What was located at 2828 Market Street, Galveston, Texas? The beautiful marble tile mosaic piece.

There is a beautiful marble tile mosaic right at the end of 2828 Market Street in Galveston, Texas. Ever wonder what that beautiful marble tile mosaic connected to? Here is what was located at 2828 Market Street, Galveston, Texas.

This beautiful marble tile mosaic connected to what was once a part Galveston Fire Department’s Fire Station No. 3 and what was once Star State Co. No. 3. The beautiful marble tile mosaic is actually a marble slab located at the front facade reading "Star State Co. No. 3" and has a yellowish cross. Approximate location of this beautiful marble tile mosaic was near the front entrance.

This beautiful marble tile mosaic was constructed and arranged by Star State Co. No. 3 sometime in the 1800s during the 19th century.


Star State Co. No. 3 was a private fire brigade which was formed and organized in 1859. Galveston Fire Department absorbed Star State Co. No. 3 into their fire department in 1885. This fire station was shut down after a new central fire station opened nearby in 1905. This fire station was demolished in 1905. (Ref: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/16611814/)

A new fire station called Fire Station No. 3 would be built in place of the former Star State Co. No. 3 fire station later on. Fire Station No. 3 was constructed by the city commission for Galveston Fire Department sometime in the 1930s. The exterior was constructed out of Stucco.

So here is what happened to Fire Station No. 3 and the summary of Fire Station No. 3’s fate. What happened is that Fire Station No. 3 was destroyed by a storm subsequently during Hurricane Carla in 1961. The storm was the reason Fire Station No. 3 was razed. (Ref: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/14162495/)

Galveston Daily News referred to Fire Station No. 3 as “some of Galveston's most prized, precious gems” in one of their news articles. (Ref: Galveston Daily News, Page 14, Thursday, April 25, 1996)

“More than 30 years have passed since this city adopted its form of government from the commissioner form. After Hurricane Carla in 1961, fire station No. 3 at 2828 Market St. shut down. The storm was given as an excuse to raze some of Galveston's most prized, precious gems by saying the structures were weakened by the hurricane. So they went to the blast of the steel ball bursting down the reinforced steel foundations of what was the old combination of central fire, police and old City Hall, the Ursuline Academy, the county courthouse and the city auditorium. Then voters were asked to adopt urban renewal. The key word for this was progress, but how can one progress, if we destroy our past? And so the people went to the polls and turned this down by almost a 3 to 1 vote. This so-called progress was happening all over Texas by destroying buildings by explosives. East Germany sent the city $17,000 for the victims of Hurricane Carla. This was placed in the general fund of the city. Later, perhaps not in the same context, two streets were closed down. We now had a plaza for the downtown transients. The cost was $17,000 from the city, with matching funds from the downtown merchants involved. Yet, at around this time, another two fire stations, Nos. 7 and 6, were shut down, and they gave us a new Fire Station No. 3 at 50th and Avenue Q. Now, even that has been taken away. So I think it has been proven that this city manager form of government is just not worth its salt, and it's high time that we changed back to the commissioner form or the strong mayor form of government, as I can never remember the old form ever having a shortfall such as we have now.”

Galveston Daily News lamented on five former fire stations owned by the Galveston Fire Department in a news article titled Former fire stations find new lives back in 1986. Fire Station No. 3 (Ref: Galveston Daily News, Page 47, Sunday, September 21, 1986)

“Five former fire stations have found new lives long after their closure and men and machine moved elsewhere. You might call it "adaptive reuse." They are ex-stations three, five, six, seven, and eight. The oldest, three and five, were built before the turn of the century under the aldermanic form of municipal government. The remaining trio were constructed in the 1930s by the city commission. Here is a summary of their fate: Former station three at 2828 Market St was closed in the late 1960s, and has a marble slab on its cascade reading "Star State Co. No. 3". It is presently used by the city's water distribution department. Veu's files show Company No. 3 originated as a private fire brigade in 1859. It was absorbed into the city's firefighting network in 1885. Records show it was shuttered after a new central station opened nearby in 1905. Station five located at 1614 Ave. K. was shut in 1955 by the late Police and Fire Commissioner Waller L. Johnston in what he termed "an economy move." It is now utilized by a general contracting firm. Since then, stations six, seven, and eight have also been closed. Station six at 3716 Broadway, the most recent to be closed, replaced an older structure on the site. It is now an "ice house" complete with a plywood American LaFrance bar.”


The city later used this building as their Water Department until being torn down again in the late 1960s. The Water Department was closed in the late 1960s before being torn down. A newer structure was built in place to replace the old structure. (Ref: https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/16611814/)

Galveston Fire Department and City of Galveston sold the property and building to a church called Protestant Episcopal Church in 1991. The front entrance still had a beautiful marble tile mosaic. The building was later torn down again in 2007 after Hurricane Katrina. This beautiful marble tile mosaic was left untouched despite destruction from Hurricane Katrina altogether.

This beautiful marble tile mosaic is located at 2828 Market Street, Galveston, Texas, US 77550.