Those who take a close look at the abandoned home behind the picket fence at the corner of 27th Street and Bernardo de Galvez Avenue (Avenue P) will no doubt notice remnants of charming details that originally ornamented the wood frame home: a crumbling archway above the front gate, tall shutters that protected the windows from summer storms, carved wood accents, a once open and welcoming porch and leaf-edged brackets supporting a small canopy roof above the entrance.

In its present state, it takes a bit of imagination to envision what an appealing family home it once was.

Swedish immigrant Alfred Arthur Olson (1856-1950) built a one-story bungalow on the property in 1886, the same year he took over his father's grocery store and went into business with Theodore A. Debner. The men opened Debner & Olson Grocers at 2528 Market Street, in a building that still stands today.

Though the family spelled their name Olson, for some unrecorded reason it was spelled "Olsen" for the business in early advertisements. In addition to groceries, the store carried liquors, cigars, and even animal feed.

When Olson and his new wife, Anna C. Balliman (1862-ca 1892), first lived in the home, the structure consisted of four plastered and wallpapered rooms that included a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and parlor with a brick fireplace, all connected by a long hallway.

The lighting was provided by oil fixtures, Anna's cookstove ran on gasoline, and a large wooden cistern on a cement foundation in the yard provided the water source. Four porches that surrounded the exterior provided an outdoor living space where the couple could enjoy breezes from the Gulf.

 

The couple had two children, Ida Celeste (1887-1933) and Arthur Alfred, Jr. (1890-1939), but two years after giving birth to theor son, Anna died.

In April 1893, Olson married Antonia "Anna" Gruetzmacher (1854-1941), a German immigrant dressmaker who would give birth a year later to Alfred's third child, Olga Anita (1894-1966).

In 1895, Olson had the family home elevated and added a ground floor beneath it, which they referred to as the basement. The new lower level provided three additional rooms for the growing family.

The Great Storm of 1900, a category 4 hurricane, struck five years later, and destroyed many of the homes and businesses in the area. A photo in the collections of the Galveston and Texas History Center at the Rosenberg Library shows two houses of similar construction at the same intersection as they stood precariously leaning directly after the 1900 Storm.

The Olson family was doubtlessly thankful to still have a home and business, both of which survived the destructive hurricane. Unspecified damage to the house was able to be repaired in 1901, and a second brick fireplace was added at the same time.

Thanks to the success of his business, the upper floor rooms of the Olson home were wired with electricity in 1904, and the lower floor obtained the same modernization in 1908. A one-story barn with its own cistern was added to the back of the lot in the following months.

Anna raised her daughters to be musical, and both of the young girls often played organ or piano for church gatherings.

In 1905, daughter Ida married John Frank Heizer (1882-1948), a conductor at the Galveston CIty Railyard. Son Arthur married Margaret Anna English (1882-1975), and the couple later moved to Houston.

Olson, who served as president of the Galveston First Spiritulist Society for many years, was a lover of books, music and philosphy. Active in the Galveston community, he served on the soliciting committee to raise funds for a grand new hotel to be constructed on the beach in an effort to attract tourists to the Island.

Plans for the $1 million hotel no doubt made for lively discussion at the Olson home. Hotel Galvez-named for Bernardo Vicente de Galvez y Mardid, 1st Viscount of Galveston-opened to much fanfare in June 1911. (The historic site recently underwent a renovation and has been renamed the Grand Galvez).

With the family's older children married, much of Anna's attention was given to Olga, her youngest daughter. In 1913, the matriarch hosted a musicale at the home one Friday evening. Olga performed several challenging selections of Chopin, Lietz, Schumacher and Rubenstein for their guests, and their friend Mrs. H. M. Lawrence performed vocal and instrumental selections.

After Olga married Lawrence Little Smith (1896-1980), the young couple moved into the family home with her parents. Alfred's brother, Carl, who had lost his wife at the age of 21 and never remarried, also lived in the home from about 1920 until his death in 1936.

Anna and Alfred lived together in the home until Anna died in 1941. Her husband continued to live in the house until his death in 1950, at age 94.

Olga and her husband, who were childless, were alone in the home for the first time in their married life. In 1966, Olga died, and her husband died in 1980.

Nearly a century after it was built, the home left the loving ownership of the Olson family.

Sadly, a succession of owners failed to care for the property, which resulted in the structure being listed as "At Risk" list of the Galveston Historical Foundation. The barn and cisterns are long gone, but the home still stands despite severe neglect.

Its porches have disappeared, and windows and wood siding have broken away, opening the structure to further decay and damage.

One can only hope that someone with an appreciation for history will come to the home's rescure, and lively discussions and music will fill the rooms once again.