The Strand, known as "Wall Street of the Southwest," served as the central business district of early Galveston. A fire, set in 1869 to cover a robbery at Cohn Brothers, a clothing emporium, burned a mile wide area. It began at this site, once occupied by Moro Castle, a fashionable bar and meeting place of famous people. Thomas Jefferson League (1834-1874), began construction of this building in 1871. League, son of a prominent pioneer family, was an attorney and later a judge. He contracted with local craftsmen to erect this commercial building with a decorative cast iron first floor facade and a galvanized iron cornice. Originally the three-story structure housed three stores: Isaac Bernstein & Company, a leading clothier; a stationer and bookseller; and a cotton factor and commission merchant. Later tenants were attorneys, insurance agents, and clothing manufacturers. In 1921, Ben Sass joined Aaron P. Levy in purchasing this property and buying Ben Blum Hardware Co. They moved the business into this facility in 1923, where it remained 50 years. After the deaths of Aaron P. Levy (1929) and Ben Sass (1935), the building and the business were purchased by Joseph Levy Rosenfield and other Levy family members. The Levys remained owners until 1973. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1979
Thomas Jefferson League Building
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Thomas Jefferson League Building is a historical marker in Galveston, Galveston County, dedicated in 1979. It is one of 281 historical markers documented in Galveston County in the Texas Historical Commission Atlas, among 352 historic sites cataloged across the county.
The site sits at 29.3069, -94.7946 near Galveston. The nearest cataloged historic site is Magale Building (historical marker), about under a tenth of a mile away. Others within a short drive include Greenleve, Block & Co. Building, Schreiber-Miller Warehouse, and Hutchings, Sealy & Co. Building.
This record corresponds to Texas Historical Commission Atlas #5167007513. Use the map below for its exact position and turn-by-turn directions.
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