C. F. Marschner Building
Galveston, Galveston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Erected in 1905-06 by local contractor Otto Haase, this building housed the Texas Bottling Works and the family residence of C. F. and Marie Marschner. Shortly before the completion of the building, C. F. Marschner died. His widow inherited the bottling works and operated the business with the assistance of her sons. The company was the first in Galveston to bottle distilled water. Texas Bottling Works remained in this location until 1929, when Triple XXX Bottling Company moved here. Otto Marschner became general manager of Triple XXX in the 1930s. Triple XXX continued to operate at this location into the mid-1940s. The plant was used for bottling soft drinks until the 1960s. The building was leased as office and storage space beginning in 1965. Followed by various businesses through the 1980s. The structure was restored in the 1990s and the upper floor again became a residence while the lower floor housed classic automobiles. A good example of an early 20th century commercial structure, the Marschner Building features decorative brick work, arched window openings, and an elaborate stepped parapet with brick and ball finials. Recorded Texas Historic Landmark - 1996
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Built in 1905–06 by local contractor Otto Haase, this Galveston building combined a family home with the Texas Bottling Works, said to be the first in the city to bottle distilled water. After C. F. Marschner's death his widow Marie carried on the business with her sons, and the plant later became home to the Triple XXX Bottling Company into the 1940s. Its decorative brickwork, arched windows, and stepped parapet make it a fine surviving example of an early-20th-century commercial structure.
Why it matters
The building captures the small-scale manufacturing and family entrepreneurship that filled American port cities in the early 1900s, including a widow who ran an industrial business in an era that rarely encouraged it.
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Related people
- · C. F. Marschner
- · Marie Marschner
- · Otto Marschner
Themes & tags
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