The Stewart Building
Galveston, Galveston County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Julius Kauffman (1856-1935) and Julius Runge (1851-1906), second generation owners of a commission firm established in 1842, had architect Eugene T. Heiner design this renaissance revival building in the north Italian mode. Contractor Robert Palisser completed the structure in 1882. Then known as the world's foremost cotton exporters and the initiators of coffee imports from Brazil, Kauffman-Runge also brought significant numbers of settlers to Texas. They housed commodities on the building's ground floor, and had offices above. Many highly-respected Galveston firms had business quarters here. In 1905 the property was bought by Maco Stewart (1871-1938), who redesigned the interior to create a gallery effect with an arched skylight on the top floor. A foresighted, dynamic lawyer, Maco Stewart in 1908 founded Stewart Title Guaranty Company, now (1978) the largest title firm in Texas. Throughout expansion across the United States, it continuously had offices in this structure of its origin. Stewart Title Company has restored the building, replacing the ornate cornice which had been missing since the famous 1900 Galveston storm.
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Completed in 1882 for the commission firm of Julius Kauffman and Julius Runge, this Renaissance Revival building rose during Galveston's heyday as the busiest port in Texas. Kauffman-Runge were reckoned among the world's foremost cotton exporters and pioneered coffee imports from Brazil, even helping bring settlers to Texas from abroad. In 1905 attorney Maco Stewart bought the building, redesigned it with a soaring skylit gallery, and founded Stewart Title Guaranty here in 1908 — a firm that grew into the largest of its kind in Texas.
Why it matters
The building charts Galveston's rise as a Gilded Age cotton port and its survival of the catastrophic 1900 hurricane, whose damage cost the structure its original cornice.
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Related people
- · Julius Kauffman
- · Julius Runge
- · Maco Stewart
- · Eugene T. Heiner
Related events
- · 1900 Galveston hurricane
Themes & tags
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