Kauffman & Runge [Cover]
Name/Title
Kauffman & Runge [Cover]Description
1880s cover mailed from Galveston to “Mess Kauffman & Runge / City.”Context
About the time of this cover, the Kauffman & Runge Company was attempting to corner the world cotton market. Due to the significance of the Kauffman & Runge Building, the sender need only address the envelope as “City” for it to find its destination. Considered one of Galveston's architectural monuments, the Kauffman and Runge Building is a neo-Renaissance building that stands at the northeast corner of Mechanic and 22nd Street, serving as a central landmark to Galveston’s commercial activity and continued diversification, fostering architectural development in style and scale. The four-story building has ten bays on its southern elevation addressing Mechanic and 14 bays on its western elevation facing 22nd. Both elevations display painted-brick bodies with first-story arched entryways and arched four-over-four wooden sash windows in each bay of the upper stories. The gable roof is hidden by a parapet. To design the building, merchants Julius Kauffman and Julius Runge hired architect Eugene T. Heiner, who employed a modernized Victorian version of the Italian Renaissance style for which he is commonly known. The building is distinguished by its dense configuration of arched openings, which give the impression of stacked arcades of various shapes. The first story has large, elliptical arches and the upper stories have flat, basket, segmental, and rounded arches – to demonstrate the rapidly expanding wealth of the firm.Category
Cotton Culture
Agriculture, TSHA Categories