Above: Possible route taken when relocating the sections of the house
After the Civil War, Syndor left the Island and the 25-room Powhatan House served as the private residence of the Bolton family and later as a military academy and then a hotel. In 1878 the house became the home of the Island City Protestant & Israelite Orphans Asylum.
When Galveston businessman and philanthropist Henry Rosenberg died in May of 1893, his last will and testament was made public. To the great surprise of local residents, Mr. Rosenberg left the bulk of his sizable estate to fund various charitable projects around the city. Among these were the construction of a library, a church, a monument honoring veterans of the Texas Revolution, public drinking fountains for both people and animals, and $30,000 to construct a new orphanage.
To make room for the new orphan’s home, the Powhatan House was sold for $1, divided into sections, and moved to three different lots in 1895. Of the three original sections, only two remain, as the third section was destroyed by fire in 1928.
Pictured above: Advertisement in the Galveston Daily New on Wednesday, November 22, 1895 requesting bids for the purchase and removal of the Powhatan House after the completion of the new orphanage.
Pictured above: Moving a house in San Francisco in 1908
While it may seem crazy to relocate an entire house today, it was more common than you may think. In our time, even with modern machinery, it is usually cheaper and easier to tear down a house (proper term is "raze"), haul off the debris, and start over anew. In our not-so-distant history, however, things were not so disposable.
Above: Photo of a house being move utilizing a steam tractor
Still, moving a structure of this size in 1893, without the use of power tools (no electricity at that time) or semi-trucks and trailers (no internal combustion engine) must have been an enormous task. The house was likely cut with hand saws, raised and lowered with manually operated screw jacks, and rolled on skates pulled by mules, oxen, or perhaps a steam tractor. It must have been a sight to see!