Page 45 - Lets Make Waves December 2018

1905 C. F. Marschner Building

1916 Mechanic Street | Texas Bottling Works
Triple XXX Bottling Company

Marie Marschner and her son Otto and his tions. He had acquired a statewide reputation
wife moved back into the old family residence for raising standards in his industry. He was a
at 3301 Avenue N. The Marschner's only member of the Texas Wholesale Beer Distrib-
daughter, Louise, had married a man by the utors Association and was past president of
name of John W. Lancaster, and the couple the Galveston Wholesale Beer Distributors
moved to Oklahoma. Otto had begun work- Association. He was the first elected president
ing around 1925 for Triple xxx Bottling Com- of the Texas Bottled Water Association. At
pany, located at 501 34th Street. Marie the time of his death in 1973, he was chair-
Marschner passed away in 1925 and was bur- man of the TBWA's certification committee
ied next to her husband in Lakeview Ceme- operating under the State Health Department.
tery. Royal Crown gradually phased out the plant,
After Marschner's death, his widow, Marie, In 1929, Florence married Albert Mahr. and in 1965 Ellis Towing began leasing the
assumed the role of proprietor of the bottling Mahr was a native of St. Louis who had building to use as office and storage space.
works. Though the move was delayed by the moved to Galveston shortly after the 1900 Jack Hall III purchased the building in 1975,
death of Charles, the family and the bottling Storm to become a buyer for Leopold and and East-West Barge Towing next leased the
works moved to Mechanic Street in 1907. Schaffer. Shortly after the marriage, Texas building, beginning sometime in the early
The eldest son, Alfred, began to work as a Bottling Works and Triple XXX Bottling 1970s until the early 1980s.
clerk for the company at that time. The Company traded locations. Triple XXX relo-
youngest son, Otto, joined the family business cated their operations into the bottling plant In 1985, Doug McLean moved his black-
as a clerk in 1909. on Mechanic Street, and Texas Bottling smithing business into the historical building.
Works moved back to 1511 33rd Street. The McLean is well known in the Galveston area
Louise, the only daughter, began work as a Mahrs moved into the residence located for iron fabrications, restorations and design.
stenographer for Model Laundry. Mrs. above the bottling plant. Among the work he has done include refitting
Marschner served as manager of the bottling the Tall Ship Elissa and Old Galveston
works until Alfred was of age to run the com- Square. After McLean moved out in 1987, the
pany. The 1914 city directory lists Alfred as building remained vacant until 1989, when it
manager, and his younger brother Otto re- was purchased by David Taylor. Up to that
maining as clerk. By now, Alfred had married point, except for very brief periods of time, it
--his three children were born in the apart- had rarely been without a tenant. Taylor hired
ment above the bottling works. About this David Giles, a local building contractor. A
time, Marie Marschner divided the estate meticulous restoration process was begun to
among her children. Alfred received the busi- Subsequent History of 1916 Mechanic St. bring the struc-
ness, and Otto was given title to the building. ture back to its
It is unclear what portion of the estate Louise Otto Marschner became general manager of turn-of-the-
received. Triple XXX in the 1930s. Apparently, the century distinc-
upstairs apartment located at 1916 Mechanic tion. The lower
An innovation Alfred brought to the compa- Street was no longer in use as a family resi- level houses
ny was the production of distilled water. Tex- dence. The 1936 city directory lists 1916 1/2 the owner's
as Bottling Works was the first business in Mechanic as "Mrs. Barbara Simons' Fur- collection of
Galveston to bottle distilled water. Alfred nished Rooms." It was a boarding house for beautifully
greatly increased the marketing and distribu- only a short time. The advertisement for fur- reoutfitted
tion of Orange Crush. His family moved into nished rooms drops from the directory list- classic cars. The upper level has been restored
their own home at 3323 Avenue O 1/2 in ings. Otto Marschner died in 1940, and Pat- as the owner's private apartment. During the
1921. Alfred died of kidney disease in August, rick McKenna became manager of Triple restoration of the residence, care was taken to
just after the move. He was buried near his XXX. He purchased the business outright in retain as many of the original features as pos-
father at Lakeview Cemetery. 1942. Under his leadership, Triple XXX ex- sible. Most of the wooden ceiling, including
panded into beer distributorship and entered the beams, was saved. The original wooden
The company was passed to his widow, Flor- into a partnership with Royal Crown Cola and floor, however, was beyond repair. A new
ence, and the family soon moved into the Nehi in the mid-I 940s. According to the city floor was put down in the same pattern and
residence above the bottling plant. From this directories, Triple XXX was no longer in op- style as the original. The new owner also re-
location, Florence raised her family and ran eration in the 1950s, but Royal Crown and moved bricks which had been used to seal
the bottling works. Because Otto held title to Nehi continued to operate at the Mechanic several windows in the unit.
the building, Florence paid rent for both the Street location. McKenna also owned and
bottling operations and the upstairs residence. operated the Royal Crown bottling opera- Need research on your historical property?
Let us know @ www.wavesgalveston.com.
Waves Magazine | December 2018 Issue | 45