Silk Stocking District

The Silk Stocking District is a locally and nationally designated historic district south of Broadway Street, bounded by 25th and 23rd Streets, from Avenue K to Avenue P. Its name is said to refer to the upper-crust families who could afford to build the district’s fine homes and wear silk stockings during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The homes in this 14-block section of historic Galveston real estate include some of the Island’s finest examples of Queen Anne architecture. The entire area was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

This Galveston neighborhood was developed in the 1870s, when a large cotton compress occupied much of the property. The compress was torn down and the lots sold at auction in 1898. Many buildings survived the 1900 Hurricane and subsequent grade raising, when the Seawall was built and sand was pumped in to raise the level of the land behind it.

Today, 25th Street (also called Rosenberg Street) is the main link between the historic Downtown/Strand/Postoffice/Seaport area and the Seawall, with a trolley line connecting them. The beach, with its myriad of restaurants, attractions and hotels, is a 1.5-mile walk away. Public and private schools are nearby.

Houses for sale in Galveston’s Silk Stocking District range in size from modest to massive, with an average around 2,000 square feet. Prices are in the range of the $150,000s to the $750,000s.

Resource

Silk Stocking National Historic District

Map of Galveston Island Neighborhood - Silk Stocking District