story, too. That building is what, 1873, I think? 

[00:15:40] Kathleen Maca: Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:15:41] Christine Hopkins: So, the adjoining building is actually older than the original building.

[00:15:45] Christine Hopkins: So, well, um, it's, and I remember reading that when the Mitchells opened that, that hotel, it was the first hotel to open in downtown Galveston in 60 years. So, I mean, because of their vision and their investment in Galveston, there's so much that came back [00:16:00] to downtown. Right. I mean, it had become kind of a, you know, a shuttered area.

[00:16:04] Christine Hopkins: Like, a lot of places lost their downtown districts. 

[00:16:08] Kathleen Maca: Absolutely. 

[00:16:08] Christine Hopkins: And so, it is amazing that we have it back. 

[00:16:12] Kathleen Maca: I know when I was growing up, that wasn't a place that you would really go hang out. That was a little bit dangerous. Mm hmm. And he had already been working on refurbishing and revitalizing the downtown area, and he thought that it was vital to have a place to stay so that people would stay downtown, and it was wonderful.

[00:16:30] Christine Hopkins: So, when people are visiting Galveston, what advice do you have for them to connect with the hotel's history? Aside from picking up your book. 

[00:16:37] Kathleen Maca: Yes. I would love that. 

[00:16:39] Kathleen Maca: Um, it's, They have a wonderful new, they've just refurbished or redecorated the hotel again and it's even more beautiful than before.

[00:16:48] Kathleen Maca: Um, as you enter the hotel you go up the marble steps. If you go directly to your right down the hallway they have a sort of hall of history. And they have some original photos and items that [00:17:00] are time period correct in shadow boxes and frames. So it's really fun to walk along and see all the different incarnations and things that connect back to the history of the hotel.

[00:17:11] Christine Hopkins: Oh, and thank you for mentioning that because that was one of my projects when I was there. 

[00:17:15] Kathleen Maca: Oh, yay! You did a good job. 

[00:17:17] Christine Hopkins: I love the history. That's one of the things about Galveston's downtown is the historic buildings and the, and when you're wandering around looking at the historic markers and it, you know, and again, it's just The Strand is just a couple blocks away from the Galveston County Museum.

[00:17:30] Christine Hopkins: It's so, it's nice that there's so much happening in this downtown area. 

[00:17:34] Kathleen Maca: Mm-Hmm. . 

[00:17:34] Christine Hopkins: So, um, when you're writing a book. Like this one, like the Galveston's Tremont Hotel, Tremont House Hotel. What type of, it takes a lot of information, it takes a lot of research, what types of things were you looking for and what was helpful to you?

[00:17:51] Kathleen Maca: Um, I started just willy nilly seeing what was out there and starting to gather, um, but once you start to gather the pieces, [00:18:00] then you have to put down a timeline and start working with the timeline. And that timeline gets expanded as you get more information because you realize there are more eras. Um, but, uh, the timeline is really where you start, and then you put the major points, but I have a tendency to also find rabbit holes to dive down when, um, I'm doing it.

[00:18:21] Kathleen Maca: Like, the author, Stephen Crane, I knew he had stayed there, but I had to find out more about it, even though everybody just thought, oh, he just stayed there. Okay. Um, he actually wrote letters home about his stay at the Tremont in Galveston and what Galvestonians were like and how much they like to drink. And it's really humorous.

[00:18:42] Kathleen Maca: And I just got, so there's a whole chapter just about his visit to Galveston and it's really funny. Um, but it really makes it more human, the whole experience, more human when you kind of go down some of those side avenues and pull that in too. 

[00:18:58] Christine Hopkins: So, is that your favorite chapter in the [00:19:00] book? 

[00:19:00] Kathleen Maca: Uh, I don't know if I have a favorite chapter.

[00:19:02] Kathleen Maca: Um, probably the hardest to write was the chapter about Clara Barton's visit because reading her letters and her diaries were, was really heartbreaking. 

[00:19:11] Christine Hopkins: Oh, I can't imagine. 

[00:19:12] Kathleen Maca: Um, probably my favorite might have been the Buffalo Bill chapter just because, you know, Old West. I love that stuff. Um, and I worked with the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum in Wyoming Mm hmm.

[00:19:25] Kathleen Maca: And, uh, They provided me some photos and information and clarified some things. Uh, we always heard that there was one register that still existed for the hotel. And when I tracked it down, I realized it wasn't a register at all. It was kind of a guest book for people who had climbed into the turret to see the view.

[00:19:43] Christine Hopkins: Really? 

[00:19:43] Kathleen Maca: And it's not as easy as it sounds because, um, it looks like you would just climb up a little stairway. Uh huh. There was a little rickety wooden ladder and you had to go through a trap door to get up there. So not everybody was brave enough to do it, but if you did, you could sign this register.

[00:19:59] Kathleen Maca: And [00:20:00] everybody, the Native Americans, the women performers. The horseback riders, everybody in the Wild West show did it, but not Buffalo Bill 

[00:20:09] Christine Hopkins: Well, where's the register now? 

[00:20:10] Kathleen Maca: It's at Galveston Texas History Center, which is the archive with the Rosenberg Library. 

[00:20:15] Christine Hopkins: Oh, that's interesting. 

[00:20:17] Kathleen Maca: Yeah, and it's fabulous to look through.

[00:20:18] Kathleen Maca: There were waiters. Um, that would go up there on their break and sign it and some of them made little snide comments about each other underneath and uh, Morris Lasker who's an important person in Galveston history. His two little boys climbed up when they were eight and I think eleven and signed it and put their ages by it.

[00:20:36] Christine Hopkins: Oh that's a good story. 

[00:20:37] Kathleen Maca: So it's fascinating just to go through. 

[00:20:39] Christine Hopkins: Well you know, here at the County Museum there's a lot of resources here. Were you able to use things here as well?

[00:20:44] Kathleen Maca: Absolutely. It was really fun to work with Jodi, um, and she pulled out different items that she knew were from the Tremont, some that we thought might be from the Tremont, and it was really fun going through all of them and kind of tracking the provenance and then of course [00:21:00] having permission to use some of the images in the books was really a gift.

[00:21:03] Christine Hopkins: So if you could pick a period of time where you could check into the hotel, check into the Tremont Hotel, what, what period would that have been? 

[00:21:12] Kathleen Maca: It definitely would have been the same. second incarnation. Um, and I would have loved to have seen Buffalo Bill and the Wild West Riders go through the lobby in all of their gear after one of their shows.

[00:21:24] Kathleen Maca: That would have been amazing. But that was also in the heyday of the hotel where you would have seen all of these people that we hear about. Um, the famous people that were performing at the opera would have just been sauntering through with their entourage to go to their room. I think that just would have been surreal to see all of it. Um, I have the blueprint so in my head I would love to see it in 3D. 

[00:21:49] Christine Hopkins: Wow, wouldn't that be amazing? It would. It really would. Well, um, for those of you that don't know, Kathleen is also a tour guide. Yes. So you want to tell people a little bit about how they could learn more [00:22:00] about your tours?

[00:22:00] Kathleen Maca: Oh, thanks. Um, I have a website, KathleenMaca.Com, it's all together. Um, and I do, um, historic tours on the Strand. I do historic cemetery tours in the Broadway Cemetery District, which is the big cemetery you pass right as you come down Broadway onto the island. I also do ghost tours on the Strand, which are really popular in the fall, but actually people take them all year long.

[00:22:23] Christine Hopkins: I have. 

[00:22:24] Kathleen Maca: Um, and in the coming months, I'll be adding a lot more for the 1900 Storm, and I'll actually be doing some neighborhood tours, which I'm really looking forward to. 

[00:22:34] Christine Hopkins: Well, if there's one thing that surprised you the most about the Tremont, what was it? I know there was so much, but what was the one thing that really surprised you about when you were doing your research related to the Tremont?

[00:22:45] Kathleen Maca: One of the fun unexpected things was the billiard hall, which was very popular, but in the 1870s, Galveston became enamored with roller skating rinks.

[00:22:55] Christine Hopkins: Really? 

[00:22:55] Kathleen Maca: Yes. And there were several on the seawall, but the billiard hall wasn't doing so [00:23:00] well, so they took out all the pool tables. And they changed it into a roller rink on the ground floor of the hotel. 

[00:23:06] Christine Hopkins: Wow. 

[00:23:06] Kathleen Maca: And then when that fad passed, all the men were very happy when they put the pool tables back.

[00:23:11] Christine Hopkins: Oh my gosh, that's really interesting. Well, thank you so much for being a guest on Unboxing History. I mean, I really have learned a lot and, uh, you know, we're just, It's lucky that some of these buildings still exist. 

[00:23:25] Kathleen Maca: Very. 

[00:23:25] Christine Hopkins: And we're lucky that places like the Galveston County Museum are here to preserve that history.

[00:23:29] Kathleen Maca: Absolutely. 

[00:23:30] Christine Hopkins: Oh, and one last question. You've been to the museum quite a few times. What would you say is a not to miss exhibit here at the museum? 

[00:23:39] Kathleen Maca: There are so many. Um, of course, the 1900 storm is uniquely worth stopping just for that. But probably one of my favorite unexpected ones, uh, there's a small exhibit about corner stores in Galveston, which is a very era specific, but it's, uh, It's more of an everyday [00:24:00] man type thing that you don't hear as much about.

[00:24:03] Kathleen Maca: And there's one of the delivery bikes from the Tropea store. And it's just really interesting because then you're thinking more about how people really lived and not just looking at the beautiful homes on Broadway The millionaires lived in, so I love that one. 

[00:24:18] Christine Hopkins: That is a nice one. We have a podcast episode on that as well on the corner store, so check that out, um, and listen in on that.

[00:24:25] Christine Hopkins: We interviewed Mr. Tropea. He unveiled the bike that was actually on exhibit at the Smithsonian in Washington, so it's really fascinating, but we're lucky to have so many gems to keep us busy with history and sharing history, so thanks again for being with us today. 

[00:24:39] Kathleen Maca: Thanks for having me.

[00:24:40] Christine Hopkins: It really was a pleasure having Kathleen. I learned a lot. Um, what did you learn that you didn't know about related to the history of the hotel? 

[00:24:47] Jodi Wright-Gidley: Well, it's the human stories that I liked. I mean, the building's great, buildings are great, but it's the people that come in and out of them and work in them.

[00:24:55] Jodi Wright-Gidley: I didn't know about climbing the turret and the guest book. Yeah. Um, [00:25:00] and then it all makes so much sense too when you read the story and hear it. Yeah. All of those people came because that was the greatest hotel there was for them to be at. So of course Clara Barton came. Of course all of these people came.

[00:25:11] Jodi Wright-Gidley: And it's all those stories that I liked. 

[00:25:13] Christine Hopkins: I mean, can you imagine just being, like, working the front desk during that era when Buffalo Bill was checking in with his whole entourage? I mean, or seeing them in costume, you know, just roaming through the lobby area. And just to think that that second building was just two stories.

[00:25:30] Christine Hopkins: And then people survived the 1900 Storm because they sought out refuge there. Well, I mean, obviously these books take a lot of time and a lot of research. What type of research materials are available here at the County Museum that people should look into? 

[00:25:46] Jodi Wright-Gidley: Yeah. Um, well, we have subject files. We have historical marker files and their application process and we have artifacts.

[00:25:53] Jodi Wright-Gidley: So it's really something if you're doing research, at least contact us and see if we have something that can help [00:26:00] you out. Sometimes it's hit or miss and we may be able to have something It really fits right with your story. 

[00:26:05] Christine Hopkins: So if people are interested in visiting the museum in person, when's the best time to come and what's available?

[00:26:11] Jodi Wright-Gidley: So we are free to the public on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 to 4. We're located inside the county courthouse at 722 Moody or 21st Street. If you want to do a private tour or if you want to play our padlock mystery game, we do those on Tuesdays and Thursdays and so just give us a call and schedule with us.

[00:26:29] Christine Hopkins: Well and also if you're interested in supporting the museum, you can donate. To support, um, the preservation of all of these materials we have. There's a huge collection here and, um, thanks so much for, uh, for sharing this, all these treasures of the museum. Thanks. 

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