1892 Bishop's Palace

The house was built for Walter Gresham, a Virginian who had fought through the Civil War, surrendered at Appomattox and come to Galveston in 1866 to practice law. He became district attorney, a director and attorney of the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway, and a state representative, and he lobbied hard for the deep-water harbor that Congress funded for Galveston. He married Josephine Mann in 1868, and they raised nine children.

Their house at Broadway and Fourteenth Street was designed by Nicholas J. Clayton, the city's leading architect, and finished in 1892. It is turreted and rich in carved stone, wood and stained glass, and architectural historians rank it among the most significant Victorian houses in the United States. It is a contributing building in Galveston's East End Historic District, a National Historic Landmark. The name came later, from the Catholic bishops who lived here after the family.

Galveston Historical Foundation runs daily self-guided tours. A longer basement-to-attic tour opens rooms usually closed to visitors, including Mrs. Gresham's studio and a third-floor view toward the Gulf. The house has no ramp for wheelchairs or walkers, and the foundation offers an audio tour with photographs for visitors who cannot climb the stairs.