Galveston's oldest commercial building served as a Civil War lookout and a makeshift morgue after the 1900 hurricane
2010 Strand, Galveston, TX 77550
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
Free
Free to visit exterior; Hendley Market shop entry is free
Access
Limited Access
Multi-story 1859 commercial building with original staircases
Equipment
Photos OK
Est. 1859 · Strand National Historic Landmark District · Civil War Battle of Galveston · 1900 Hurricane Morgue · Greek Revival Commercial Architecture
The Hendley Buildings at 2000–2016 Strand were constructed between 1855 and 1859 for the firm of William Hendley & Company, a Galveston shipping concern that operated the Texas and New York Packet Line. The four attached Greek Revival brick structures were among the most substantial commercial buildings on the island at the time of construction, and they remain the oldest surviving commercial masonry buildings on the Strand. The buildings are divided by granite block piers, each bearing the carved initials of the original owners.
During the Civil War, Hendley Row's height made it the tallest commercial structure on the Strand and a natural observation post for monitoring both Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Confederate forces used it as a lookout during the contested occupation of the island. On January 1, 1863, Union naval forces aboard the USS Owasco fired on Confederate positions during the Battle of Galveston; a shell struck the Hendley Building, and the damage to one of the 20th Street-facing pillars is still visible today.
The building's most consequential hour came in September 1900. When the Great Galveston Hurricane struck on September 8, it killed more than 6,000 people — the deadliest natural disaster in American history. In the days that followed, with bodies recovered from the debris throughout the city, the Hendley Building served as a temporary morgue. Bodies were laid out across the floor, and survivors came from across the island to search for missing family members.
The building survived the disaster and passed through various commercial uses over the following century. Hendley Market has occupied the space since 1979, operating as a shop specializing in antiques and oddities. The structure is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Strand National Historic Landmark District.
Sources
Hendley Row appears on virtually every Galveston ghost tour, its reputation built on a building history that requires no embellishment — a Civil War cannon strike, a mass-casualty morgue, and a century and a half of use by shifting tenants.
The Lady in White is the most-reported figure: accounts place her on the building's back (north) side, ascending the staircase. She is described as elusive, visible at a distance but not on approach. The identity behind the figure has not been documented in any verified historical record.
The Confederate soldier in grey is described by staff and former residents as a running figure on the staircase, moving urgently as though under orders. This account maps directly onto the building's documented Civil War use as a military observation post and the scene of the January 1863 artillery exchange with Union naval forces.
The dripping-wet boy is the most straightforward of the three in its origin story: he is described as appearing soaking wet, attributed in local lore to the 1900 storm. The morgue period following that storm — when bodies recovered from the water-drowned wreckage of the city were laid on these floors — gives the image a factual anchor that makes the apparition one of the more historically grounded ghost claims in the Strand District.
Notable Entities
Hendley Market has operated in the historic Hendley Buildings since 1979, selling antiques, oddities, and local artifacts. The shop occupies the ground floor of the oldest surviving commercial structure on Galveston's Strand — a building that functioned as a Civil War watchtower, bore cannon fire from the USS Owasco in January 1863, and became a temporary morgue in the days after the 1900 hurricane.
Multiple Galveston ghost tour operators include Hendley Row as a primary stop. Tours operate evenings along the Strand District and cover the building's Civil War history, its role as a 1900 storm morgue, and the three apparitions associated with the site.
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