English: The 1903 Galveston Houston & Henderson (GH&H) Freight Depot was once an important regional distribution center for cotton, Galveston’s most important export in the early 20th century. Originally chartered in 1853, the GH&H was the first rail line to connect Galveston’s maritime port to the Texas mainland, where cotton production and exportation financed the state’s economic growth. International & Great Northern Railroad (I&GN) and the Missouri-Kansas- Texas Railroad (M-K-T), co-owners of the GH&H at the beginning of the century, built the depot in a partnership. Its construction represented a new era in Galveston’s post-disaster economic recovery when the city became an internationally significant cotton port. It is in the National Register of Historic Places in the areas of Transportation and Commerce because the GH&H Freight Depot. Designed specifically for the efficient conveyance of cotton, it was integral to the distribution of that commodity. Following GH&H’s transition to a terminal company in 1920, the nominated building remained the company headquarters, and continued to play an active role in the port economy of Galveston through the 1950s.

It embodies stylistic qualities important to the development of railroad depot and the characteristic eclectic neoclassical design elements connected with rail-related architecture in the early 20th century. Constructed in 1903-1904, the depot’s warehouse design included innovations for the efficient transmission of cotton and its scale reflected the importance of that material to the local economy. Whereas most freight depots built in industrial areas of cities were generally less stylized, the GH&H Freight Depot’s limestone neoclassical entry vestibule and original red-tile roof stands out as exceptions. The handsome design of the GH&H Freight Depot office building and the unsurpassed size of its warehouse make the building the most outstanding local example of this characteristic depot layout and the only one that survives in Galveston. Its was most significant in 1903-1956. The beginning date marks the construction of the first two segments of the warehouse. The ending date marks the absorption of the International & Great Northern Railroad into the larger Missouri Pacific system.

It's a two-story brick office building with an attached one-story brick freight warehouse. Built in two phases in 1903-1904, the depot is steel frame brick masonry construction on a concrete foundation. It is located on the northern half of Galveston Island several blocks south of the historic wharf on Galveston Bay in the city’s industrial district. The rectangular, five-bay office building demonstrates eclectic neoclassical influences under a hipped roof and has symmetrical fenestration. The walls are red-orange brick and the roof is sheathed with modern, asphalt shingles. A limestone vestibule with orders that support a neoclassical entablature is the focus of its primary facade while a large triangular dormer and original red tile roof suggest eclectic influences in the depot’s design. The linear freight warehouse, connected internally to the office, is approximately 500-feet-long with a gable roof obscured by a parapet. It is of red brick and features high concrete platforms shaded by original metal awnings and multiple rolling and sliding freight doors on both facades. GH&H Freight Depot’s interior reflects the technological innovations and efficiency of early 20th century freight depots with four interconnected segments separated by brick walls and automatic fireproof metal doors. Although the railroad tracks that serviced the depot are gone, GH&H Freight Depot is adjacent to its former railroad corridor in an area that retains its historic industrial character.