American National Insurance Company

Moody's company grew fast. By 1912 it had seventy people in its home office and 700 representatives in the field, and by 1920 it was called the Giant of the South. By 1928 it had absorbed twenty-seven other insurance companies. In the 1930s it was known for sponsoring award-winning girls' basketball teams of company employees. Insurance in force passed a billion dollars in 1945, and a 1950 purchase in St. Louis took it into health and credit life policies. Moody willed most of the stock to his foundation, and his daughter Mary Moody Northen succeeded him as president.

What the plaque says

American National Insurance Company Founded in 1905 by Galveston business pioneer W. L. Moody, Jr. (1865-1954), American National opened for business on third floor of the Moody Building at 22nd and Strand streets in Galveston. At that time the home office staff numbered ten. By 1912, when it began issuing dividends, the company was soundly established. Life insurance in force passed the billion dollar mark in 1943, and later climbed into the multi-billions. By 1971 the home office employed 1200 persons, and the company was licensed to operate in 49 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, Guam, Puerto rico, and western Europe. Founder W. L. Moody, Jr., remained at the helm of the company for half a century. American National is the largest Texas-based life insurance company, and ranks among the leaders in the United States. It is the oldest in Galveston-- famous as an insurance pioneering site. The first home office built especially for the company was completed at 21st and Market streets in 1913. An additional building, at 21st and Mechanic streets, was completed in 1929. The company moved into the 20-story American National tower in 1971. (1972)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• The Strand — steps away
  Five blocks of iron-front brick buildings near the harbor that were once called the Wall Street of the Southwest, emptied after 1900 and brought back by preservationists from the 1960s.
• Texas Seaport Museum and the Elissa — 0.2 mi
  An iron barque launched in Aberdeen in 1877 that called at Galveston twice, ended up smuggling in the Adriatic, and was bought back from a Greek scrapyard to sail again from Pier 22.
• 1859 Ashton Villa — 0.5 mi
  A brick Italianate house on Broadway, built with enslaved labor in 1859, whose lawn has held Galveston's Juneteenth commemoration of General Orders, No. 3 every year since 1979.
• 1892 Bishop's Palace — 0.6 mi
  Nicholas Clayton's stone house on Broadway for the railroad lawyer Walter Gresham, later home to Galveston's Catholic bishops and one of the most admired Victorian houses in the country.

More markers nearby

• Old Galveston Market House and City Hall — steps away
• Galveston Historical Foundation — steps away
• The Stewart Building — steps away
• Juneteenth — steps away