Price, Thomas M., 1916-1998

Thomas M. Price (1916-1998) was Galveston’s foremost modern architect. Price was a graduate of Virginia Polytechnic Institute (1938) and the Harvard Graduate School of Design (1941), where he studied under Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer. After graduation he was a Professor of Architecture and Visiting Architecture Critic at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Price was employed as a designer and draftsman for the prestigious firms of Gropius and Breuer, Hugh Stubbins, and Oscar Stonarov.

During World War II, Price was commissioned Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy. He trained at the M.I.T. School of Naval Architecture, and was stationed in Galveston, Texas. After the war, Price remained in Galveston and opened his architectural firm in 1947. His designs included private residences, hotels, motels, schools, a social club, a beach house and commercial buildings. His major works include Sealy & Smith professional building (1964, demolished 2007), Flagship Hotel (with Neuhaus & Taylor), Seahorse Motel (1956, demolished), and Galveston Artillery Club (1959). His work was not limited to Galveston; he designed the Lasher House in Houston, and buildings in Alvin, Bay City, Freeport, Hitchcock, Houston, and Webster, Texas. He also designed hotels in Asheville, North Carolina, Biloxi, Mississippi, Maraton, Florida, and San Francisco, California. Price’s work has been published in Architectural Record and Galveston: Architecture Guidebook .

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