But I do want to show you something before we head upstairs.

This is pretty great.

And I feel a testament to the museum's mission to preserve as much history of this building

as we can.

Eric Broussard is curator of the Brian Museum in Galveston, Texas.

During restoration, the contractor came to JP and he said, there's all this stuff

carved in the brick outside.

Do you want me to fix that?

And Mr. Brian said, absolutely not.

He said these were made by the children who lived here.

JP, Mr. Brian, is the museum's founder.

In 2013, he bought this rundown Gothic-style building on the edge of the city's historic

district to house his collection of artifacts from Texas and the American West.

Before that, the building sat vacant for several years after a short stint as a private residence.

But for 89 years before that, it was known as the Galveston Orphan's home.

In early December, I met with Broussard to learn more about that chapter of the building's

history.

Halfway through my tour, he led me outside onto the back porch.

It sits at the top of a long-stone staircase leading to the backgrounds.

The children once took those stairs on their way to recess.

I guess when they were waiting to go back in after playing, they would sit here and

carve their initials or their names.

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